Photo credit: arstechnica.com
Sony has announced the immediate removal of its online shooter Concord from sale and confirmed that it will go offline on September 6, a mere two weeks post-launch on August 23. Ryan Ellis, Game Director at Firewalk Studios, stated on Tuesday that any players who have purchased the game for PC or PlayStation 5 will receive refunds.
Despite the refund offerings, the financial impact may not be as significant as anticipated. Analyst Simon Carless from GameDiscoverCo estimated that sales of Concord totaled around 25,000 units across both platforms. Furthermore, data from Circana indicated that only 0.2 percent of active PS5 users played the game last Monday, positioning it as the 147th most-played title that day.
According to SteamDB, Concord garnered a peak player count of fewer than 700 shortly after its launch. On the PlayStation side, trophy tracking site PSNProfiles recorded a modest figure of just over 1,300 players owning the game, especially when compared to other recent titles like Star Wars Outlaws and Black Myth: Wukong, which boasted significantly higher ownership rates.
In his announcement, Ellis acknowledged the mixed reception of the game, admitting that while certain elements resonated with players, others failed to meet expectations at launch.
Analyzing the Downfall
The rapid closure of Concord clearly deviates from the aspirations set by Firewalk Studios and Sony. Less than a month ago, Ellis was expressing enthusiasm about the game’s imminent launch, hinting at a major content drop scheduled for October and emphasizing the long-term vision they had for player engagement with custom crew buildouts.
“We see launch as just the beginning,” Ellis stated in an August post, underscoring their commitment to developing the game alongside their audience.
As the inaugural project from Firewalk Studios—originally established in 2018 before being acquired by Sony last year—Concord underwent approximately eight years of development. Lead character designer Jon Weisnewski indicated that the project started when the genre was defined by titles like Blizzard’s Overwatch, indicating changing market dynamics and expectations by the time Concord was ready for release.
The game was first unveiled at Sony’s PlayStation Showcase last May, and a playable version was showcased shortly thereafter. However, the market response upon launch indicated a saturation of live service team shooters that Concord failed to differentiate itself within. Garnering support from only 24 percent of reviewers tracked by OpenCritic and achieving a poor Metacritic score of 65 highlighted its lackluster reception.
The early demise of Concord draws parallels to Amazon’s failed project Crucible, which struggled in a similar overcrowded market before its eventual shutdown. Notably, Concord‘s announcement leaves a possibility for a revival. Ellis mentioned that Firewalk and Sony would assess future strategies to better connect with players, suggesting that a transition to a free-to-play model might be in consideration.
Source
arstechnica.com