It’s official – Concord is Dead
Huge PlayStation Failure – Concord’s servers will be closed down on September 6th
Last month, PlayStation and Firewalk Studios launched Concord, a new hero-shooter style game for PC and PlayStation 5. Now, just two weeks after launch, Sony has announced that Concord is dead. The game’s servers will be closed on September 6th, and the game has been removed from sale. Everyone who purchased the game digitally will be refunded.
Last week, we reported that Concord was unable to achieve a peak player count of 700 players on Steam. On PC, the game was a flop, and on PlayStation 5 the game didn’t do much better. The game “didn’t land the way we’d intended”, which is why the game is going offline. Firewalk Studios is now going to “explore options”, though it remains to be seen if Concord could be revived in a different form.
Now, Concord has been delisted on Steam, the Epic Games Store, and the PlayStation Store. Over the coming days, gamers who purchased the game from these storefronts will be receiving a refund. If you purchased the game physically, you should seek a refund from your retailer.
below is what Firewalk Studios’ Game Director, Ryan Ellis, had to say about Concord’s closure.
Concord fans – we’ve been listening closely to your feedback since the launch of Concord on PlayStation 5 and PC and want to thank everyone who has joined the journey aboard the Northstar. Your support and the passionate community that has grown around the game has meant the world to us.
However, while many qualities of the experience resonated with players, we also recognize that other aspects of the game and our initial launch didn’t land the way we’d intended. Therefore, at this time, we have decided to take the game offline beginning September 6, 2024, and explore options, including those that will better reach our players.
While we determine the best path ahead, Concord sales will cease immediately and we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased the game for PS5 or PC. If you purchased the game for PlayStation 5 from the PlayStation Store or PlayStation Direct, a refund will be issued back to your original payment method.
Customers who purchased from other digital storefronts will also be refunded.
We’ll keep you updated and thank you again to all the Freegunners who have joined us in the Concord galaxy.
Concord is Dead
Concord was always going to fail. The signs were obvious as soon as the game was launched. Not many people purchased the game, and fewer and fewer players kept playing the game. Eventually, there were too few players to keep the game operating properly. After all, multiplayer matchmaking only works if there are players to make a match.
Concord took 8 years and $100 million to develop. Overwatch was the clear inspiration for this game. Evidently, Concord arrived far too late to profit from the “hero shooter trend. If nothing else, this failure should show game publishers that trend following is no longer profitable, especially now that games take so long to develop. If you want to follow a trend, you will need to do it quickly, and modern game development isn’t quick.
Recent gaming successes like Palworld, Black Myth Wukong, and Helldivers 2 proves that unique games have the potential to hugely successful. Publishers need to learn this lesson before ploughing millions into the next gaming trend. Perhaps smaller budgets across a range or smaller, more unique, games would be a better investment?
You can join the discussion on the Death of Concord on the OC3D Forums.
