Sony pulls the plug on Harmony and shuts down Firewalk Studios

Sony has formally killed off Harmony and is shuttering the studio behind the sport. Harmony‘s servers had been taken down simply two weeks after the launch of the aggressive group shooter from Firewalk Studios after poor gross sales. Firewalk’s recreation director Ryan Ellis selected to move himself right into a extra supportive position following Harmony‘s struggles, and Sony had stated it might take into account its choices for the undertaking. The choice is in.

“After a lot thought, we’ve decided the most effective path ahead is to completely sundown the sport and shut the studio,” Hermen Hulst of Sony Interactive Leisure’s Studio Enterprise Group stated in a statement right this moment. “I need to thank all of Firewalk for his or her craftsmanship, inventive spirit and dedication.”

The net recreation enterprise is brutal, and Harmony might have suffered for its lengthy improvement time, which meant different group shooters had already risen to prominence and outlined gamers’ expectations. Many related video games are free to play and assist themselves financially with a battle cross or seasonal mannequin. Avid gamers might have balked on the $40 price ticket for a brand new property, or perhaps the style was just too crowded for Harmony to muscle in.

Regardless of the causes, right this moment’s information marks one other tough chapter for the sport improvement world. Firewalk Studios is an outlier for having this stage of business failure, but it surely’s nonetheless one more closure within the business that has seen a whole lot of turbulence in recent times. Layoffs and shutdowns have been , however a number of of the latest circumstances have been like Firewalk, which was acquired by Sony Interactive Leisure simply final spring. Netflix abruptly its AAA studio final week earlier than the group had even introduced a undertaking. Microsoft three studios from the Zenimax household earlier this 12 months. As fewer events management a rising share of the video games business, the tolerance for experimentation and slim revenue margins will seemingly shrink too. And the sort of sudden upheaval might change into all of the extra frequent.

Replace, October 29, 2024, 2:40PM ET: Story up to date with further context about Harmony and broader studio closure developments.