Sony President Says PlayStation Needs To Have More User Tests To Prevent Another Concord Situation

Key Takeaways

Sony spent $200 million on Concord, which flopped in open beta with only 2,300 players.
Sony president Totoki highlights the need for more detailed checks to prevent failures like Concord.
Concord set a record with a launch-to-shutdown timeframe of just two weeks in 2024.

If you keep tabs on gaming news, chances are you’ve heard of Concord, and how big of a failure it’s been for Sony. Rumors indicate that the failed live service game cost Sony upwards of $200 million, which is something the company is never going to see a return on, since, y’know, Concord is dead and all, and it’s never coming back.

While a touchy subject, this is something Sony president, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki answered bluntly when asked about it in a recent Q&A as part of Sony’s quarerly earnings report.

Sony President Hiroki Totoki Thinks PlayStation Should Have Done More Checks On Concord

According to Totoki, Sony’s PlayStation division (officially named Sony Interactive Entertainment) needs to have more detailed checks such as user tests to prevent situations like Concord from happening again. Translated by Genki, Totoki states, “We need to repeat those gates more so that we could have caught and determine whether that will be accepted by the users or not. We need to have more information that will enable us to make more sound decisions…Looking back on the past, I think we need to go back to the basics and make it really stronger”

Totoki also thinks they need to select the right release winodw while looking at not just first-party games, but also third-party releases, so as to not cannibalize sales, and instead, maximize it. “We should have done those gates much earlier than we did. Also we have a silo’ed organization. So going beyond the boundaries of those organizations in terms of development and also sales, that could have been much smoother.”

Still of Concord's Star Child eating next to a circle of Star-Lord's confused expression from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.

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Can’t say I disagree with Totoki’s statement. Even in its open beta, Concord failed to generate any hype, with concurrent player numbers on Steam peaking at just 2,300, which is low anyway you look at it — more so when you realize that it’s backed by millions of development money by Sony.

While our sister site Game Rant’s review of Concord is on the positive side of the spectrum stating, “Those wanting to roll the dice on Concord will find an excellent FPS full of exciting abilities, intense battles, and eye-popping visuals,” the same can’t be said for majority of critics. Over on Open Critic, Concord landed at a “Weak” rating, with only 21% of critics recommending it.

From launch to shut down, Concord might have established a new record in video games, as it launched on August 23, 2024, and its servers were already pulled by September 6, 2024.

Hopefully, Sony’s other live service game in development titled “Marathon” by Bungie, fares a lot better, as I don’t think Sony can suffer another major disappointment like this one.