Sony’s latest first party PS5 exclusive has been taken offline after just two weeks but why? What happened and is the game ever likely to return?
The video game world was caught by surprise when news hit that Concord will be taken offline, just two weeks after it launched and despite receiving fairly good reviews.
This was followed by fans calling the live service title the ‘biggest flop in the AAA space’ and comparing it to Atari’s 1982 E.T. game, which caused an entire video games industry crash.
Concord was in development for eight years, and yet it took just 11 days for it to be labelled a failure, although looking back it now seems as if the hero shooter was doomed from the start.
Why did Concord fail?
Concord failed because of several reasons, chief among them that it cost £35 to buy when it launched on PlayStation and PC.
Other live service shooters, like Overwatch 2, Counter-Strike 2, and Fortnite are free to play, which further highlights just how tough the competition was for Concord to succeed in the first place.
It didn’t help that Concord was completely unoriginal, taking lots of inspiration from Overwatch, and was disappointingly generic in its presentation.
In the end, reports state that only 25,000 copies were sold, and hardly anyone played it a week after launch, resulting in its swift demise.
Who made Concord and how much did it cost to make?
Concord was made by American developer Firewalk Studios, which is part of the PlayStation Studios division, and published by Sony.
It was a PlayStation 5 console exclusive, but also released on PC, on August 23, 2024.
At the moment, it’s not entirely clear how much money Sony sunk into it, but unconfirmed reports say that Concord cost $100 million to make, with some suggesting twice that amount.
Is Concord coming back?
Only 12 days after its launch, Sony confirmed that Concord would be taken offline, but didn’t say exactly what their future plans are for the shooter.
However, Concord’s game director, Ryan Ellis, did said this:
‘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.’
Many suspect this means the game will return as a free-to-play title, but that’s certainly not guaranteed.
Can players get a refund for Concord?
Yes. Those who have bought Concord have been promised a full refund by Sony.
‘While we determine the best path ahead, Concord sales will cease immediately and we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased the game for PlayStation 5 or PC,’ said Ryan Ellis.
If you bought the game via the PlayStation Store or PlayStation Direct, refunds will be issued to the original payment method, but could take up to 60 days to process.
Fans who bought the game through the Steam and Epic Games storefronts can expect refunds in the coming days.
Those who bought the physical copy of Concord from a retailer, that isn’t PlayStation itself, should talk to the store where they purchased it for a refund.
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