Concord Shutting Down on September 6th

Live-service titles in the games industry aren’t always successful. More often than not, they fail to capture the right audience and outright flop. Concord seems to be the latest victim of live-service failures in the gaming industry.

Developed by Firewalk Studios, Concord set out to be a live-service hero shooter cut from a similar cloth to Overwatch. In a blog post from the PlayStation Blog, Concord was announced to be shutting down on September 6th, 2024. This date gives the game a lifespan of only 2 weeks in total, having launched on August 23rd. 

The Live-Service Push

Concord was first announced during a PlayStation Showcase on May 24th, 2023, followed by a PlayStation Blog post about the game. It was shown off again in another PlayStation Showcase on May 30th, 2024 where it was given a release date for August 23rd. Concord was shown off via a CGI Trailer both times, and was followed by a gameplay deep dive in the second trailer.

The game was intended to be a live-service hero shooter. Immediately, it drew comparisons to Overwatch. From the gameplay to the colorful cast of characters, it was clear Concord was attempting to appeal to a wide audience. 

Launching on Steam on August 23rd, Concord debuted with just under 700 concurrent players on Steam, as reported by GamingBolt. This is a devastatingly low number of players, lower than even its beta. IGN would report that Concord likely had sold only around 10,000 units on Steam and around 15,000 on PlayStation as of August 28th.

Sony has wanted to push hard into live-service for a while now. Eugene Schaffmeir here at Lords of Gaming previously wrote on how Sony at one point planned to release 12 live-service games. Concord, being one of them, has ultimately flopped.

The PlayStation Blog details the decision to shut Concord down. “…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”, states Ryan Ellis, Game Director of Firewalk Studios in the blog post.

Ellis continues, “While we determine the best path ahead, Concord sales will cease immediately and we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased the game for PS5 or PC.” 

What’s Next for Concord?

An interesting note on the blog post is that the wording doesn’t explicitly sound finite. Particularly where Ellis writes, “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.” 

It’s quite possible that Concord may be yet another live-service that decides to go back to the drawing board, so to speak. This was something done by Multiversus, a platform fighter. Multiversus was taken down on March 27, 2023, and then re-launched on May 28, 2024, as a fully-fledged game. Something of that sort could in theory work for Concord as well.

However, it is important to note why Concord failed. The market at the moment does not have room for another hero-shooter. Overwatch and Valorant are both already huge games that dominate the hero shooter space. Marvel Rivals is also entering the space as well in December 2024, and is reinforced by utilizing a huge IP. 

As written by our own Joseph Repko here at Lords of Gaming, Concord got lost within its own space. Concord did little to draw any hero shooter enthusiasts from their respective games. The animated shorts didn’t provide enough appeal or characterization. Many felt like they’ve seen it all before.

Most importantly, Concord was not free to play. This was a game on sale for $39.99 with an already low amount of interest in a saturated market. If Concord is ever re-launched by Firewalk, you have to imagine that they’ll likely consider going free-to-play. 

What do you think of Concord’s closure? Do you think it was inevitable? Did you find the game fun and are disappointed to hear of its shutdown? Would you be willing to try a relaunch of the game? Be sure to let us know in the comments below. For more information on Concord, PlayStation, and other live-service titles, be sure to stick with us at the Lords of Gaming.