It was spring 2023 when Sony’s top management explained to the world the advantageous conditions of acquisition of Firewalk Studiosa North American developer formed by veterans of ‘Destiny’ and ‘Apex Legends’. The first product to emerge from this partnership is ‘Concord‘, a shooting video game (5 against 5) in the purest style of ‘Overwatch’ or ‘Paladins‘. The problem is that has not been able to minimally meet the forecasts that they handled in the PlayStation offices and supposedly has only managed to sell 25,000 unitsincluding the version distributed for PC. But there is still more.
A failure with all the numbers
These same players insistently point out that it is Impossible to find gamesdespite including support for cross-play between PS5 and PC. According to data from SteamDBsince its release on August 23, 2024, ‘Concord’ averages 100 players online, with a maximum peak of 697 registered users at launch. On Valve’s platform, it is the subject of almost 500 “mixed” reviews, with the majority indicating that the shooter is “too expensive for what it offers.” As for the PlayStation user review system, it currently scores a 2.94 out of 5 stars and ranks 147th among PS5 daily active players in the US, with less than 0.2% of active players.
In downward trend
With such values, Firewalk Studios’ first big bet for PlayStation indicates a Insufficient simultaneous player participationwhich to top it all off continues to decline. The Sunday session after its launch ended with a total of 402 users online, while on Monday 26th, the peak was set at only 276 players. The last 24 hours leave an even more desolate scenario, barely exceeding one hundred players connected at the same time. At the time of writing this article, there are 37 players in ‘Concord’.
This situation directly affects the gaming experience, because Insufficient player attendance can delay matchmaking by up to 10 minutes. The first consequences of this poor launch are also beginning to affect its image. According to data from True Trophies, a company that analyses the popularity of video games based on a sample of 3.1 million active accounts on PlayStation Network, ‘Concord’ has fallen to position 147 on its chart. A new report from Game Discover (via IGN) is moving in the same direction, which estimates that the video game has sold 10,000 copies on Steam and 15,000 on PlayStation Store, which makes a total of only 25,000 units so far.
A long development process
The development period doesn’t seem to have been a bed of roses, and in a post on X (formerly Twitter), the game’s lead character designer, Jon Weisnewski, claims that it took up to 8 years of work to finish ‘Concord’, a period that is too long even for the most gargantuan productions in the sector. “The game has been in development for about eight years and I’ve been there for almost five of them.” This also indicates that its production began in 2016, a time when hero shooters were gaining popularity.
However, at Firewalk Studios, they have the firm intention of fulfilling a roadmap that ensures at least three seasons. These will extend until April of next year 2025, integrating new characters and game modes, but It is hard to imagine the format enjoying a longer life than what is already confirmed.. Despite being entertaining at times, it has been constructed in a way that is too generic both in its characters and in its settings. The mechanics are satisfying, but not enough for a paid title that, in order to survive, must urgently attract followers and build a player base.
Can it be saved?
Although its selling price is not very high, considering the proposal and the formats on which the competition relies, It makes no sense for ‘Concord’ to be a pay-to-play game. What’s more, it has a universe with very few incentives to explore, a level design with practically no differences, scenarios with little appeal and, above all, an incorrect launch strategy.