Sony’s ill-fated multiplayer shooter Concord has been removed from sale and had its servers shut down, while players across PS5 and PC are receiving refunds. Now, Concord content is being removed from consoles that had it installed.
Players who bought the digital version of Concord from the PlayStation Store are now being notified that Sony has deleted the game from their console. A message prompt reads, “Thank you for being a valued PlayStation customer. Live services for Concord went offline on [September 9, 2024). The game is no playable and as a result, we have removed this content from your account.”
TheGamer reports that physical copies of Concord continue to allow players to boot the game to the title screen, but players cannot progress further. For digital copies, though, it seems PlayStation is simply wiping the game entirely.
When Sony announced that Concord would shut down, the company signaled that this would happen. Sony told fans that once their refund went through, they would “no longer have access to the game.”
Many online are pointing out how Sony’s ability to wipe content from your console is yet another example of how people do not own digital content but merely license it and are beholden to the whims of a giant, multi-national company like Sony. This is nothing new, of course, but the situation surrounding Concord is reminding players of this fact.
Concord launched in late August and failed to find an audience, peaking at fewer than 700 concurrent players on PC. PS5 player data was never made available, but whatever the case, the situation was so dire that Sony made the dramatic decision to stop sales, close the servers, and refund players after less than two weeks on the market.
Concord is the debut title from Firewalk Studios, which is owned by Sony. Game director Ryan Ellis said the game’s “initial” launch “didn’t land the way we intended.” As such, the team is now looking at “options” for how to “better reach our players.” Some believe Concord could return as a free-to-play game or as part of the PlayStation Plus catalog, but one expert believes the game is simply doomed no matter what.
Not long after Concord’s failure, Sony found more success with its platformer Astro Bot, which is getting rave reviews, including a 9/10 here at GameSpot.
