As of about 10:30am PT / 1:30pm ET on September 6, Harmony’s servers are formally closed. Sony’s troubled reside service sport did not even final two weeks, failing to fill its beta and launching to a tragically low concurrent count on Steam. In the end it’s estimated to have only sold around 25,000 units, which is awfully low by first-party launch requirements.
Harmony servers at the moment are offline.
Thanks once more to all of the Freegunners who’ve joined us within the Harmony galaxy. pic.twitter.com/o1dTywrqUx
— Harmony (@PlayConcord) September 6, 2024
On Bluesky, Circana govt director Mat Piscatella known as Harmony’s shutdown “unprecedented,” nothing that even Anthem was the best-selling sport of February 2019 and remains to be playable immediately. Requested the way it compares to the likes of The Day Earlier than and Crucible, two different video games that had been shuttered quickly after launch, Piscatella mentioned that this “one reads otherwise to me than something that is come earlier than,” describing it as being “soundly rejected” by gamers.
It makes Harmony one of the crucial outstanding information tales of the yr — a primary social gathering launch that finally by no means had an opportunity.
Does Harmony have a future as a free-to-play sport?
Nonetheless, a minimum of some followers are questioning if there is a future for Sony’s shooter. May Harmony work as a free-to-play sport? That is been one of many foremost questions on platforms like X/Twitter and Resetera as followers debate the trail forward for Sony. Even earlier than Harmony shut down, Forbes author Paul Tassi known as its transition to free-to-play “inevitable,” although puzzled if it might change issues.
There are definitely loads of sticking factors. The roster didn’t resonate with followers, and the artwork model and writing has variously been described as a sort of off-brand Guardians of the Galaxy. There’s additionally little when it comes to innovation to distinguish Harmony from different hero shooters. In a market flooded with reside service video games, success is more and more a zero sum sport, and Harmony was on the improper facet of the divide.
Nonetheless, we discovered factors to love about Harmony. In our review, we described the aggressive gameplay as “unbelievable” and praised its map design. In its closing days, a group of trophy hunters made a final second sprint to attempt to seize what is going to quickly be considered one of PlayStation’s rarest Platinums, even going as far as to throw themselves off cliffs to grind XP.
So will it return? One Resetera person opines. “I am guessing it’s going to in all probability find yourself going F2P after which quietly shuttered if it does not discover an viewers rapidly. Doing that is going to be a hell of a job although as the sport was designed round progress not being monetised. I really feel horrible for Firewalk, all that point invested into what’s apparently a fairly first rate sport to have this occur straight after launch. I’ve a horrible feeling that there is going to be some layoffs coming quickly.”
Piscatella, for his half, is unsure. “On the one hand, the sport and the IP had been simply so soundly rejected of it that one might imagine it unsalvageable. However, so few know in regards to the sport that maybe it could possibly be introduced again with a unique mannequin and a major refresh. I feel that is an unprecedented state of affairs, with all choices on the desk, so anybody’s guess might be pretty much as good as mine.”
What’s subsequent for Sony
For what it is price, Harmony is not utterly completed. As we reported yesterday, Concord is still set to appear in Secret Level, the upcoming Prime Video anthology collection by Tim Miller that additionally options the likes of God of Warfare, Mega Man, and Warhammer 40K. Whereas it appears unlikely that it’s going to re-ignite curiosity within the property, it does symbolize a minimum of one spark of life for the franchise.
The way forward for Firewalk Studios, for its half, is unclear. The studio behind Harmony was established as a part of ProbablyMonsters in 2018 and acquired by PlayStation in 2023. design director Josh Hamrick tweeted throughout the week, thanking followers and signing off when the servers went down with “FREEGUNNER FOR LIFE.”
At one level he wrote wistfully, “I began at Firewalk within the Spring of 2019. We had been lower than a dozen devs working shoulder to shoulder in a good friend’s attic.”
Sony, in the meantime, has extra free-to-play video games on the best way, together with Fairgame$ and Bungie’s Marathon. Marathon has already had its share of issues, at one level being forced to replace its director amid layoffs and other problems. Little has been proven of Fairgame$ exterior of a CG trailer, however GI.biz’s Chris Dring not too long ago mentioned that he is been listening to constructive buzz in regards to the sport. A technique or one other, the way forward for Sony’s live service strategy is uncertain, although PlayStation can declare a minimum of one victory because of the success of Helldivers 2 within the first a part of the yr (although it has additionally struggled of late).
For now, Sony can take consolation in Astro Bot, which is each single-player and receiving rave reviews. As for whether or not Harmony will ever get one other probability of its personal, we’ll simply must see.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s Information Director in addition to co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Ship her a DM at @the_katbot.