Summary
Concord’s servers have been shut down, but the door has been left open for the ill-fated hero-shooter to make a comeback at some point down the line. In the post announcingConcord’s demise, developer Firewalk Studio said that options were being explored in regard to the future of the game.
In the same post where it confirmed thatConcordwas shutting down, Firewalk said that it would be looking at a way to “better reach” players and that it would be determining “the best path ahead.” Some have interpreted this to mean thatConcordis going to return in some form eventually, though others are far more skeptical about the game’s chances of ever making a comeback.
Time will tell ifConcordis able to make a return, but if it does, it will need to check off some boxes if it hopes for the second time around to be any more successful than the first.
Concord Needs to Change Its Name
Branding is incredibly important in the gaming industry and entertainment in general, and unfortunately, at this point, theConcordname is tainted.Concordhas become aMorbius-like memein the public eye, and there may not be any way of changing that perception. If Sony were to bringConcordback, it would likely need to do it with a completely different name.Concord’s characters are called “Freegunners,” so maybe that could serve as inspiration for a potential new name for the game.
On the other hand,Concordhas gotten a lot of media attention thanks to its failures. Bringing it back with the same name may pique the interest of some curious people that never gave the original version of the game a shot. But no matter ifConcordcomes back with the same name or a different one, it would need to do one thing for sure.
Concord Must Go Free-to-Play
Concordwanted to be a live-service game that, at least at launch, wasn’t stuffed full of predatory microtransactions. Instead of going with the battle pass system or having a premium shop,Concordasked players to pay a $40 upfront fee. But asConcord’s abysmal salesclearly illustrate, the vast majority of gamers were simply not interested in paying $40 for a multiplayer-only live-service game. Maybe ifConcordhad a single-player campaign or some other content to supplement its multiplayer things would have been different, but in 2024, no one wants to pay just for multiplayer.
This is especially true in the hero-shooter genre. Basically all ofConcord’s competition is free-to-play, so it’s really not surprising that consumers rejected it as a premium game. Why would anyone pay $40 forConcordwhen they can playOverwatch 2and the wealth of content it’s built up over the years completely free of charge? Why would anyone want to invest time inConcordwhen other promising hero-shooters, likeMarvel Rivals, are on the horizon, and they are also free-to-play?Concord’s $40 price tagseriously set it up for disaster, though even if it were free at launch, there’s no guarantee that it would have been a success. More people would have played it for sure, buthow manymore is unclear.
After all,Concordonce had an open betaavailable to anyone and everyone interested in trying it out ahead of launch, yet hardly anyone bothered to participate, at least on PC. When people weren’t willing to playConcordfor free, it was obvious that they weren’t going to be willing to spend $40 for the same experience.
Concord Needs to Dramatically Change Its Character Designs
Perhaps the thing working againstConcord’s success the most is its atrocious character designs.Concord’s characters are garish, unappealing, and in some cases, derivative of other works.Concordimmediately drew comparisons toGuardians of the Galaxybecause one of the characters was more or less a color-swapped version of Yondu. A potentialConcordcomeback would likely need to see the hero-shooter completely change how its characters look, though that may be the hurdle that keeps it from ever trying to come back as a free-to-play game. ChangingConcord’s characters will take serious financial investments, and with the game already a massive commercial flop, it’s highly unlikely that Sony wants to invest evenmore. At this stage, it might make more sense for Sony to cut its losses, leavingConcordas PlayStation’s biggest flop ever.
Concord’s Story Isn’t Over
Concordmight try to make a comeback as a free-to-play game down the road. It might not. But regardless ifConcordthe game ever makes a comeback or not, the hero-shooter’s story isn’t over just yet.Concordwill be featured as part of Amazon’s animated anthology seriesSecret Level, withthe character Star Childconfirmed to be appearing in the show.Concordbeing shut down makes things a little awkward forSecret Level, as the show is now promoting a game that consumers can’t buy or play, but the latest word is that the game’s episode will remain in the show.
MaybeSecret Levelwill be a huge hit that fuels a surge of interest inConcord. We saw theFalloutTV series dramatically increase interest in the video games, and so it’s entirely possible the same could happen forConcord, as unlikely as that may be. Combined with a free-to-play re-launch, it’s possible Sony could ride that wave to turn things around forConcord, but again, that is highly unlikely. Unfortunately for those that actually enjoyed the game,Concordremains dead, with no official plans for revival at the time of this writing. Stranger things have happened in the gaming industry, but it’s best that no one holds their breath.
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.
