There’s no way around it: Sony’sConcordis one of the biggest AAA flops of the past several years. The live-service team shooter, while generally appreciated from a technical standpoint, gained almost no traction with gaming audiences, slipping far down into obscurity andultimately got canceled by Sonyjust two weeks after its launch.
Concordis a fascinating failure, not only because its weak points aren’t among the usual suspects—poor performance, egregious in-game spending, excessive bugs—but also because of the swiftness with which it was abandoned. In recent years, one would almost expect a big-budget live-service to stumble in its early days, slowly gaining renewed interest as new content, bug patches, and quality of life improvements creep into the base product. This sort of post-launch scrambling seems to be growing less effective as the years pass, though, and even more dramatic changes have proven to be far less successful in changing public opinion about certain titles. A good example of this would be Square Enix’sFoamstars, aSplatoonderivative that struggled to gain a strong fan base at its premium price, prompting a shift to the free-to-play model. But this didn’t move the needle too much, and the same strategy could prove similarly ineffective for Concord.
Foamstar’s Lack of Free-to-Play Success Could Foreshadow Concord’s
A Free-to-Play Switch for Concord Has Been Rumored
Fortnite,Warzone,Genshin Impact: three of the most popular and influential games of the contemporary era, and they are all free-to-play. The success of such titles isn’t a sign that free-to-play is the right path for every game out there, of course, but they represent the power of the low-risk, high-reward dynamic that characterizes the GaaS model. Naturally, it’s a model that a lot of companies want to capitalize on, though some publishers attempt to recreate the same addictive live-service gameplay loop while still charging a premium price for the base product, typically alongside myriad in-game purchases. This can be seen asone of the reasonsFoamstarsfailed.
But even removing that premium price tag didn’t do much to help Square’s ill-fatedSplatoonclone, which has been suffering from a consistently dwindling playerbase even after becoming a freebie.Rumors have emerged thatConcordcould be following Square Enix’s leadhere, coming back into the fray as a free-to-play title in an attempt to recoup some of its losses. Assuming this is true, then it could followFoamstars' legacy in more ways than one, taking the leap into free-to-play waters only to drown once again.
Concord’s Problems Go Beyond Its Price Tag
Concordis a game that screams “free-to-play” upon first glance, so its $40 price point could certainly have contributed to its foibles, but it’s far from the only thing wrong with it. Indeed,Concord’s rock-bottom player count can be attributedto a number of factors, but most of them center on a specific pain point: a lack of soul, identity, and charm.
Take a game likeOverwatch, whichConcordis obviously drawing a lot of inspiration from.Overwatchis defined by its unforgettable character designs, storytelling, and variable gameplay, which all come together to give it a certain verve. Despite being made by a billion-dollar company, it manages to feel spirited, spunky, and alluring—qualities that the unavoidably corporate-feelingConcordlacks.
There’s also the more ubiquitous problem of market saturation. Live-service competitive shooters are everywhere, and it’s getting harder and harder for new releases to stand out in this space. This is to say nothing of the GaaS model itself, which is defined by a constant demand for players' time, and time is the quintessential finite resource. The truth is, a lot of playersnever felt likeConcordwas worth their time, making its comeback unlikely, $0 price tag or not.
Concord
WHERE TO PLAY
Assemble your crew of Freegunner space outlaws and team up online with friends for thrilling 5v5 PVP modes across the galaxy in Concord.Concord is a new team-based first-person shooter for PS5® and PC*. Handpick your personal roster of Freegunners from the crew of the Northstar – a group of outlaws and adventurers working as guns-for-hire.ASSEMBLE YOUR CREWFrom powerful mystics to skilled gunslingers and helpful healers, each Freegunner brings their own unique skills, personality, and abilities that cater to a wide-range of playstyles.Create your own custom squads of Freegunners with Crew Builder to bring an arsenal of different role types to the match or focus on your favourite characters to master their gameplay and unlock unique modifiers, cosmetics, background lore, and more – you decide when to play your characters and how you impact the match.PLAY. PROGRESS. PERSONALIZE.Earn and unlock a wide range of character customization items and learn more about the characters, worlds, and factions in the Concord Galaxy with the Galactic Guide.You’ll also be able to progress toward and unlock Freegunner Variants—versions of each of the 16 Freegunners with added Combat Trait modifiers to their base abilities. As you learn and master the characters, Combat Traits empower you to tailor each character to your playstyle.
