Concord’s launch was met with crickets and tumbleweeds, leading to a swift shutdown of its servers. Read on to learn more about the game’s closure.
Firewalk Studios’ Freegunners Fail to Fly, Servers to go Offline Two Weeks After Launch
No Hype Leads to Hibernation
Firewalk Studios’ 5v5 hero shooter Concord is shutting down just two weeks after its launch. Game Director Ryan Ellis announced the decision on Tuesday, September 3rd, via the PlayStation Blog, citing the game’s inability to meet expectations.
"While many qualities of the experience resonated with players, we also recognize other aspects of the game and our launch didn’t land the way we’d intended," Ellis wrote. "Therefore, at this time, we have decided to take the game offline beginning September 6, 2024."
The statement then went on to detail automatic refunds for all players who purchased the game digitally on Steam, Epic Games Store, and the Playstation Store, while those with physical copies were directed to follow their retailer’s return policy.
It’s clear from the start that Firewalk and Sony wanted to do more with Concord. The acquisition of Firewalk Studios, a move fueled by Sony’s confidence in the studio’s potential, seemed promising, especially given the positive feedback from both Ellis and Firewalk’s studio head, Tony Hsu. The game was even supposed to get an episode in the upcoming Prime Video anthology series, Secret Level. In addition to this, Ellis outlined an ambitious post-launch roadmap, including a planned first-season launch in October and weekly cutscenes.
Unfortunately, the game’s poor performance forced a significant change of plans. They were only able to post three cutscenes—two from the game's beta and one released a few hours before the aforementioned announcement—and only time will tell if gamers will be able to see a continuation of the characters’ adventures in the coming weeks.
What Doomed Concord?
Concord’s trajectory was downward from the beginning. Despite an eight-year development cycle, the game struggled to garner significant player interest. In fact, it struggled to reach even a thousand concurrent players, with a peak of just 697. At the time of writing, only 45 players are online. Granted, these numbers do not take into account PlayStation 5 users. Even then, however, compared to its beta peak of 2,388 players, Concord’s current performance is a far cry from what was expected of a Sony-published triple-A title.
Numerous factors contributed to Concord’s anticipated failure. Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad noted in a tweet that while the game boasted strong gameplay mechanics and is "content complete," it also failed to differentiate itself from existing hero shooters, offering little incentive for players to switch.
"The game itself wasn’t necessarily innovative and the character designs were uninspired," Ahmad wrote. "It didn’t stand out and felt stuck in the OW1 era."
Additionally, its high price point of $40 put it at a significant disadvantage against popular free-to-play competitors like Marvel Rivals, Apex Legends, and Valorant. Combine this with having little to no marketing, as Daniel Ahmad puts it, "it’s no wonder no one purchased it."
Ryan Ellis, in his statement, indicated that Firewalk Studios will "explore options, including those that will better reach" players. A future return is certainly within the realm of possibility. As seen with the recent revival of the MOBA hero shooter Gigantic, games can indeed make a comeback. By transitioning from a live-service model to a buy-to-play format six years after its servers shut down, Gigantic demonstrated that discontinued titles can find new life.
While some suggest making Concord free-to-play, following the recent example of Square Enix’s Foamstars, this superficial change won’t address the game’s core issues: bland character designs and sluggish gameplay. Many argue a complete overhaul, similar to the successful redesign of Final Fantasy XIV after its initial missteps, is necessary to revitalize the game.
Game8 gave Concord a 56 out of 100, lamenting that "it’s almost tragic to see eight years of work culminate in such a visually appealing, yet lifeless, game." For more on our thoughts on Concord, you can read our review below!
Despite Poor Reception, Gamers Show Love for Firewalk Studios
Concord’s short lifespan was met with mixed reception, with many players mocking its rapid decline and eventual server closure. There are even those who, eager to grind for the platinum trophy, resorted to comically desperate measures, such as jumping off maps to expedite the process.
This tragicomic irony—players seeking to escape a dying game by ending their characters’ lives—mirrored Concord’s own swift demise.
However, despite the controversy surrounding it, the gaming community rallied behind the developers in the wake of the shutdown.
Numerous game developers took to social media to express their appreciation for Firewalk Studios’ efforts and their hope for the game’s revival. Global senior community manager at Tencent, Evan Berman, tweeted, "My heart goes out to the Firewalk team. This decision could not have been an easy one."
Daryl Nelson, a technical producer at Bungie, echoed this sentiment, stating, "Launching a game is so fucking hard, and a bunch of incredible talent worked to bring this game to us. Firewalk didn’t deserve this and I hope that the team can recover and regroup from this."
Social media platforms were also filled with gamers thanking the developers and expressing their concern for FirewalkStudios’ future in the wake of Concord’s collapse.
Amidst the outpouring of support, Firewalk’s design director, Josh Hamrick, took to Twitter to express his gratitude for the kind words and encouragement they received.
"For all of you reaching out with love, you are the reason we make games," Hamrick wrote. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Now I’m gonna go win this Area Control match."
Concord Almost Takes the Cake for Shortest-Lived Game
Memes abound following Concord’s shutdown, with many comparing it to The Day Before, an MMO game developed by the now-defunct Fntastic, which, even though it was one of the most wishlisted games on Steam, was immediately delisted four days after its launch. Even then, with its critical reception, The Day Before outlasted Concord, with its servers remaining active until January of this year.
The live-service game Love Live! School idol festival 2 MIRACLE LIVE! probably takes the cake for the quickest closure announcement, with its launch date and global shutdown being announced on the same tweet. Despite this, it still managed to outlast Concord, operating for three months before its servers were permanently shut down.
While Xaviant's The Culling 2 faced a worse fate than Concord-—its servers shutting down just eight days after launch—it doesn't hold the record for the shortest-lived game.
Immortals Muv-Luv was pulled offline just six hours after its launch due to server issues and in-game currency exploits. However, it made a comeback a year later under a different name and developer and remains operational to this day.
Concord’s future remains uncertain. Whether it can follow in Immortal Muv-Luv’s footsteps and make a comeback is a question that only time can answer. One thing is certain—the industry will be closely monitoring the aftermath of this brief, tumultuous journey, hoping to learn from the missteps that led to Concord’s downfall.
Source:
Announcement of Concord’s Shutdown
PlayStation Blog: "Welcoming Firewalk Studios to the PlayStation Studios Family"
Prime Video’s Secret Level Teaser Trailer
Concord: Launch and Adventure Ahead
Daniel Ahmad’s Analysis of Concord’s Failure on Twitter
Mojang Studios’ Melissa Moorehead’s Tweet Regarding Concord’s Shutdown
Evan Berman’s Tweet Regarding Concord’s Shutdown
Daryl Nelson’s Tweet Regarding Concord’s Shutdown
Josh Hamrick’s Tweet Thanking Those Who Gave Their Support
Developer Video on Immortals: Muv-Luv’s Shutdown
