Sony is increasing oversight of its first-party studios while aiming to preserve creative independence. The company has instituted more rigorous and frequent testing and additional safeguards to limit damage from misfiring releases. Executives prefer that riskier projects fail early and cheaply rather than become costly debacles like Concord, which reportedly lost over $200 million and was taken offline two weeks after launch. Sony has scaled back its live service ambitions, cancelling unannounced live projects and reassessing its approach to large-scale, high-risk titles. Studio leaders are encouraged to take measured risks and think big in pursuit of a new blockbuster.
Sony is reportedly learning from its high-profile failures like Concord and bringing more control over its first-party output, while balancing creativity freedom of its studios. The PlayStation parent is ensuring it has more safeguards in place to protect itself from misfiring releases, with the company preferring its riskier projects to fail "early and cheaply" as opposed to being damaging and costly debacles like Concord.
"I don't want teams to always play it safe, but I would like for us, when we fail, to fail early and cheaply," Hulst told FT. The executive was likely referring to Concord, perhaps one of gaming's most high-profile and costly flops that reportedly lost Sony upwards of $200 million. The live service shooter was released in August 2024 and was taken offline after a dismal two weeks in the wild after it failed to attract players.
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