Sony’s decision to pull the plug on their hero shooter ‘Concord’ just two weeks post-launch is nothing short of dramatic. Despite its grand ambitions and a hefty development price tag, the game failed to capture the audience’s attention, leading to widespread refunds for PlayStation 5 and PC players.
The story of Concord is one of missed opportunities and harsh realities. Initially brought to life by Firewalk Studios and later acquired by Sony in 2023, Concord was in development for eight long years. With bespoke cinematics and expansive gameplay in the pipeline, the game’s development was anticipated to cost over $100 million. However, its market debut saw a dismal performance, selling fewer than 25,000 copies in two weeks, a shocking outcome compared to other failures within the industry this year.
According to game critic Keith Stuart, much of Concord’s failure can be traced back to its unfortunate timing and genre saturation. The hero shooter market is already crowded with fan favorites like Overwatch, Valorant, and Apex Legends. Sony’s marketing strategy, or lack thereof, also played a role; the game received little to no visibility before its launch. Stuart himself admitted to barely knowing about the game, despite it being his job to stay updated on such releases. The game’s character designs and gameplay mechanics were deemed generic, lacking the innovative spark needed to stand out in a congested field.
Concord’s downfall is emblematic of the broader existential crises in modern game development. Games today are staggeringly costly and time-consuming to produce. By the time they complete their often years-long development cycles, they risk being outdated, having missed the cultural and technological moment they were intended to seize. This pushes publishers towards risk-averse strategies, emulating popular trends rather than innovating, with the result often being obsolete by release.
Concord’s failure isn’t an isolated incident. This year alone, several high-profile multiplayer games have fallen short. Warner Bros’ ‘Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’ disappointed many by shoehorning an otherwise intriguing concept into a live-service multiplayer format. Sega’s ‘Foamstars’ slipped under the radar entirely, and ‘Hyenas,’ another Sega live-service shooter, was canceled just months before its scheduled release.
The core issue seems to be the players’ reluctance to adopt another ‘forever game’. Established titles like Destiny, Overwatch, Fortnite, and World of Warcraft dominate their niches, ingrained into players’ lives and social circles. The demand for a new game to disrupt these habits appears slim. Players are not merely leaving a game but also their established social networks within those games. What’s more, the rise of single-player game successes highlights a growing preference for contained, narrative-driven experiences over perpetual, service-based gameplay.
The situation mirrors the early 2000s, where developers competed to create the next ‘World of Warcraft,’ often without success. While some, like ‘Guild Wars,’ achieved moderate acclaim, most did not leave a lasting impact. The complexity and difficulty of succeeding in the online gaming space have only intensified since then.
In an era where single-player games like ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ enjoy monumental success, the industry’s fixation on live-service multiplayer models seems increasingly out of touch. Publishers should take note: the gaming community appears to yearn for innovative, finite experiences rather than another aimless stab at the next big ‘forever game.’
Source: Theguardian