Following the shutdown of Firewalk Studios’ Harmony, the sport’s builders are reportedly “in limbo”, with recreation director Ryan Ellis having stepped down right into a “help position”, in line with a brand new report.
Since PlayStation made the choice to take the sport offline on September 6 following a launch which noticed low participant counts and gross sales estimates, there’s been a variety of hypothesis as as to whether it would find yourself being introduced again in a special state additional down the road, presumably as a free-to-play title. Effectively, it will appear Sony itself remains to be weighing up its choices.
In response to a report from Kotaku, Ellis, the previous Future 2 artistic director who signed on to steer the priject in 2017, instructed workers final week he’d be shifting from his former publish into “a help position”.
“Ryan deeply believed in that mission and bringing gamers collectively via the enjoyment in it,” one former developer stated of Ellis,”No matter there being issues that would have been executed in a different way all through improvement…he’s an excellent human, and filled with coronary heart.”
As this has occurred, Kotaku reviews that workers at Firewalk are at present uncertain of what the long run holds for them and the studio, as Sony seemingly decides how or whether or not it needs to maneuver ahead with Harmony, or re-direct efforts elsewhere.
Along with some reportedly having been requested to “discover pitches” for a special mission that the studio might work on subsequent, others on the studio speculate that they might find yourself co-developing one other Sony first-party title, and a few “really feel like mass layoffs would be the more than likely results of Harmony’s failure, together with the potential shutdown of the complete studio”.
“Harmony followers — we’ve been listening carefully to your suggestions for the reason that launch of Harmony on PlayStation 5 and PC and wish to thank everybody who has joined the journey aboard the Northstar,” Ryan Ellis wrote within the PlayStation weblog publish asserting Harmony’s shutdown, “Your help and the passionate neighborhood that has grown across the recreation has meant the world to us.
“Nonetheless, whereas many qualities of the expertise resonated with gamers, we additionally acknowledge that different points of the sport and our preliminary launch didn’t land the best way we’d supposed. Due to this fact, right now, now we have determined to take the sport offline starting September 6, 2024, and discover choices, together with these that can higher attain our gamers.”
