In a surprising move, Sony pulled the plug on its latest shooter game, Concord, which was developed by Firewalk Studios over eight years ago. After a terrible launch and low player count, Concord only lived to see two weeks before Sony decided to shut down the game’s servers.
What Happened to Concord?
Concord was released on August 23 for PC and the PlayStation 5, with a sales number of around 25000. The game became a bust for Sony and Firewalk Studios, with it also being the debut Title for the studio, which was acquired by Sony in 2023. Concord was an ambitious Action-Shooter with a Live service formula around it. Players were not able to match, find lobbies, and play the game.
When Concord launched, due to low sales and stiff competition with other Free-to-Play titles in its category, like Apex Legends and Overwatch 2, the game failed to create a starting point for itself. Players who bought the game were unable to find lobbies and experience the game. Concord also faced massive competition from major titles like Black Myth: Wukong, which was released on the same day, and Star Wars Outlaws, which was released just a week after.
What Now
Concord Game Director Ryan Ellis discussed his vision of the game in the Playstation Blog. He noted that it failed to meet Firewalk Studios and Sony’s expectations. Players who bought digital copies of the game will be able to get a refund for the title.
Steam Store – Steam will automatically refund players who purchased the game within the next few days. You will receive a confirmation once the refund has been processed.
Epic Games Store – Epic Games Store will initiate refunds for all players who bought the game within the next few days. You will be contacted directly to confirm the refund process.
Other Retailer Refunds – If you purchased a physical copy of the game from a retailer other than PlayStation, please follow the specific refund process of the store where you made your purchase to receive your refund.
Summary
While Sony and Firewalk never revealed the budget for the game, it is estimated that Concord had a cost of around 100 Million USD to around 200 Million USD. It is still unsure to say what will happen to Concord in the future as the Server for the game has been shut down until further notice, with many claiming the game might be re-launched as a Free-To-Play title and with a different strategy behind it. We can only assume the best, but it is for sure that Concord was a big blow to Sony and its plans for Live-Service Games.
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