Concord surprisingly continues to get updates on Steam despite being pulled from stores just weeks after launch. Read on to learn more about these updates and the speculations surrounding them.
Concord SteamDB Updates Ignite Speculations
Will Concord Become Free-to-Play? Get Improved Gameplay? Speculations Arise
Remember Concord? The hero-shooter that launched with all the fanfare of a wet firecracker? Well, despite being officially offline since September 6th, Concord’s Steam page has been receiving steady updates.
Since September 29, SteamDB has recorded over 20 updates for Concord. These updates were pushed by accounts like "pmtest," "sonyqae," and "sonyqae_shipping." Given the names of these accounts, it's possible that these updates are primarily focused on backend fixes and improvements, with "QAE" potentially standing for "Quality Assurance Engineer."
When Concord launched in August of this year, it aimed to shake up the hero shooter market with a price tag of $40—bold, considering its competition with free-to-play titans like Overwatch, Valorant, and Apex Legends. Unfortunately, the launch was a disaster. Barely two weeks after hitting shelves, Sony pulled the game and offered refunds to all players. The player base was minimal, and interest was almost non-existent. The game was declared dead on arrival by most standards, with low ratings across the board.
Why then is a game that failed spectacularly still receiving updates? Well, Ryan Ellis, then-Firewalk Studios Game Director, did promise in the game’s shutdown announcement that they will "explore options, including those that will better reach our players." Gamers all around are speculating that Concord could be gearing up for a comeback. Many believe that the updates signal a potential relaunch, this time as a free-to-play title. Doing so would remove the barrier of a paid entry that many criticized the game for.
Despite its disastrous launch, Sony has invested a significant amount into the game—reportedly up to $400 million—so it’s not surprising that they might attempt to salvage their investment. With ongoing updates, some speculate that Firewalk Studios is using this time to retool the game, potentially adding new features and addressing the original criticism it faced, which included complaints about lackluster characters and uninspired gameplay design.
Of course, none of this is confirmed yet. Sony has remained tight-lipped about its plans for Concord. Could it re-emerge with better mechanics, a broader appeal, or a new monetization model? No one outside of Firewalk Studios and Sony knows at the moment. However, even if Concord comes back as free-to-play, it will have to battle for attention in an already crowded genre.
For now, Concord remains unavailable for purchase, and Sony hasn’t made any official announcements about its future. Only time will tell if any of these speculations come to pass or even if Concord will ever rise from the ashes of its failure.
Source:
Concord’s SteamDB Update History
Concord’s Shutdown Announcement
Forbes | New Report Says Sony’s ‘Concord’ Cost $400 Million To Make
