Fairgame$ still doesn’t have a release date (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The demise of Concord doesn’t mean Sony is giving up on live service games straight away, as the company seeks to create more original IP.
Concord will go down as a historic failure for Sony, in its attempts to create a live service success, but the company still has more projects of the same ilk in development.
Bungie is developing a reboot of Marathon, although that game’s future feels rocky following recent studio layoffs. Other known projects include a multiplayer game based on Horizon and Fairgame$ – a heist themed shooter from Jade Raymond’s Haven Studios.
A few hours before Sony officially announced it was shutting down Concord, an industry insider claimed Fairgame$ was being met with ‘very positive’ responses internally, suggesting that Sony is far from giving up on live service games.
‘I’ve heard good things about Jade Raymond’s game, is it Fairgame$, I’ve heard good things about that,’ said GamesIndustry.biz’s Christopher Dring on the outlet’s podcast.
‘I know people who are a bit sceptical about the trailer, but I’ve heard internal chatter is very positive about it. So there are these other projects that I assume that the ones they are focusing on are the ones that they’re going to go for. [The ones] they’re going to put out there, they’re going to support, and try and make work.’
His comments are in response to Concord’s poor player numbers, but they also refer to Sony’s decision last year to reduce the amount of live service games it puts out by the end of the 2025 fiscal year.
In November, Sony Interactive Entertainment president Hiroki Totoki said it plans to launch six online multiplayer games by the end of March 2026, a step down from the ‘more than 10 live service games’ that were planned before.
Despite the reduction, Sony said it still has 12 live service games planned overall, but that it was reviewing them to ensure these games ‘will be played and liked for a long time’. At the time, these comments included the ill-fated Concord.
While it’s unclear if these plans have (or will) change in light of Concord’s failings, Sony has recently discussed how it intends to prioritise the creation of more original IP moving forward, across games, films, and anime.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Totoki noted how Sony wants to be more directly involved in creating and expanding upon its IP from an earlier stage.
‘Whether it’s for games, films or anime, we don’t have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning,’ Totoki said. ‘We’re lacking the early phase [of IP] and that’s an issue for us.’
As such, Sony is now pursuing the production of more original content as part of a ‘creation shift’ within the company.
While these comments apply to Sony across the board, this shift might explain why Concord is being featured in upcoming Amazon TV show Secret Level – as it attempts to capitalise on its new and existing IP.
Secret Level is a compilation featuring many different video game franchises, from many different companies, but Sony has also made a successful TV show based on mothballed video game franchise Twisted Metal and has plans for God Of War as well.
This drive for IP growth might also explain the significant push behind Horizon, which is getting both a multiplayer title and a Lego spin-off. A Netflix series was also in development but it’s now believed to be cancelled.
With Fairgame$ and Marathon already in development it’s unlikely that Sony will suddenly cancel them after the failure of Concord.
As wasteful as it seems, the low hit rate for live service games means publishers have little choice but to throw as many of them against the wall as possible and hope one sticks. Or to just not make them at all.
Will Concord ever return? (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
MORE : Concord on PS5 and PC shut down by Sony in biggest PlayStation flop ever
MORE : PS5 Pro will make less noise and have 2TB of storage claims leaker
MORE : Sony considering new PlayStation Portable claims PS5 Pro leaker
Sign up to all the exclusive gaming content, latest releases before they’re seen on the site.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.