Summary
- Concord failed to live up to high expectations, costing $400m, according to an anonymous developer from Firewalk Studios.
- The report claimed Sony had ambitious plans for Concord as the future of PlayStation.
- No actual numbers for Concord's budget have been revealed, so these comments should be taken with a grain of salt.
A developer from Firewalk Studios shed some light on Concord's production, stating that the game was reportedly pushed as "the future" of the PlayStation brand, along with an estimated cost of $400 million. Concord has become one of the hottest topics of discussion for gaming in 2024, mainly because of its negative press. Concord was a first-person team shooter developed by Firewalk Studios, which launched for both the PlayStation 5 and PC near the end of August. However, its shutdown was announced only a few weeks later, due to flagging sales and player counts.
With servers being turned off two weeks after its launch, Concord was delisted from all digital stores, and refunds were given to those who purchased it. Before it was shut down, Concord was estimated to have only sold 25K copies across both PS5 and PC platforms, with under 700 simultaneous PC players at its peak. If a developer from Firewalk Studios is to be believed, Sony saw a lot of promise in Concord, with the game costing a total of $400 million, and it being poised as "the future" of the PlayStation brand.
A 22-Year-Old Game Sold Better Than Concord Last Month
A fan-favorite PlayStation 2 game from 2002 sells better than PlayStation and Firewalk Studios' 5v5 hero shooter Concord, which is now offline.
This fact was revealed in an episode of Sacred Symbols: A PlayStation Podcast, where an anonymous developer from Firewalk Studios reached out to Colin Moriarty to clarify some information about Concord. According to what Moriarty had been told, Concord's budget was reportedly $400 million dollars: $200 million already being invested by ProbablyMonsters (Firewalk Studios' original parent company) and another $200 million by Sony. According to the developer, Concord's alpha state was reportedly "horrible," so Sony spent the extra $200 million to get the game in a working state. It should be noted the budget of Concord is still unknown, so these figures should be taken with a grain of salt.
Concord Reportedly Cost $400 Million, With Big Ambitions from Sony
The anonymous developer also noted that Concord was specifically being propped up as "the future of PlayStation", with Sony having a lot of ambition to revisit the property in cross-media ventures, comparing it to Star Wars. Moriarty notes this can be seen with the Concord episode in Amazon's Secret Level documentary. The biggest downfall of Concord, based on what Moriarty was told, is how the game had a "toxic positivity" vibe around its development, where no one was allowed to criticize any of the decisions made about the game.
Between its announcement and shutdown, Concord has been the subject of controversy among gamers. The game was criticized for following the same hero shooter formula as titles like Overwatch or Marvel Rivals, but failing to stand out despite the amount of focus Sony and PlayStation put into it. While Sony still intends to explore other options with the Concord IP after its shutdown, its future is still very murky.
Concord
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 64 /100 Critics Rec: 23%
- Released
- August 23, 2024
- ESRB
- t
- Developer(s)
- Firewalk Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
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 CREW
From 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.
