Internal Sony Fairgame$ PS5, PC Chatter Is Reportedly Quite Positive

Jade has a great track record, but the game is more than just its’ leader. I’m not going to worry about it until we’ve seen actual gameplay. The pressure to succeed probably feels much higher now though since Concord’s failure.

Here we go, again. They said the same with Concord:

“I’m confident the studio’s upcoming project will be a robust addition to PlayStation Studios’ portfolio, and its live service and technology expertise will be instrumental in helping grow PlayStation’s reach.”

“We’re thrilled to expand upon our collaborative relationship with Firewalk Studios and formally welcome the team to PlayStation Studios,” said Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios.

Yes, Herman Hulst said that Concord was an incredible game aswell, so really looking forward to what FairGame$ is like. Im sure it will be brilliant aswell.. 😉

Are they playing the game to see if it's fun?

Ain’t no way anyone with a Brain would actually believe this type of chatter

Well Fairgame$ must have some UNIQUENESS in it......requires PS magic like SP titles....otherwise i fear for fairgames$ too

I'm not buying this game, it's the next concord dei game.

I don’t see how Fairgame$ is less of a disaster than Concord. Universally hated at announcement even more than Concord, most people already forgot about it, and people are gonna be a lot more distrustful of Sony live services.

Looks more like zoomer fashion than anything else though.

I doubt people will allow that game to succeed. Whatever they show next, it will get downvoted, criticized and so on because it's a "proper Sony game". At least the studio will take a lot more care from now on.

It could be an awesome game, but I think most importantly Sony will need to do a lot of heavy lifting communicating why it's awesome, and why someone should play it versus the other live service shooter you've already got 300 hours in.

I'd love to see them succeed, but I'm not personally invested. I'm just not interested live service shooters. I want new experiences on the regular.

Yeah I heard good things about Concord too before it actually dropped lol

Ah, yes. Because we can well and truly trust internal chatter at Sony to result in great games in light of recent events.

They said the same about Concord.

If Sony are going to turn this around they need to act decisively and cancel Fairgames immediately. The dollar sign and the cringe r/antiwork premise & dialogue will sink it alone, nevermind it being another unwanted live service.

Wasn't Jimbo / Hermen said positive thing about Concord?

My first impression for Fairgame$ is it looks like a cheap Payday clone but with all the bright colours. I don't know who's this game for since i never see any PS fans asked Sony to make a Payday clone. But i'm not surprised if it end up another disaster like Concord.

Honestly, if i'm on Sony's shoes, right now i would cancelled Fairgame$. I don't believe on Jade Raymond quality, not when she didn't produced anything in the past 9 years. The last game where she had a role as Executive Producer was a game called The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot back in 2015 for PC/mobile and it got mixed to negative reviews.

Internally it might be, but externally it's not.

They need this one to stick, hoping it does. I had a long winded post on why these games are important for Sony long term on the concord page. Plus i really just want to play a good game so of course i hope for that. Normally a good game results in money with live service. Here’s hoping, cause another failure is going to really hit the pocket book of Sony.

I’m just looking for couch co-op I can play with my son. They have anything like GOTY It Takes
Two for me?

Can't wait for this one. Will it last at least three weeks?

Don't jinx yourself Sony. The trailer on this one looked proper cheese on toast, and not in a good way. If it wasn't for Astro I'd say Sony was actively trying to lose me as a customer these days. Seem to be courting a different crowd to the abandonment of those who've been there from the start. Balance is off

I wonder if bungie had anything to do with the develpoment of concord and fairgame4. Because if they cancelled factions but okayed concord...

The internal chatter might be positive, but this was probably also the case for Concord.
And now seeing the reaction by the market (and in comment sections like this) and Sony’s move, I’d be very surprised if Raymond and her team are not intimidated.

@BrotherFriede Firewalk is full of ex-bungie employees, and is located in the same city of Bellevue, WA. I would be surprised if Bungie didn’t help grease the wheel so that Concord could get made over Factions.

@AverageGamer

Great, Jim Ryan bought Bungie twice then.

I think that after Concord, it doesnt matter at all how good/bad it is - it will be labelled as the 'Next Concord', from a company that is 'not listening to people or they would have cancelled it'.

The only way it doesnt fail horribly on release is if it comes around a time when Sony release a couple of amazing AAA single players, with others already announced.

@PuppetMaster I mean., it occurs to me that if they'd merged the two ideas and made Concord into "light-hearted spacefaring Payday with hero powers" instead of... well, Concord, the game might have actually found an audience.

Or at least more of an audience.

Given how quickly Concord died, I’ll give this one up until it’s beta free weekend before Sony pulls the plug and pushes out an urgent statement saying it’ll no longer make any live service game.

Playstation owners want single player games. It's that simple. Until Sony start delivering on that front, every single live service game arrives with a target on it regardless of its quality. Titles like Concord and Fairgames might of found a much warmer reception if we weren't all starving for what brought us to the playstation in the first place. The rumoured state of play later this month is starting to feel like make or break. Sony needs to lay their cards on the table, they've bungled the entire PS5 generation and need to start giving reasons to stick around.

That’s cool, I won’t be buying it still.

I firmly believe Fairgame$ will succeed because of its originality

"but I've heard internal chatter is very positive about it."

So was internal chatter about Concord very negative? I'm going to guess it was also very positive otherwise Concord would have been cancelled two years ago and Firewalk wouldn't even be a PlayStation studio now.

This is clearly not the time to try to raise excitement for Sony's next live service offering, no one is going to take that seriously. Regardless of what will come out of the aftermath of Concord, Fairgame$ will be in a seriously unenviable position. I suspect the people at Haven are pretty worried right now.

I'm looking forward to trying out Fairgames, but not if it's a paid game. After seeing what's happening with Concord I'm certain it will be f2p.

Even if the game is great, Sony are going to need the marketing job of a lifetime to save it. People want it to fail.

They need to market -alongside- single player games, it needs to be F2P, and it needs to be very cheap and generous. And they need to focus on gameplay, not story and cinematics. Story is not how you hook people initially on these big multiplayer games.

This is just irrelevant fluff.

Do you think that sentiment around Concord wasn't positive? I mean. Sony bought entire studio for that game. Of course they evaluated that game and I'm sure they have positive sentiment around it.
And how it ended up? Game that was taken offline in less than 2 weeks.

If Sony didn't understand Concord Message it may be time to send Fair Game Message there will be no $.

Seriously, it will be very interresting to see how Concord Message affected gaming industry. If it was more about "modern audience" tag rejection or rather whole GaaS rejection. One way or another this game is on choping block already.

I personally have below zero interest in GaaSes and I'm against releasing any new ones.

If it's anything like Payday, it'll have a decent audience to pull from.

To quote a Kingdom Hearts meme:

"Ok I believe you"

Maybe it'll last 3 weeks before being pulled. I like how he wasn't even sure of the name of the game but had heard good things about it.

The trailer for this game was as cringe as concords. Characters look awful and purple everywhere. I honestly do not know who the audience is they are trying to appeal to with these aesthetics. Is this what the mythical 'modern audience' likes? Maybe one day they will magically appear and we can ask them 😂

@crossbit Your idea could work but i say if Concord have a decent single player campaign where we can play with some characters while exploring the world and know the lore behind it, i think people could give more positive reaction for Concord.

I mean, one of the biggest problem with Concord is it doesn't have single player campaign. Meanwhile, a big chunk of PS fanbase especially fans since PS1 era, loves single player games. A lot of PS fans also don't want to play games where they forced to be competitive with other players.

There's some exception like Helldivers or racing and sports like MLB & GT which doesn't have single player campaign. But these games can be played solo without the need to play with other players.

Can't say I've got much hope for it. It's initial trailer was even more cringey than Concord's. Plus, Fairgame$'s name is just so eye-rolling.

Well at least it is going to be free now, that's for sure the biggest win out of all of this.

This game needed cancelling like yesterday

It’ll be another failure and deservedly so. Concord was bland, but the character design on this is woeful. Smug and arrogant, with the same tired cliches wrapped around paper thin gameplay.
I actually don’t want to see it cancelled because I want to watch it die. There’s a certain irony about a game who’s plot is “old rich white people bad” being released by a company who’s shareholders are (in the west, at least) old rich white people. They want you to spend money on this so they can rake it in.

"I've heard good things about Jade Raymond's game. Is it Fairgame$? I've heard good things about that. So there's a few, I know people who are a bit skeptical about the trailer, but I've heard internal chatter is very positive about it."

I read that quote and it sounded familiar...and then I understood why when I reread it in Trump's voice. Sounds like his style of delivery.

I’m sure the internal Concord chat was positive too… until it wasn’t. From my perspective it would be a miracle for gamers to buy into this given the current appetite.

I want to see more about how FairgameDollar is different from other games on the market that I already don't play. My initial impression is that it's a Payday-style game, with an unsavoury theme, but I'm open to seeing what it can do.

TBH, the competitive heist-style gameplay sounds on paper like it should have been what Concord went for given the Freegunner Crew were all supposed to be mercenaries for hire or whatever.

If it has any chance of being a hit Sony need to start showing gameplay now and not leaving it to a couple months before release. This way the studio can make any adjustment to feedback recieved.

I uh...I don't know about that one. Concord, for all it's faults, is more in line with what I'd personally want from Playstation as far as multiplayer shooters go. I like arena shooters. However if FairGame$ (Ugh I hate that name🤮) is like a weird Payday clone with a competitive angle... that just sounds like it's trying to be too many things at once. Plus the vibe of the game is just a complete turnoff to me based off the reveal trailer.

I don't know. I wanted to like Concord and to be fair Concord did at least have some cool ideas in it. FairGame$ on the other hand has an even more uphill battle to get my attention. Who knows maybe the gameplay will change my mind but after the Concord debacle I'm not confident.

Looking at this, it's not super optimistic imo. Especially as, while the game idea sounds cool, the look and aesthetic is a big turn-off. Companies forget most live service games have a strong identity but also a pretty broad target audience. Last thing you want is to alienate people if you're a live service.

I'm sure that after Concord they are brimming with confidence about FairgameDollar.

Internal positivity means next to nothing. They need focus testing with average players not afraid to speak their minds, and to take feedback seriously as opposed to calling it "white noise" and moving on.

I do think Fairgame$ is in a somewhat better position than Concord despite its widely hated CG reveal trailer, because it's taking on a less exploited subgenre. But if they don't change their incredibly out of touch approach, they'll have yet another bomb on their hands.

My opinion is the same as yesterday, none. I cannot/ should not operate based on the idea of "X said it's good". When it's out, I'll decide. Concord is proof that making opinions beforehand is damaging, both positive and negative.

I assume it's some sort of heist game, not for me thanks. Also, couldn't care less about vague CGI trailers.

Helldivers 2 was great, Concord was a stinker so who knows.
I personally don't play MP/GAAS games, not my thing, but I wish them a ton of success.

Sony seems to think it may have a banger on its hands.

So what are we suggesting here? That Sony didn't have confidence in Concord before it's release too? Did they not believe that to be a 'banger' too? Because if that is not the case, then perhaps Concord should not have released as surely Sony needs to have absolute confidence in all their first party games...

Well its main competition is probably Payday 3 so hopefully it's a lot better than that.

@Fiendish-Beaver

'Sony seems to think it may have a banger on its hands'

Maybe Sony has developed an obsession with sausages 🤔😊

I don’t know why that would matter. I’m sure the internal dialogue for Concord was pretty positive and then when the gamers see it, you know the hate they carried for Concord could easily pass on to that game.

Hell, gamers had a lot of hate for hell divers 2 up until it’s release.

Edit: I made this statement before I read the comments in this article and you can see exactly what I’m talking about. They’re already negative in the comments.

Same was said about Concord and look where we are now.
Just cut your losses and cancel Fairgame$.

Do fans of other entertainment mediums sit around and wish for new and upcoming releases to fail and then gleefully wring their hands when they do whilst bemoaning the ones that become successful?

What a weird type of fandom this is.

Hopefully they give the characters and world some personality unlike concord.

@hi_drnick Yes, all the time. Witness the reactions to recent output from Lucas Film under Disney, or Disney's recent live-action remakes.

In books, there are plenty with vendettas against particular authors for their perceived stances, e.g. JK Rowling.

Don't get me started on music...

@OmegaStriver I don't recall any hate for Helldivers 2 before it released. If anything, Helldivers 2 wasn't really on the radar - Sony had done minimal marketing and only really through its own channels - so if anything players were overall indifferent. Then when it popped off everyone was pleasantly surprised.

With Concord the game immediately attracted derision and accusations of being derivative of OW and GotG. The vibe I got was that it was actively disliked from the first reveal.

Putting the dollar sign for an 'S' and calling it "fair" is almost a step too far. What kind of irony is this?

I'll take it with a grain of salt. I remember some of these insiders, and even Hermen himself, saying the same about Concord before its teaser was shown.

Also, he says that Sony left the game to die, but if that were the case, why spend millions of dollars for Secret Level to produce an episode for it? It just doesn't sit right with me, unless they are planning a big comeback in the future but only time will tell.

@jrt87 I don't understand who's greenlighting all these terrible design based decisions. The dollar sign is so childish and unappealing. The whole cast of concord were equally unappealing. Who are they trying to impress?

@Sequel They want all the young kid's skibidi bap cap streamer money, and free advertisement, but don't seem to realise they have a limited appeal to new audiences, who are thoroughly entrenched in 44 seasons of fortnite.

Fairgame$ at the moment:

Articles about games with ladies or poc in them make it easy to find the people not worth listening to her, so thanks for that.

Don't think it's fair to write this one off without some extended gameplay first. I think the gameplay is far more ripe for the pickings in the current slew of offerings.

I think I'm quietly hopeful and this is coming from someone who's not into multiplayer stuff.

No interest in it but not going to dogpile it like the chuds did to Concord.

@riceNpea
(re the talking style) - i read this earlier and didnt notice, but you are so right (no pun intended).

"Trust us. I know we greenlighted 12+ live service games, and although we've cancelled most of them - THIS one will be good." Sony funded these instead of funding more single player games.

@Ludacritz didn't sony bend get their biggest budget yet for their new single player game? they are working on single player games? i know its crazy to think but they still are making and funding single player games. the problem is people keep expecting these amazing single player games that take too long to make. and the world shutting down for 2 years didn't help things either.

I literally never heard of this game till today. But if it comes with a price tag, online only PVP mode, and a mandatory PSN sign-up for PC, it'll be DOA too.

The signs are not good. It'll have to offer something pretty special to overcome the negative sentiments associated with what's been sacrificed to make all these live service games. I don't like wishing things to fail, but I'm so sceptical when it comes to the basic premise of these types of games and their initial intentions.

As with Concord, nothing I've seen in the trailer for Fairgame$ suggests they're offering anything new or interesting. Why couldn't it be a single player mission based heist game with co-op, similar to Goldeneye or Perfect Dark? Maybe not completely original, but with a lot of effort put into some new ideas or mechanics would be so much more appealing. What I'm suggesting might just be Payday, I've never played it so I can't say.

we need a reality check at times, and those single players games do take time to make,

also, let’s wait until we see gameplay

I don't want anything to do with multiplayer games, even with online games I only play the single player one (like genshin and maybe later, zzz). It's because it's not the reason I bought playstation console.

@Rich33 it's true isn't it! 😆😆

@twitchtvpat I'm saying they've funded more failures this gen then putting those funds towards what they excel at. This generation has had half a dozen PS5 first party games. And I mean PS5 only games.

Sony sent it out to die, true. However up until the reactions to the trailer and then beta tests I think they'd have said the same as they're saying about Fairgames now.
Both games will no doubt have big budgets and high production values as well as serviceable gameplay but that certainly wasn't enough to help Concord with it's pricing model and character designs.
The cringey tone of that first Fairgames trailer doesn't inspire confidence...

Oh yes, I'm certain Payday: But Sony will be beloved. After all, Overwatch of the Galaxy: But Sony was!

This is going to sound really horrible, but I’m excited for this one and not because it looks good. It’s the last (that we know of) when it comes to the lineup of “live services”. So once it’s out we can look forward to some actual good content, either that or PlayStation will just go and off itself. The problem is that right now there is literally nothing coming out that can justify the enormous price point of the ps5 pro (700 to 800 CAD is too high, man, especially when developers are consistently failing to optimize for the console) and I don’t see this game doing any better than concord because as an industry we’re hitting enormous live service fatigue. Remember when WoW came out? Everyone wanted to be the next wow killer. Where are they now? Gamigo? Now everyone wants to compete with Destiny, and even that game is dying due to costing too much. A bad and destructive trend that needs to end, and while I admire the talent behind Haven I don’t want anymore of these things.

Most people agree which is why Concord is where it is.

They'd have to be absolutely insane to release this anytime soon. It doesn't matter if it's nothing remotely like concord or if it's incredible, it's currently being grouped together with concord, that's a death sentence in itself regardless, nothing can survive being grouped in with that in the next 12-18months.

Even if it's ready to go anytime in the next 18 months they need to just give the devs more time to polish it further or simply just sit on it as nintendo do and wait until concord is a distant memory before they think about releasing it, you probably don't even want to show anything either in that timeframe, just stay quiet.

First, whoever greenlit the name "Fairgame$" should be fired. Secondly, after the Concord disaster, nobody is going near this game. Not anyone paying attention at least.

@Ludacritz the problem isn't the funding the development to make the quality of games people expect , takes a long time doesn't really help things. like i already pointed out , they gave sony bend their biggest budget yet to work on their new single player game. its not like they took the funding from single player games to do those other games. and releasing a console during a pandemic didn't help game development timing either.

There talent is probably worth something but does that mean the right staff have the right mindset of the audience in mind this time?

This is just Sony's Pay Day 3 isn't it? Or Crime Boss Rockay City was I forget and had to look it up again and that came and went and was ok quality but also laughable.

Audiences may be picky but when game devs make such garbage what are we supposed to be excited for? The game design is one thing of safe or pathetic then exciting and the worlds/characters/movesets lack appeal as well.

Knowing their audience when they really don't, expecting trending audiences when they don't even know what they are like or what games they play, why they like them, what fun they have with them. Just stereotypes they hear about They clearly know them.

If their game design is actually GOOD and not a waste of people's time? I've only heard about them from articles not their prior games so I have no context I'll be real about that.

If they actually think about things and Sony doesn't go eh just give us your live services money you sheep and say stupid professional sounding nonsense again and think were stupid no matter how product they are but don't really care unless the money is coming in.

They can want their multiplayer money, but if the studios don't try hard enough or Sony intervenes and tells them to do such things and ruins the product we know it wasn't the devs. If the devs are that stupid about it that's their own fault for not knowing enough what audineces want or what makes it fun not just reskined clones and make something distinct.

If MMOs keep being just as bland/clone like too same problem MP shooters have to follow a formula then competition we had for racing/shooters/platformers in the 2000s and they were way better and I buy them up because they were so good at competing with ideas.

@twitchtvpat and I'm saying they wasted time on these failing gamble projects rather than lean into their strengths.

@Doctor_BK internal at sony said the game looks good.
This was also said by concord internally.
Gamers are not going to buy a game because the creator said it was good.
This game just looks even worse.
Watchdogs with payday.

That they showed no gameplay probably means it is going to bomb like concord.

@Ludacritz they could have made 10 astrobot games for half the price.
Still need a wukong ape escape game

@Ludacritz i think you sound confused. they are still making single player games , they didn't stop funding or working on games ,instead of making these. they made new studios and hired more people to work on these other games.

@twitchtvpat You sound confused. You're debating my opinion that these should never have been funded to begin with and Sony should've kept prioritizing their strengths. In my opinion

@Ludacritz you clearly aren't listening thats fine. but i'm not confused at all , they clearly are still working on single player games , they never stopped.

@twitchtvpat never said they were.