Firewalk director steps down, Concord dev's future still uncertain

Kotaku reports that Firewalk's Ryan Ellis has stepped down from his role as game director at the studio.

After the shutdown of its debut project Concord, Ellis has reportedly moved into a "support role" at the PlayStation studio. An interim or replacement director was not listed, and the outlet claims Firewalk staff are unclear on its next steps.

PlayStation pulled the plug on Concord just two weeks after launch, with Ellis at the time saying it "didn't land the way we intended." He also said the developer and publisher would "explore options" to improve and potentially revive the game.

However, sources speaking to Kotaku claim Sony's yet to make a decision, and think the sci-fi shooter is totally dead. In the meantime, Firewalk staff have reportedly been asked to explore pitches for something "completely different" to work on.

There's also speculation the studio may be shuffled into a support role for other first-party PlayStation teams, or that mass layoffs are on the horizon. There are reportedly around 150-170 workers at the studio, and some have already started updating their portfolios, or departed Firewalk in advance.

The history of Firewalk and PlayStation so far

Sony acquired Firewalk in 2023 following a publishing agreement the two companies struck in 2021. At the time, Sony was looking to get in big on the live-service market, which also fueled its acquisition of Bungie in 2022 and several multiplayer projects.

Since then, many of those live-service games have been shelved or scrapped. The future of Bungie is in flux and dependent on its upcoming extraction shooter revival of Marathon.

As for Firewalk, sources told Kotaku the acquisition was allegedly one of the more expensive PlayStation studios on a per-head basis, further fueling speculation of a shutdown.

Amidst all of this, the same sources extended their sympathies to Ellis, who they said became "too emotional" to speak during a team all-hands before Concord's end.

"Ryan deeply believed in that project," said one former developer. "Regardless of there being things that could have been done differently throughout development...he’s a good human, and full of heart."

Kotaku's full report on Firewalk and Concord can be read here.