After eight years in development, Concord lasted 12 days before Sony pulled the plug (YouTube)
Gamers are calling Concord’s demise 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.
Sony has decided to pull the plug on its brand new live service shooter Concord, shutting down its servers on PlayStation 5 and PC, less than two weeks after it launched.
The embarrassing player numbers – with less than 100 fans playing it on Steam – were enough for Sony to wash their hands of it, offering refunds to the few who bought it.
While fans are shocked at the sudden news, they’re also less than sympathetic, calling it ‘PlayStation’s biggest blunder’, with some wondering if Sony will rethink their strategy on live service games going forward.
Concord was in development for eight years and unconfirmed reports say it cost $100 million to make, with some suggesting twice that amount.
The shooter was live for 12 days before Sony said it’s shutting down its servers, without clarifying if it’s ever coming back again.
Social media is blowing up about the news, with a mix of shock, anger, and amusement.
‘Easily the biggest flop in the AAA space I’ve ever seen. Unprecedented, Datlinus said on Reddit, adding:
‘This was doing even worse than Hyenas in terms of beta numbers and that game was cancelled before release. Even E.T. sold millions before it got buried in the desert.’
Many have complained that Concord is too similar to Overwatch, while also stealing too obviously from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
‘I’m not hoping for this studio’s downfall or anything, it’s just a bad time to release a game like this, said Paidbythekill.
‘I think it looks like a pretty competent shooter all things considered, but I have zero interest in the story.’
Fans have let their frustrations out on the PlayStation YouTube channel as well, where the Concord launch trailer has 2,000 upvotes and 31,000 downvotes.
The gameplay trailer from three months ago is even worse, with 7,500 people liking it and 70,000 fans giving it the thumbs down.
Many fans are also wondering what Sony will do now, about its plan to release 12 live service games by 2026 (later cut down to six to ensure ‘game quality’).
‘Holy actual s***. I’ve seen a lot of live service disasters, but this HAS to be the worst I’ve ever seen, by far. This is 100% gonna make Sony rethink their strategy at least,’ said RJE808.
In his statement about the shutdown, Concord’s game director Ryan Ellis said:
‘While many qualities of the experience resonated with players, we also recognise that other aspects of the game and our initial launch didn’t land the way we’d intended.’
Ellis added that the game is going offline starting Friday, September 6, and they would then ‘explore options, including those that will better reach our players’.
It’s unclear if Concord will get a second life – perhaps as a free-to-play live service shooter – or if it’s truly dead on arrival.
Regardless, Concord now serves as another example of the risks of making a live service game and how quickly they can fail.
Concord’s downfall might be the biggest of all time, fans think (Reddit)
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