In a world full of hero shooters, it seems that Concord couldn’t find its footing. Just shy of two weeks after its full release on the market, Sony is pulling the plug on its latest live service effort, offering refunds to players who put their faith in the product.
In an official post on the PlayStation Forums, Firewalk Studios Game Direct Ryan Ellis let fans know that while they have heard feedback on how to make the game better and more accessible to players, sales would be immediately ceased. Concord will also be going offline on September 6, giving players who have purchased the game only three more days to play. It does not appear that there are plans to make this title free-to-play like Foamstars at this time.
As a day-one console and PC release, it was hard to anticipate just how poorly Concord would do when compared to some of the other giants of the industry. Looking at the SteamDB charts, Concord had a peak player base of only 660 players, which compared to other Sony titles, such as Helldivers 2, pales in comparison.
It’s currently unclear whether Concord will be going offline for an undetermined amount of time before relaunching as a new product, akin to other games such as Final Fantasy XIV, or if the game will be going offline permanently at this point. While I did not embark on the Concord adventure, those who did decide to jump in mentioned that the game was rather promising, with great visuals and satisfying gunplay.
After being in development for 8 years, it must be heartbreaking to see a product come to a close this quickly. It’s also difficult to know exactly what will stick in a rapidly evolving gaming landscape, and it seems that the colorful world of Concord just didn’t resonate the way that Firewalk Studios had hoped it would.