PlayStation Is Shutting Down Concord
Concord is going offline less than a month after its launch.
Concord, the newest game from PlayStation and its first-party developer Firewalk Studios, is already being taken offline less than a month after its release. The update on Concord and its very short lifespan was shared this week in a PlayStation Blog post from the game director following numerous reports of low sales and abysmal player numbers for the Steam version of the game. It'll be taken offline on September 6th with Concord game director Ryan Ellis saying that Firewalk and PlayStation will "explore options" afterwards to see what actions may be taken in order to better reach players.
In the meantime, sales of Concord are being suspended, and those who bought the game are getting a refund. Ellis said that those who bought Concord via Steam will get an automatic refund soon with the same happening over in the Epic Games Store as well. PS5 players will also be getting refunded, but if you bought a physical version of the game, you're advised to take it up with the retailer.
"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," Ellis said. "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."
Though Concord is indeed being taken offline, the fact that Ellis indicated the PlayStation and PC game's creators would be exploring other options means that this might not be the last that we see of Concord. However, it's unclear what the pair would do to bring the game back in a way that it'd be favorable to those who didn't like it or never gave it a shot. It was a $40 game in a free-to-play world that had to compete against others like Overwatch 2 and more, it's character designs clearly didn't resonate with players, and as those who played it pointed out, it didn't do a great deal to separate itself from other hero shooters even if the gameplay itself was fine.
Concord was one of several games featured in Amazon's new Secret Level anthology series, so it'll be interesting to see how that episode is received given the circumstances.
