Concord’s director is reportedly stepping down as the game’s return remains in limbo

The game director of Concord is reportedly stepping down from his role as the game’s future remains to be decided.

Ryan Ellis told staff at Firewalk Studios last week that he would no longer be serving as game director on Concord and would instead be stepping down into a support role, according to Kotaku.

Citing three sources familiar with the move, the publication says Ellis was emotional when initially speaking to staff after the game’s launch, when it was clear that it was going to be a major failure.

“Ryan deeply believed in that project and bringing players together through the joy in it,” one former developer told Kotaku. “Regardless of there being things that could have been done differently throughout development, he’s a good human, and full of heart.”

Earlier this month Sony announced plans to take Concord offline, pull the game from sale and offer refunds to all players who bought it, just two weeks after launch.

The news followed reports that the PS5 and PC game may have sold as few as 25,000 copies across both platforms since its release on August 23.

“Concord fans — we’ve been listening closely to your feedback since the launch of Concord on PlayStation 5 and PC and want to thank everyone who has joined the journey aboard the Northstar,” Ellis said at the time.

“Your support and the passionate community that has grown around the game has meant the world to us. However, while many qualities of the experience resonated with players, we also recognize that other aspects of the game and our initial launch didn’t land the way we’d intended.

“Therefore, at this time, we have decided to take the game offline beginning September 6, 2024, and explore options, including those that will better reach our players. While we determine the best path ahead, Concord sales will cease immediately and we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased the game for PS5 or PC.”

It’s not yet clear what the future of Concord will be, nor is it known whether Firewalk will continue to lead on the game’s development.

Despite its failure, Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming animated anthology Secret Level will still reportedly retain its episode based on Concord, and will not remove it from the line-up.