Online-only games disappearing forever has become one of the biggest frustrations for modern players. Once servers go down, even recently released titles can simply vanish, leaving players with nothing but old trailers and memories. This problem can affect beloved games and those that weren’t as popular. But there has been a rise in fan efforts to restore these games. These projects aren’t about profit or competition, but passion; they’re about keeping games alive, playable, and remembered. And now, one of the most notorious shutdowns of last year is getting an unexpected second life thanks to an impressive community effort.
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After a notoriously short lifespan, Concord is not completely dead. Community fans have brought Sony’s shut-down hero shooter back online with fan-made custom servers, rebuilding its backend API, and getting full matches running again. Concord was supposed to be Sony’s first big push into the live-service genre, but ultimately failed. Despite its failure and cancellation, there exists a small but loyal fan base that still follow the now closed Firewalk Studios.
This breakthrough comes from a community-led project headed by developers known as Red, open_wizard, and gwog. In an announcement posted in the project’s Discord server, Red revealed that Concord is officially running on fan-made servers for the first time. This revival was possible thanks to a full rebuild of the game’s backend API by open_wizard, extensive reverse-engineering work on Concord’s systems by Red, and crucial support from gwog, who helped resolve several critical issues that appeared during testing. This was revealed through official statements on Discord.
“The project is still WIP, it’s playable, but buggy. Once our servers are fully set up, we’ll begin doing some private playtesting, if anyone here wants to join those playtests, let me know (include what region/time zone you are in for convenience).”
It’s still early, still buggy, and still far from a complete restoration, but the fact that it works at all is remarkable. Concord shut down so fast after it launched in August 2024 that it is remarkable there was enough left to rebuild. It remains to be seen how long the project will be live and functioning, and whether Concord ever regains a meaningful player base is unclear. But thanks to dedicated fans, it won’t be forgotten, at least for now.
Sony isn’t the only studio to pull servers on a multiplayer game. Ubisoft gained a lot of notoriety after shutting down servers for many of its games. As more and more multiplayer games compete for the same player bases, those that get left behind may be abandoned by the developer or publisher. Some see it as not worth keeping the servers online if there isn’t enough revenue being generated. As the gaming industry expands and evolves, more and more online games could potentially face a similar fate, leaving players wary of where to spend their money.
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