Prior to its launch last month, Sony had high hopes that Concord would be the latest hero shooter to become a breakout title. However, the reception has been so disappointing that Sony has decided to pull Concord only two weeks after its release, with refunds going out to players who bought it. Now, gaming professionals, journalists, and fans have shared their response to the news online.
Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski expressed his empathy for Concord’s quick demise. His first-person shooter, LawBreakers, met a similar fate in 2018.
Concord, I feel your pain.
— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) September 3, 2024
Art director Michael Maurino also expressed his feelings of solidarity with the team that brought the game to life.
Extreme shame about Concord and I just want to say that you can have a world class team, clever and unique gameplay, super appealing art and characters, highly optimized performance, cross play, and a pandemic causing players to be home all the time and still face challenges. pic.twitter.com/xbV09YsJtM
— Michael go vroom (@Iron_Stylus) September 3, 2024
Ordinary gamers on social media also shared their thoughts on Concord’s failure, and what it really means for the future of both live-service titles and original I.P. games.
Hot take: It’s bad that Concord failed. The PS5 era is known for sequels and remakes. The fact that a new I.P failed only means more sequels and remakes are coming.
— Brandon S. (@OptimusHeim) September 3, 2024
It isn’t misguided or confused or destructive or any other stupid bullshit. Meanspirited? Maybe. But you know what’s a lot more destructive in an actual material sense? Having hundreds if not thousands of people work on something for eight years that’s been out of favor for four.
— Kris Wolfheart (@KrisWolfheart) September 3, 2024
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier and Christopher Dring took aim at gamers who celebrated Concord’s demise because it featured a diverse lineup of characters.
Every time a live-service game with no hook or strong word of mouth fails to penetrate an oversaturated market, the most annoying people on the planet will be there to blame diversity
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) September 3, 2024
Dear Fanboys. When a game on the console you don’t own doesn’t do very well, whether it’s Concord or Hellblade or NES World Championships, it’s not a win for you. Nobody won.
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) September 3, 2024
The prevailing theory among fans and some industry professionals is that Concord could eventually resurface as a free-to-play game.
Thinking about this crazy Concord move i think it was the best for Sony. Pulling it and giving refunds, reskinning the game and relaunching next year as free to play is inevitable.
— Superboy (@GreyWolf513) September 3, 2024
In an ironic touch, Concord will be revisited in December as one of the episodes in Prime Video’s Secret Level anthology series.
This is just a reminder that when the Concord dedicated episode of this Amazon TV show releases, the game will have been dead and offline for three months. pic.twitter.com/MvZoxLTi5P
— Christina Tasty (@ChristinaTasty) September 3, 2024
Some fans made jokes about Astro Bot taking over Concord’s official page.
He’s consumed the Concord page for power, we cannot stop Astro’s advance now 😔 https://t.co/yC10mExUR3
— TyphonTwister (@TyphonTwister) September 3, 2024
Washington Post video games reporter Gene Park notes that many of the remaining players in Concord are essentially killing their characters to level up and unlock the Platinum Trophy before it’s unobtainable.
i can confirm that Rivalry, the main unique mode of Concord, is now filled with players killing themselves for experience points. https://t.co/Pb0F9LzsJo pic.twitter.com/kSclr4As02
— Gene Park (@GenePark) September 3, 2024
Concord will officially shut down on September 6.
