Concord's Launch Is A Disaster, And We Think We Know Why

Sony just launched its new hero shooter "Concord," and things are already looking dire for the game. Ahead of the release, everyone was saying the same things about "Concord" – mostly that the game seemed utterly lackluster. Even with all of Sony's resources, it's hard for a studio to break into this particular genre. After all, there are already massively popular titles like "Overwatch 2" in the space, and most of them are free-to-play.

Even so, Sony tried to change up the typical formula with "Concord." The game clearly borrows some vibes from "Guardians of the Galaxy" and attempts to keep the gameplay fresh by making players rotate characters in each new round of competitive combat. Unfortunately, it also breaks the mold in some less welcome ways. "Concord" is priced at $40, and even though it debuted on PlayStation 5 and PC simultaneously, Sony repeated an old mistake and required PC players to set up a PlayStation Network account before playing on either platform.

It's safe to assume that Sony was hoping "Concord" would have a bigger launch. SteamDB tells us that "Concord" didn't even top 700 concurrent players on launch weekend. To put that in perspective, "Helldivers 2" lost 90% of its playerbase, and it still regularly sees more than 10 times that player count actively enjoying the game. After taking a look at player reactions to "Concord," we're pretty sure we know exactly what went wrong.

"Concord" is shaping up to be a lesson in poor planning. The game has reportedly been in development for eight years, which seems especially outrageous considering Sony dropped the first trailer for it just two months ahead of its release. The lack of promotion did little to show that Sony had faith in the game. Also, as we've already mentioned, that trailer didn't really impress anyone, and Sony arguably did little else to set up "Concord" for success.

The elephant in the room here is probably that $40 price tag. We aren't here to sing the praises of the free-to-play model, but the hero shooter genre has been defined by that model for quite some time. A $40 game was always going to have an uphill battle competing against games like "Overwatch," "Apex Legends," and "Valorant," and that's before you consider the fact that "Concord" doesn't have much new to offer. It mixes elements from other successful properties together — and reviews have praised its snappy combat — but it doesn't add many of its own unique elements to that mixture.

Then there's the actual timing of the release. "Concord" debuted in the same week that "Black Myth: Wukong" began blowing everyone away, and with more than 2.4 million PC players heading into Game Science's latest title over the weekend, there were hardly any players left over to check out "Concord." There's still a chance that Sony's hero shooter could turn things around, but as things stand now, it looks like "Concord" was dead on arrival.