Billions Down the Drain: The Shocking 12 Billion Yuan Failure of ‘Concord: Star Attack
Concord Star Attack: A Billion-Dollar Failure for Sony
Sony’s first-party game, Concord Star Attack, suffered a massive failure after its launch, resulting in refunds and server shutdowns just two weeks later. This failure not only affected players’ expectations for Sony’s first-party games but also dealt a significant blow to the company.
According to Colin Moriarty, the program manager of the Sacred Symbols podcast, a developer who worked on Concord Star Attack revealed that Sony had high hopes for the game, considering it the “future of PlayStation” with potential similar to Star Wars. The company invested a staggering $400 million in development costs.
I spoke at length with someone who worked in Concord, and it’s much worse than you think.
Internally it was billed as “The Future of PlayStation,” with Star Wars-like potential, and a development culture of “toxic positivity” blocked out any negative feedback.
It cost $400 million to build.
— Colin Moriarty (@longislandviper)
However, the developer also mentioned that the team’s positive energy and opinions became “toxic,” suppressing all negative feedback. After the game’s release, players were reluctant to enter the world of Concord, and the game’s director, Ryan Ellis, resigned. This failure may force Sony to work harder on developing subsequent first-party games to regain players’ trust and reputation.