In a staggering transfer, Sony and Firewalk Studios are admitting defeat and shutting down the Harmony simply two weeks after it launched on PS5 and PC. The sport has been pulled from sale, and can formally go offline on September 6.
If you happen to’ve been maintaining with the information then you definately’ll already know why: no person is definitely taking part in the sport. On PC, the live-service shooter failed to attract in even a thousand concurrent gamers on launch day. That quantity has solely declined. Over the previous couple of days, Harmony has struggled to recover from 100 concurrent gamers. Some hope was held that the numbers had been doing higher on PlayStation 5, however that’s clearly not the case.
“Harmony followers — we’ve been listening carefully to your suggestions because the launch of Harmony on PlayStation 5 and PC and wish to thank everybody who has joined the journey aboard the Northstar,” recreation director Ryan Ellis wrote on a PlayStation Weblog publish. “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 elements of the sport and our preliminary launch didn’t land the best way we’d meant. Subsequently, presently, we have now determined to take the sport offline starting September 6, 2024, and discover choices, together with these that may higher attain our gamers.”
The language used is necessary to bear in mind as a result of whereas the sport is being taken offline and faraway from sale, Sony and Firewalk clearly wish to discover some solution to convey Harmony again. The apparent reply is, in fact, to resurrect the title as free-to-play the place the low barrier of entry may permit it an opportunity to attract in some curious gamers. Thoughts you, one of many greatest causes for not liking the sport gamers have talked about is the art-style which drew dislikes the second it was proven.
Nonetheless, whereas Sony and Firewalk do appear inclined to convey Harmony again in some kind, Sony have additionally talked about firming down their push for live-service. May Harmony be scrapped fully? It will be a bitter tablet for Sony to swallow, however with out drastically altering the artwork and redesigning the sport for a free-to-play mannequin, is it price sinking thousands and thousands extra into the sport?
The weblog publish goes on to say that everybody who has purchased the sport – which was estimated at round 25,000 just a few days in the past – will likely be getting mechanically refunded.
It’s a harsh blow to Firewalk Studios who’ve allegedly been engaged on the sport for wherever from 5-8 years, which is smart as a result of Overwatch was immensely standard round that point. Sony purchased Firewalk final yr, presumably as a result of they noticed one thing they favored in each the crew and Harmony, so the monetary blow isn’t fairly as devastating for them, though it’s nonetheless a fairly spectacular failure. In truth, I’d go as far as to say that is most likely the most important flop in Sony’s historical past.
The primary concern now will likely be for everybody at Firewalk – hopefully, this doesn’t result in huge layoffs.
Is that this one other signal that the live-service bubble has burst? Regardless of all the things, lots of people who performed Harmony mentioned it was good. However being good isn’t adequate in a market the place the reigning free-to-play titles value nothing and play nice. On prime of that, live-service shooters should compete for essentially the most beneficial commodity folks have: time. Most individuals will commit time and cash to only one or two live-service video games, and attempting to tempt them away requires one thing actually particular, which Harmony simply wasn’t.
Will Harmony return, or is that this the tip?
