Concord Was Short-Lived, But Not The Shortest-Lived

The launch of Concord by Firewalk Studios was met with a deafening silence, resulting in the rapid shutdown of its servers. Delve into the details of this game's swift closure and the factors that led to its downfall.

Firewalk Studios’ Freegunners Fail to Fly, Servers to go Offline Two Weeks After Launch

No Hype Leads to Hibernation

Firewalk Studios' 5v5 hero shooter, Concord, is facing an abrupt end just two weeks post-launch. Game Director Ryan Ellis announced this decision on the PlayStation Blog on Tuesday, September 3rd, attributing the closure to the game's failure to meet expectations.

"While many qualities of the experience resonated with players, we also recognize other aspects of the game and our launch didn’t land the way we’d intended," Ellis stated. "Therefore, at this time, we have decided to take the game offline beginning September 6, 2024."

The announcement detailed automatic refunds for all digital purchases made on Steam, Epic Games Store, and the PlayStation Store. Players with physical copies were advised to adhere to their retailer's return policy.

Firewalk and Sony had ambitious plans for Concord. The acquisition of Firewalk Studios by Sony underscored their faith in the studio's potential, buoyed by positive feedback from both Ellis and Firewalk’s studio head, Tony Hsu. The game was slated to feature in an episode of the upcoming Prime Video anthology series, Secret Level, and Ellis had outlined a robust post-launch roadmap, including a planned first-season launch in October and weekly cutscenes.

However, the game's dismal performance necessitated a drastic change in plans. Only three cutscenes were released—two from the game's beta and one shortly before the closure announcement—leaving the future of the characters' adventures uncertain.

What Doomed Concord?

Concord's downward spiral began early, despite an eight-year development cycle. The game failed to generate significant player interest, peaking at just 697 concurrent players and dropping to only 45 at the time of writing. These figures exclude PlayStation 5 users, but even then, the numbers pale in comparison to the beta peak of 2,388 players, far below expectations for a Sony-published triple-A title.

Several factors contributed to Concord's anticipated failure. Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad highlighted that, despite strong gameplay mechanics and being "content complete," the game struggled to differentiate itself from existing hero shooters, offering little incentive for players to switch.

"The game itself wasn’t necessarily innovative and the character designs were uninspired," Ahmad noted. "It didn’t stand out and felt stuck in the OW1 era."

Additionally, its $40 price tag put it at a competitive disadvantage against popular free-to-play titles like Marvel Rivals, Apex Legends, and Valorant. Coupled with minimal marketing efforts, as Ahmad pointed out, "it’s no wonder no one purchased it."

Ryan Ellis hinted at future possibilities, stating that Firewalk Studios will "explore options, including those that will better reach" players. A potential revival remains on the horizon, as evidenced by the recent comeback of the MOBA hero shooter Gigantic, which successfully transitioned from a live-service to a buy-to-play model six years after its servers shut down.

While some advocate for making Concord free-to-play, akin to Square Enix’s Foamstars, this alone won't resolve the game's core issues of bland character designs and sluggish gameplay. A comprehensive overhaul, similar to the successful redesign of Final Fantasy XIV, may be necessary to breathe new life into the game.

Game8 rated Concord a 56 out of 100, lamenting that "it’s almost tragic to see eight years of work culminate in such a visually appealing, yet lifeless, game." For more insights on Concord, you can read our detailed review below.