Concord, a Sony live-service shooter, was shut down two weeks after launch and became a major publisher failure. Sony Interactive Entertainment's studio chief Hermen Hulst identified the primary lesson as the need for greater development oversight and said Sony has implemented more rigorous and more frequent testing. Hulst wants studios to pursue bold new franchises while catching failures early and cheaply. Sony reaffirmed commitment to live-service titles but emphasized diverse player experiences and communities over quantity. Bungie's Marathon has been delayed amid unfavorable comparisons to Concord, reports of reduced Bungie independence, and leadership departures; it is expected before March 31, 2026.
We have since put in place much more rigorous and more frequent testing in very many different ways,
The advantage of every failure ... is that people now understand how necessary that [oversight] is.
I don't want teams to always play it safe,
But I would like for us, when we fail, to fail early and cheaply.
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