In
a
staggering
move,
Sony
and
Firewalk
Studios
are
admitting
defeat
and
shutting
down
the
Concord
just
two
weeks
after
it
launched
on
PS5
and
PC.
The
game
has
been
pulled
from
sale,
and
will
officially
go
offline
on
September
6.

If
you’ve
been
keeping
up
with
the
news
then
you’ll
already
know
why:
nobody
is
actually
playing
the
game.

On
PC,
the
live-service
shooter
failed
to
draw
in
even
a
thousand
concurrent
players
on
launch
day.
That
number
has
only
declined.
Over
the
last
few
days,
Concord
has
struggled
to
get
over
100
concurrent
players.
Some
hope
was
held
that
the
numbers
were
doing
better
on
PlayStation
5,
but
that’s
clearly
not
the
case.

“Concord
fans
—
we’ve
been
listening
closely
to
your
feedback
since
the
launch
of
Concord
on
PlayStation
5
and
PC
and
want
to
thank
everyone
who
has
joined
the
journey
aboard
the
Northstar,”

game
director
Ryan
Ellis
wrote
on
a
PlayStation
Blog
post.
“Your
support
and
the
passionate
community
that
has
grown
around
the
game
has
meant
the
world
to
us.”

“However,
while
many
qualities
of
the
experience
resonated
with
players,
we
also
recognize
that
other
aspects
of
the
game
and
our
initial
launch
didn’t
land
the
way
we’d
intended.
Therefore,
at
this
time,
we
have
decided
to
take
the
game
offline
beginning
September
6,
2024,
and
explore
options,
including
those
that
will
better
reach
our
players.”

The
language
used
is
important
to
keep
in
mind
because
while
the
game
is
being
taken
offline
and
removed
from
sale,
Sony
and
Firewalk
clearly
want
to
find
some
way
to
bring
Concord
back.
The
obvious
answer
is,
of
course,
to
resurrect
the
title
as
free-to-play
where
the
low
barrier
of
entry
might
allow
it
a
chance
to
draw
in
some
curious
players.
Mind
you,
one
of
the
biggest
reasons
for
not
liking
the
game
players
have
mentioned
is
the
art-style
which
drew
dislikes
the
moment
it
was
shown.

However,
while
Sony
and
Firewalk
do
seem
inclined
to
bring
Concord
back
in
some
form,
Sony
have
also
talked
about
toning
down
their
push
for
live-service.
Could
Concord
be
scrapped
entirely?
It
would
be
a
bitter
pill
for
Sony
to
swallow,
but
without
drastically
changing
the
art
and
redesigning
the
game
for
a
free-to-play
model,
is
it
worth
sinking
millions
more
into
the
game?

The
blog
post
goes
on
to
say
that
everyone
who
has
bought
the
game
–

which
was
estimated
at
around
25,000
a
few
days
ago
–
will
be
getting
automatically
refunded.

It’s
a
harsh
blow
to
Firewalk
Studios
who
have
allegedly
been
working
on
the
game
for
anywhere
from
5-8
years,
which
makes
sense
because
Overwatch
was
immensely
popular
around
that
time.
Sony
bought
Firewalk
last
year,
presumably
because
they
saw
something
they
liked
in
both
the
team
and
Concord,
so
the
financial
blow
isn’t
quite
as
devastating
for
them,
although
it
is
still
a
pretty
spectacular
failure.
In
fact,
I’d
go
so
far
as
to
say
this
is
probably
the
biggest
flop
in
Sony’s
history.

The
main
concern
now
will
be
for
everyone
at
Firewalk
–
hopefully,
this
doesn’t
lead
to
massive
layoffs.

Is
this
another
sign
that
the
live-service
bubble
has
burst?
Despite
everything,
a
lot
of
people
who
played
Concord
said
it
was
good.
But
being
good
isn’t
good
enough
in
a
market
where
the
reigning
free-to-play
titles
cost
nothing
and
play
great.
On
top
of
that,
live-service
shooters
have
to
compete
for
the
most
valuable
commodity
people
have:
time.
Most
people
will
commit
money
and
time
to
just
one
or
two
live-service
games,
and
trying
to
tempt
them
away
requires
something
truly
special,
which
Concord
just
wasn’t.

Will
Concord
return,
or
is
this
the
end?