From its reveal, Concord was always an interesting sell. Jumping into the hero shooter market in 2024 is no easy task, as there’s only so much you can do to differentiate a game in this genre. Firewalk Studios, the team behind the game, was acquired by Sony in 2023, and plenty of promise was there with the studio’s first game.
In the midst of playing the game for review, PlayStation announced that the company has opted to halt sales and close Concord on Friday, September 6. As of now, the game is officially sunsetted, and I don’t expect it to return. How did PlayStation arrive at this unprecedented decision to shutter a massive game like this after just two weeks? There are many reasons, but one word will remain a constant throughout this review: differentiation.
Concord offers sixteen different characters to choose from, each with their own weapons and abilities. As you might expect, these play like any other hero shooter. That’s certainly not a bad thing, though, especially considering the polish present within the game. Each character feels excellent to control, with a wide variety of weapons and abilities to conquer across the sixteen options.
Characters are broken into six different classes: Anchor, Breacher, Haunt, Ranger, Tactician, and Warden. This is more than most hero shooters have to offer, but it’s sort of confusing, as the characters in these classes feel randomly thrown in together at times. While some characters have higher attack rates in a class like Warden, some receive healing boosts. There is a standard crew bonus when using a class, but again, it feels like the characters were randomly assigned classes in some instances.
Similar to classes, there are also six different game modes: Area Control, Cargo Run, Clash Point, Signal Chase, Takedown, and Trophy Hunt. Most of these modes are similar to those you’d find in other shooters, but they’re still a fun time. Concord‘s fun gunplay makes for action-packed matches that can get intense, especially in modes like Cargo Run, where you cannot respawn. However, Concord lacks a true “premiere” mode that acts as the popular pick. There is not a mode that defines the game, and that is a major problem for attracting new players.
The gameplay itself is fun, though I wasn’t particularly impressed by anything. You can expect fast-paced matches with fun mobility and gunplay combined with abilities. Firewalk provided an excellent layer of polish with gameplay design and visuals, but Concord does not have an element that differentiates itself from its competitors. It’s missing that new element. And that alone makes it very hard to recommend, especially for $40.
Beyond gameplay, another area that feels sort of uninspired is character designs. Sure, the designs are fine, but it’s hard to find interest in the characters. Looking across the multiplayer shooter landscape, almost every major title has a distinct, vibrant character design that has led to a plethora of community art, discussion, and interest. This lack of interesting character design largely makes the game feel bland, almost void of any uniqueness.
While the design might not be up to par, there is an opportunity with the story. Concord does offer a very interesting narrative premise, with a new ongoing narrative situation that revolves around weekly cutscene releases. This was a very interesting idea, but it’s been implemented poorly here at launch. A total of three cutscenes are available to watch right now, and each was already viewable during the beta. This lack of a core “story” mode once again contributes to the lack of a differentiation factor in Concord. Great idea, yes, but poor execution. Fans paying $40 for a release should have access to a quality narrative from the beginning, even if there are plans for expansion. As a result, it’s essentially impossible to form any sort of interest or connection to the characters, as they feel incredibly bland.
One very high point of the game is its graphics, which are excellent in particular. Unreal Engine 5 has allowed Firewalk to create a gorgeous game with fantastic textures and environments in particular. Each of the twelve maps offered some very neat sights to see as you raced around to shoot other players. You can see all sorts of galaxies and planets from above, with many details scattered across the surface of nearby objects. Often, this was the highlight of the game for me.
I don’t think Concord is a bad game. While it doesn’t innovate or differentiate itself, it offers quality gameplay that works. However, it was doomed from the second it was announced. In the current free-to-play landscape of competitive shooters, the only way to introduce a new game successfully is to stand out, and Concord failed to do that. I struggle to determine how Sony expected to grab players away from other major hero shooters on the market, like Overwatch 2. What’s different about Concord? Unfortunately, that answer is nothing.
It’s this that has me sitting here scratching my head. So many puzzling decisions that ultimately led to this result, and it feels like anyone could have realized the path this game was heading down years into development. How was the $40 price tag determined to be the best course of action? With no way to truly differentiate itself, charging players for Concord did nothing but set it up for failure. The publisher clearly had major expectations for this release, but again, even in the lead-up to launch, it felt like the game didn’t have the audience required. The upcoming Secret Level series on Amazon Prime features an ENTIRE episode dedicated to Concord. Though it’s still set to air, the episode will serve as a reminder of only what could have been.
More than anything, I think Concord speaks loudly about Sony’s current business strategy. The massive shift to live service that took place under the latter part of Jim Ryan’s tenure was supposed to bring massive waves of success and fortune, yet here we are with a game that has been canceled and refunded after two weeks. Additionally, what does this say about Sony and its ability to support projects? Between the minimal open beta coverage and generally middle-of-the-road perception behind the game, a delay and model change could have absolutely lifted this game off the ground. I feel for the team at Firewalk, and I hope they get a chance to relaunch the game.
Unfortunately, we’ll likely never know what could have been, as Concord is now offline for good. Years of development and tens of millions of dollars ultimately culminated in a release that lasted two weeks, and I find it hard to believe that anyone will forget this decision from PlayStation the next time they launch a GaaS title. Maybe the team will attempt to re-launch the game down the road, but it seems more likely at this point that Sony will write the game off for tax purposes. What sort of precedent does this set for future titles that don’t start out so hot at launch?
Ultimately, Concord is a perfect example of the problems with AAA development. There’s no guarantee that the idea at the time will be popular when a game is released, especially when development cycles are reaching five years and beyond. Five years ago, I’m certain this game would have been a smash hit, but it’s now 2024. Concord did plenty of things right but failed to differentiate itself in a market where every difference matters. The live service roadmap looked exciting, and I’m incredibly disappointed that the game did not even get a chance to deliver on some of its promises. Will Concord ever see the light of day? I sure hope the team at Firewalk has that chance.
This review was in progress prior to the announcement of Concord’s closure.
