Concord budget reaches $400 million, calling Sony’s “biggest loss in history”

Concord development costs

Industry insider Colin Moriarty told the Sacred Symbols podcast that the game cost $400 million (roughly Rs. 3,341 crore) to make, citing a source who claimed to have worked on Concord. He also said that the game is being referred to internally as “the future of PlayStation,” and that Sony believes the game has the potential to become a Star Wars-like franchise.

“The reason why I want to talk about this [Concord] It’s because some of the assumptions I made about the game were completely wrong, regardless of how much it cost or how much Sony really lost on the game,” Moriarty said on the Concord podcast last week. It will cost about $400 million,” he added.

Sony announces losses

However, Sony is unlikely to bear the entire cost. According to Moriarty, around $200 million (approximately Rs. 1,670 crore) has been spent on the development of Concord by the time the game enters the alpha stage around the first quarter of 2023. It’s unclear how much of that development cost came from Sony. The company acquired Concord developer Firewalk Studios in April 2023 from its previous owner MaybeMonsters.

After that, Sony went on to spend an additional $200 million on the game, bringing the total development costs to around $400 million, according to Moriarty’s sources. He claimed that Concord was in a “ridiculous state” during the alpha stage, so Sony had to spend an additional $200 million to get the game to the “minimum viable product” stage.

Moriarty also claimed that Concord represents Sony’s “biggest gaming loss ever,” considering the company shouldered the bulk of the $400 million budget. “This is the biggest game Sony has ever released from a first-party or second-party budget perspective,” he said. “Let it sink in.”

Concord internal issues

The podcast also delves into the reasons for Concord’s debacle. According to sources, the game is a “Star Wars-like project” from Sony and is being billed as “the future of PlayStation.” It’s worth noting that the Japanese company, traditionally known for its narrative-focused single-player games, has made a big push into live-service games over the past few years; but after suffering setbacks, most of those efforts were reportedly scrapped , Sony has cut in half the number of live service games originally planned to be launched by March 2026.

During the podcast, Moriarty also said there was a “toxic positivity” surrounding the game at Firewalk, where people were not allowed to voice objections or criticize aspects of development internally. He also added that the game has internal support from Sony Interactive Entertainment Studios Business Group CEO Hermen Hulst.

Sony hasn’t revealed any details about Concord’s disastrous launch, and the company hasn’t confirmed or denied the game’s reported budget. Concord was taken offline on September 6 due to poor sales and minimal player numbers upon launch. Sony confirmed that it will cease all sales of the game, and players who purchased the game on PS5 or PC will receive a full refund. The hero shooter is no longer available for purchase on the PlayStation Store or PC storefronts such as Steam and Epic Games Store.

Last week, reports surfaced that Concord game director Ryan Ellis would be stepping down from his role to move into a support role.

Concord launched on PS5 and PC on August 23 for $40, but subsequently failed to attract enough players. The game has peaked at 697 concurrent players on Steam, and reports have estimated the game has sold around 25,000 copies on PS5 and PC.