Concord had a catastrophic launch and had to be taken down after just two weeks. The developers had to endure a lot of mockery and scorn on the internet, but still found kind words for their fans in the end.
What happened to Concord? The game Concord was developed by Firewalk Studios and was released on August 23, 2024. However, player numbers were very low from the beginning and players experienced massive matchmaking issues. There was much criticism for the shooter and the game flopped.
On September 3, the developers announced in a PlayStation.Blog post that the game would be taken down from the PlayStation Stores and players would receive their money back. By September 6, the game and the servers will be offline.
Developer thanks loyal fans
What did the developer say to the fans? Developer Josh Hamrik posted on X a short thank you: “For everyone who approached us with love, you are the reason why we make games.” He was responding to the game’s fans who showed their empathy regarding the flop.
What did the developers have to endure on the internet? Concord was torn apart online. Players commented, among other things, that the game was too “woke” because it featured playable female characters and plus-sized characters. The game was accused of having an agenda.
The fundamental concept of Concord was also criticized. It was often said that the shooter had no soul, no identity of its own. Technically, the game had problems but demanded 40 € as a purchase price in a genre where competitors are often free-to-play. Many users jumped on these criticisms on social media.
That the game flopped was thus a field day for the players, and they concluded that “woke” content in games does not work. It seemed to hinge only on a lack of interesting gameplay. After all, a hero shooter is nothing new in the gaming world.
But kind words also reached the developers: Josh Scherr, writer of The Last of Us and Uncharted, wrote on X: “I don’t want to retweet clickbait or attract trolls, so I’ll just say my heart goes out to everyone at Firewalk Studios regarding today’s news. Sucks.”
Daryl Nelsen, a former producer at Blizzard, posted on X: “Firewalk didn’t deserve this, and I hope the team can recover and regroup from it.”
What happens next? This is a question many are asking since a lot of effort went into eight years of development. Firewalk Studios stated in their PlayStation.Blog post that they would be “reviewing options” and evaluating the best path for the future. There don’t seem to be any concrete plans yet.
Hero shooters have been a popular genre in the gaming market for several years. But to make this genre interesting, it requires new gameplay mechanics. In the upcoming hero shooter FragPunk, this seems to be the case: In October, a beta test for a hero shooter will start on Steam in which you can control the weather.
