Concord (video game)

Defunct 2024 video game

2024 video game

Concord

Developer(s)| Firewalk Studios
Publisher(s)| Sony Interactive Entertainment
Director(s)| Ryan Ellis
Composer(s)| Daniel Pemberton
Engine| Unreal Engine 5[1]
Platform(s)|

* PlayStation 5
* Windows

Release| August 23, 2024
Genre(s)| Hero shooter
Mode(s)| Multiplayer

Concord was a 2024 multiplayer first-person hero shooter game developed by Firewalk Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows on August 23, 2024. Set in a retro-futuristic sci-fi world inhabited by coexisting humans and humanoid aliens, the game revolved around battles between teams of competing mercenaries.

Concord received mixed reviews from critics. Developed over eight years, the game experienced unprecedentedly low sales for a project of its size, and was shut down on September 6, 2024, two weeks after its launch, with all sold copies being refunded. On October 29, Sony announced the closure of Firewalk Studios and the halt of the game's development.

## Premise

[edit]

In the far future, an area of the galaxy called the Wilds has been isolated by the Tempest, a storm-like phenomenon that destroys anything it touches, and may be expanding.[2] The Wilds are ruled by a mega-corporation called the Guild, which holds monopolies on space travel and commercial agriculture, among other things, and enforces this with a large private military. Defying the Guild is a loose association of smugglers, pirates and mercenaries called Freegunners, who travel space to work for hire. Freegunners help each other against the Guild, but also clash during missions.[3][4]

## Gameplay

[edit]

Gameplay screenshot of Concord. The map's capture points are depicted at the top-center of the screen.

Concord was a sci-fi player-versus-player hero shooter video game played from a first-person perspective.[5] The game featured a variety of human and alien characters, each with different abilities, such as robot legs for high jumps and diamond skin for enhanced damage absorption. Teams of five Freegunners fought each other.[6] There were six game modes: Takedown, Trophy Hunt (variants of team deathmatch), Area Control (control points), Signal Hunt, Clash Point (variants of king of the hill), and Cargo Run (similar to steal-the-bacon, with teams competing to retrieve crates from a central area).

The initial preview videos revealed five playable characters, and the game released with sixteen.[7] The game was expected to have free post-launch updates that would have added more characters and maps.[6] The game would have published weekly new cutscenes about the characters and storyline.[8]

## Development and release

[edit]

Concord was the only game developed by Firewalk Studios, a studio located in Bellevue, Washington, and founded in 2018. Firewalk initially developed Concord in collaboration with its parent company, ProbablyMonsters, until the studio was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment in April 2023.[9]

Firewalk Studios officially announced Concord during the PlayStation Showcase on May 24, 2023, with a CGI trailer.[10] A beta for the game was released in July 2024 to underwhelming player numbers. The game was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows on August 23, 2024.[11][12]

Designer Jon Weisnewski said the game was in development for around eight years.[13] According to video game podcast host Colin Moriarty, citing an unnamed Concord developer, the game had development costs of $400 million, although this figure was disputed by several PlayStation developers on social media.[14][15][16] Moriarty said the game had been intended as a tentpole title by Sony, who believed it would eventually expand into a major franchise akin to Star Wars. Reportedly, an internal culture of workplace toxic positivity and a belief that it was impossible for the game to fail caused critical feedback to be ignored.[14][15][16]

## Reception

[edit]

### Critical response

[edit]

Reception

Aggregate scoresAggregator| Score

|

Metacritic| (PS5) 62/100[17]
(PC) 65/100[18]
OpenCritic| 22%[19]
Review scoresPublication| Score

|

Digital Trends| 3/5[20]
Eurogamer| 3/5[21]
GamesRadar+| 3/5[22]
Hardcore Gamer| 3.5/5[23]
IGN| 7/10[24]
PC Gamer (US)| 45/100[29]
PCMag| 3.5/5[25]
Push Square| 7/10[26]
Shacknews| 7/10[27]
Video Games Chronicle| 3/5[28]

Concord received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[17][18] On OpenCritic, the game is recommended by 22% of 62 critic reviews.[19]

Push Square rated it seven out of ten, and wrote: "Firewalk's debut may not be out of this world, but it's genuinely pretty good overall."[26] Digital Trends rated it three out of five, and wrote: "Concord has the bones of a fun multiplayer game, but it's missing the meat."[20] Video Games Chronicle rated it three out of five, and was critical of the $40 price, advising players to wait until the game was available on PlayStation Plus.[28] Eurogamer rated it three out of five, attributing the rating to the heroes' "muddled" character design, writing: "The heroes seem to be visually either under or overdesigned".[21] Nova Smith of PC Gamer rated Concord 45 out of 100, describing it as "underbaked, overpriced, and dated" while criticizing the game for its "agonizingly slow movement speed", uninspired map design and "forgettable" cast of characters.[29]

### Sales

[edit]

Upon release, the game was a commercial failure that failed to exceed 700 simultaneous players on the Steam platform, far lower than the 400,000 initial Steam players of Helldivers 2, a multiplayer game released by Sony the same year. PCGamesN attributed its poor sales to a combination of a lack of uniqueness and a high price while competing in a heavily saturated market dominated by free-to-play games like Overwatch 2 and Valorant.[30]

One week after launch, the game ranked 40th on the PlayStation Store in terms of sales, with a player count on Steam measured at 162 on August 29.[31] It was estimated that less than a week after release, the game had sold a total of around 25,000 units, with sales of 10,000 on Steam and 15,000 on PlayStation.[32]

Due to the magnitude of its commercial failures, it is cited by various publications, including The Guardian,[33] Kotaku,[34] Metro,[35] PC Gamer,[36] ComicBook.com,[37] and Inside Gaming,[38] as one of the biggest failures in video game history.

## Shutdown

[edit]

On September 3, Sony announced that Concord would be taken offline and that all copies of the game that had been sold up to that point would be refunded, citing that "aspects of the game and our initial launch didn't land the way we'd intended" and that they would "explore options, including those that will better reach our players". The game was delisted from digital storefronts,[39] and the game's servers went offline just after 17:00 (UTC) on September 6, 2024.[40]

The swift shutdown was attributed to several factors, including Concord's failure to differentiate itself from established hero shooter games like Overwatch and Apex Legends, its lack of innovative gameplay mechanics, its generic character roster, and its poor map design.[41] The game also faced criticism for being a full-priced release in a genre where most competitors are free-to-play, as well as its eight-year development cycle making it feel outdated upon release, with it struggling to align with evolving market trends and player expectations.[42]

Due to the commercial failure of the game, its game director Ryan Ellis announced to Firewalk's staff that he would be stepping down from his game director role and moving into a support role instead.[43]

In October 2024, Sony shut down the game permanently and closed Firewalk Studios.[44] This made Concord the second shortest-living online game to date, eclipsed only by the eight-day service life of The Culling II.[45][46]

## In other media

[edit]

The Amazon Prime Video anthology series Secret Level features an episode adapting Concord, titled "Concord: Tale of the Implacable", depicting the founders of the Freegunner faction.[47][48] Despite the game's shutdown, the episode was released as scheduled on December 17, 2024.[49][50]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Morgan, Thomas (July 17, 2024). "Concord: Guardians of the Galaxy meets a next-gen Overwatch?". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on September 1, 2024. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
2. ^ Swan, Cameron (August 29, 2024). "Concord: Lore of the Tempest Disaster Explained". Game Rant. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
3. ^ Swan, Cameron (August 30, 2024). "Concord: The Lore of the Guild Explained". Game Rant. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
4. ^ Swan, Cameron (August 27, 2024). "Concord: The Lore of the Freegunners Explained". Game Rant. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
5. ^ Dinsdale, Ryan (May 30, 2024). "Concord Gets New Cinematic and Gameplay Trailer, and a Release Date - State of Play 2024". IGN. Archived from the original on August 9, 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
6. ^ a b Yang, George (May 30, 2024). "PlayStation's Concord is coming to both PS5 and PC this August". Digital Trends. Archived from the original on September 1, 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
7. ^ Gurwin, Gabe; Carr, James (May 30, 2024). "New Sony Game Concord's Debut Trailer Gives Off Big Guardians Of The Galaxy Energy, Beta And Date Confirmed". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 8, 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
8. ^ Middler, Jordan (June 27, 2024). "First Look: PlayStation's Concord is Breaking New Ground in How Live Service Games Tell Stories". Video Games Chronicle. Archived from the original on August 28, 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
9. ^ Peters, Jay (April 20, 2023). "PlayStation acquires Firewalk Studios, which is building an 'original AAA multiplayer game'". The Verge. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
10. ^ Ellis, Ryan (May 24, 2023). "Introducing Concord—a new PVP multiplayer FPS from Firewalk Studios coming to PS5 and PC". PlayStation.Blog. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
11. ^ Gach, Ethan (May 30, 2024). "Our First Look At Concord, PlayStation's Guardians Of The Galaxy-Infused Hero Shooter". Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 1, 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
12. ^ Ramsay, Robert (July 18, 2024). "There's Already Concern Over Concord's Player Count as Open Beta Begins". Push Square. Archived from the original on July 30, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
13. ^ Warren, Tom (September 3, 2024). "Sony is taking Concord offline on September 6th after disastrous launch". The Verge. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
14. ^ a b Blake, Vikki (September 21, 2024). "Concord reportedly cost £300m [$400m] to make amid a culture of 'toxic positivity'". Eurogamer. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
15. ^ a b Parijat, Shubhankar (September 20, 2024). "Concord Had a Budget of Around $400 Million – Rumour". GamingBolt. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
16. ^ a b Middler, Jordan (September 20, 2024). "Sony's Concord reportedly cost $400M to develop". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
17. ^ a b "Concord for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on September 5, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
18. ^ a b "Concord for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
19. ^ a b "Concord Reviews". OpenCritic. August 27, 2024. Archived from the original on September 9, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
20. ^ a b Colantonio, Giovanni (August 23, 2024). "Concord review: Promising PS5 shooter is lost in space for now". Digital Trends. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
21. ^ a b Lane, Rick (August 27, 2024). "Concord review - a hero shooter that nails the shooting, but fumbles the heroes". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on August 30, 2024. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
22. ^ Tyrer, Ben (August 28, 2024). "Concord review: "Plenty of characters and little personality"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
23. ^ Dunsmore, Kevin (August 27, 2024). "Review: Concord". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on August 27, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
24. ^ Northup, Travis (August 27, 2024). "Concord Review". IGN. Archived from the original on September 3, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
25. ^ Cuevas, Zackery (September 1, 2024). "Concord (for PlayStation 5) Review". PCMag. Archived from the original on September 3, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
26. ^ a b Barker, Sammy (August 24, 2024). "Concord Review (PS5)". Push Square. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
27. ^ Erskine, Donovan (August 30, 2024). "Concord review: An expedition to find the next big thing". Shacknews. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
28. ^ a b Middler, Jordan (August 24, 2024). "Review: Concord is a good shooter divorced from the reality of its genre". Video Games Chronicle. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
29. ^ a b Smith, Nova (August 28, 2024). "Concord review". pcgamer. Archived from the original on September 4, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
30. ^ Nelson, Will (August 24, 2024). "Concord can't even reach 1,000 Steam players at launch, and here's why". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
31. ^ Swan, Cameron (August 29, 2024). "What to Expect from Concord's Post-Launch Support". Game Rant. Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
32. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (August 30, 2024). "Concord Is Estimated to Have Sold Only 25,000 Units. Here's Why Analysts Think It's Failing". IGN. Archived from the original on August 31, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
33. ^ MacDonald, Keza (October 30, 2024). "Pushing Buttons: the biggest flop in video game history caps off a brutal year for game development | Games | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
34. ^ "A Video Game Flopped Harder Than Anything At The Box Office This Year, And The Mainstream Press Barely Noticed". Kotaku. October 18, 2024. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
35. ^ "Concord on PS5 and PC shut down by Sony in biggest PlayStation flop ever". Metro. September 3, 2024. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
36. ^ Tyler WildeContributions from Morgan Park (October 30, 2024). "Is Concord the biggest live service failure of all time? Here's how it stacks up next to other major flops". PC Gamer. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
37. ^ Fischer, Tyler (September 6, 2024). "Concord and the Other Biggest Flops of This Generation". ComicBook.com. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
38. ^ Straw, Mike (September 27, 2023). "Game Over: The Biggest Flops In Gaming History". Insider Gaming. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
39. ^ Dinsdale, Ryan (September 3, 2024). "Concord Is Suddenly Getting Pulled Offline With Sony Promising Full Refunds". IGN. Archived from the original on September 3, 2024. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
40. ^ Carpenter, Lincoln (September 6, 2024). "Streamers captured Concord's final moments as the servers went offline: 'What a huge f***ing honor'". PC Gamer. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
41. ^ Webster, Andrew (September 4, 2024). "Concord was worse than bad — it was forgettable". The Verge. Archived from the original on September 4, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
42. ^ Kim, Matt (August 29, 2024). "Why Concord Failed". IGN. Archived from the original on September 4, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
43. ^ Gach, Ethan (September 19, 2024). "Concord Director Steps Down As Studio Behind Historic PlayStation Flop Waits For Sony's Decision". Kotaku. G/O Media. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
44. ^ Warren, Tom (October 29, 2024). "Sony closes Concord studio and permanently shuts down the game". The Verge. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
45. ^ Zwiezen, Zack (September 5, 2024). "These 9 Live-Service Games Launched And Died In Record Time: #2 - Concord". Kotaku. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
46. ^ Zwiezen, Zack (September 5, 2024). "These 9 Live-Service Games Launched And Died In Record Time: #1 - The Culling 2". Kotaku. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
47. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (August 21, 2024). "Secret Level: Every Video Game In The New Gamescom Trailer". IGN. Archived from the original on August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 25, 2024. "it's already getting an animated spinoff thanks to Secret Level."
48. ^ Washenko, Anna (August 20, 2024). "Animated video game anthology series Secret Level is coming to Prime Video". Engadget. Archived from the original on September 1, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
49. ^ Bailey, Kat (September 5, 2024). "Concord Will Remain in Prime Video's Secret Level Despite Game's Sudden Cancellation - Source". IGN. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
50. ^ Maas, Jennifer (December 11, 2024). "Amazon's 'Secret Level' Bosses Talk 'Troubling' 'Pac-Man' Concept and Why They Didn't Scrap Episode Based on Canceled Game 'Concord'". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved December 12, 2024.