Concord, that 5v5 multiplayer first-person shooter about Guardians Of The Galaxy-like space persons, will be taken offline on the 6th September. Anyone who bought it is being offered a full refund and it’s been wiped off storefronts. All of this comes just shy of three weeks since the game dropped, with Sony citing a launch that “didn’t land the way we’d intended”.
In their announcement post, Firewalk Studios thank those who supported the game, before broaching the bad news.
“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.”
Concord was announced at a PlayStation showcase last year. Katharine (RPS in peace) immediately deemed it yet another bland hero shooter, and honestly, it’s hard to disagree. Even as RPS’ resident FPSer and former Overwatch guides-er, I never harboured a desire to hop into any of Concord’s betas and give it a whirl. I certainly don’t speak for everyone, but I’d say a lot of us had our fill of Overwatchy hero shooters a long while back, so Concord wasn’t so much filling a gap, but widening it.
I’d imagine Firewalk’s option-exploration will result in the game returning to storefronts sporting a free-to-play label, or at least a heavy discount, given that it had a hefty £40 barrier to entry. I can’t see them doing a Wayfinder and rejigging the game’s multiplayer to fit a co-op PVE experience… because there isn’t a PVE element. So, the question is how much cheaper they’ll make it, and how they’ll rejig the game with monetisation in mind.
Either way, Concord’s really up against it. Valve’s not-so secret shooter/MOBA Deadlock is proving popular, while Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 is bearing down on us (I know it’s not a live service, but it’s still a big shooter, innit). In the face of all that, can a reborn Concord perform a switcheroo so grand that it pries people away from the live services they’re already chained to? Only time will tell, I guess.