It’s the pain that comes with a play that closes after opening night. Of a rocket that explodes on launch. A sold out festival cancelled due to rain. A crop destroyed by bugs just ahead of harvest.
Firewalk Studios’ Game Director Ryan Ellis now knows that pain, as do the people who spent thousands of days creating something out of nothing.
Ellis has issued the type of blog post no self-respecting gaming executive wants to write.
Less than a fortnight after launching Concord, a first person shooter game that had been in development for eight long years, Sony – which bought Firewalk about 18 months ago – put Ellis forward to take his lumps via a statement.
He looks nice. Sony’s Concord.
This was Firewalk Studio’s first venture into gaming, and basically the message was that a large mop and bucket were required. Concord was cooked. Done. Stick a fork in its rump. Shut it down. Dead on arrival.
Send out some refunds, and let’s never, ever discuss this again. Discuss what? Exactly!
In PR Speak it comes out like this: “Concord fans – we’ve been listening closely to your feedback since the launch of Concord on PlayStation 5 and PC and want to thank everyone who has joined the journey aboard the Northstar.
“Your support and the passionate community that has grown around the game has meant the world to us. However, 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.”
This Concorde had a better landing. Wiki.
There was more. “Therefore, at this time, we have decided to take the game offline beginning September 6, 2024, and explore options, including those that will better reach our players.”
It is not entirely clear what this means. Maybe Ellis doesn’t yet know.
While Sony and Firewalk “determine the best path ahead”, Concord sales ceased immediately.
“We will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased the game for PS5 or PC,” Ellis said. “If you purchased the game for PlayStation 5 from the PlayStation Store or PlayStation Direct, a refund will be issued back to your original payment method.
Sony’s Concord.
“For customers who have purchased a physical copy at a retailer location outside of PlayStation directly, please refer to the refund process of the retailer you purchased it from to obtain your refund.”
Once refunded, players will no longer have access to the game.
“We’ll keep you updated and thank you again to all the Freegunners who have joined us in the Concord galaxy,” said Ellis.
Refunds for PlayStation Store and PlayStation Direct purchases may take 30-60 days to appear on your bank statement. If your original payment source was unavailable, the purchase amount will be refunded to your PSN wallet.
Promotion for Sony’s Concord.
IGN described Concord as “neither particularly innovative nor content-heavy. That said, it does have a level of polish at launch that was often absent from its hero shooter peers when they were first released”.
The Verge noted that Concord was in competition with the likes of Overwatch and Apex Legends, “making it a tough sell”.
“Its reach was limited to the PS5 and PC. Worse still, it was a full paid release in a space where free-to-play is the standard. But Concord’s biggest problem was that it was just fine. With generic characters and frustrating map design, there was nothing to make it stand out among so much competition … When you’re up against Fortnite, you need a hook.”
