The *Concord* ⁤Debacle and ‌Firewalk ⁤Studios Closure

‌ Sony recently ⁣removed the team-based shooter *Concord* ‌from sale just⁤ two weeks after its launch due to disappointing⁣ sales figures
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as reported by GamesIndustry.biz. This decision later led to the closure ⁤of Firewalk Studios, the developer behind​ the ​game
according‍ to GamesIndustry.biz.
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internal Review and‌ Early Evaluation Gates

‍PlayStation ​CEO Hermen Hulst addressed the situation,stating that while​ the outcome of new intellectual property (IP) is inherently⁣ uncertain,
⁤ Sony needs to improve its evaluation process. “We probably need to have a lot‍ of gates, including user testing or internal evaluation, and ‍the timing‍ of such gates.
⁢ And then we need to bring them forward,⁢ and we should have done those gates much earlier than we did,” Hulst ⁢explained.
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‍ Hulst also⁢ identified organizational silos as a contributing factor. “We have a siloed organisation, so going beyond the boundaries ​of those⁤ organisations in terms⁣ of development,
​ ⁢ and also sales, I ​think that⁣ could ⁣have been much ‍smoother.”
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Strengthening Development Management Systems

‍ Sadahiko Hayakawa, Sony’s senior vice president for ⁤finance and investor‌ relations, emphasized the company’s commitment to learning from both successes and failures.
⁣ “We intend to share the lessons learned from our successes and failures across our studios, including in the areas of title ​development management as well as the process of continually
‌ adding expanded​ content and scaling the service after its release so‌ as to strengthen our development management system,”⁣ Hayakawa stated.