Concord Should’ve Seen Its Failure Coming In Light Of Previous Shooter Projects

You know, when Sony Interactive Entertainment puts its publishing hand on a game, certain expectations start to build up, making you feel a certain way. That was the case with Concord—a live service hero shooter by Firewalk Studios and SIE that dreamed hard and large—until fans and critics got to witness what is inarguably the biggest AAA flop in gaming history.

I wrote about the title at length last month, talking about how Concord’s fate is unseen and unheard of ever before in the industry, but in hindsight, there have been multiple other examples of titles that although did not fail as hard, sure did serve as potential stepping stones for learning valuable lessons.  

Concord’s date of birth is August 23, 2024. It’s date of death? September 6, 2024. That’s not even a full two-week gap between the two paradigms, with the game being subject to ridiculously low player peaks and around 25 thousand copies sold. You got that right. Can you recall the last time you saw a AAA title fail this badly? I can’t either. 

Concord’s Horrible Reception And Day-One Failure 

The writing has been on the wall with this game ever since it dropped in the market. Concord’s beta, which went live on July 19, clocked a peak concurrent player count of 2,300 players or so. Then came August, Concord launched, and an even bigger disaster followed. 

Within a week of launching, the Firewalk Studios’ shooter lost about 80% of what was already a 697-player peak, making the results come down to embarrassing figures. This, of course, could only last for so long, and on top of it, a report by IGN claimed that Concord was able to sell 25,000 copies in its first week of release. 

Those numbers are horrific, so to speak, for a game that’s published by a giant of the industry, and a testament to the volatility of the live service genre. Not every developer is Arrowhead Game Studios, nor is every game Helldivers 2 that you somehow manage to perfect a formula so good, that you don’t have to worry a sliver about players coming in.

<Hated Designs> The Heroes from Concord, these are some of the ugliest and most generic character designs I've seen for a game.
byu/Live_Earth_5685 inTopCharacterDesigns

Of course, considering the nature of the title, Helldivers 2 is also no stranger to player drops, with the average user count these days being in the neighborhood of 30,000 as per SteamDB. The third-person shooter is still thriving in my book though, and is nowhere near the dumpster fire that Concord managed to thrust itself in. 

Suicide Squad’s Recent Example Of Misfiring With The Community

When it comes down to it, the case isn’t like it’s never happened in the industry before. Sure, Concord’s bombing is an unmitigated marvel, all things considered, but numerous other titles in the past have tried to hit gold in the live service department, only to fall flat on their faces, leading to nothing but a waste of resources for developers, publishers, and even end-users. 

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a glaring example that comes to mind in recent memory, produced in the effect of WB’s decision to “convert” its biggest franchises into live service titles. That game comes hot off the heels of an iconic superhero video game series, which now although has long lost its former glory.

Is suicide squad really the end of the arkham saga?
byu/FlameWarDuck700 inBatmanArkham

The third-person shooter, therefore, is now on its last legs, with only about 144 PC players currently live in a session, according to stats provided by SteamDB. Rocksteady will attempt to push out more content for Suicide Squad as the new Season 3 approaches, but does it really matter at this point? I don’t think so. 

The damage is done. 

Anthem Too Was Supposed To Be A Lesson For All Developers

Another title that we can take a deeper look into and understand why Concord’s patterns must not be repeated for any game developer to flourish is Anthem. This is not a live service hero shooter, by the way, but it still manages to teach invaluable lessons to an array of new potential projects, so let’s talk about those. 

Why did anthem die
byu/Mister_Sinner inAnthemTheGame

Concord’s biggest sin perhaps is not that it belongs to the live service category of games, but that it’s flat-out uninteresting. Anthem, on the other hand, makes a great case for its open-world gameplay in terms of the gunplay and maneuverability, but just about everything else belonging to this game is horrible. End-game content? Forget about it. Ample loot to keep you hooked and motivated to play? Absolutely not. 

It’s tragic, really. Despite selling well over 5 million copies, Anthem failed to hit the mark on multiple levels, and as hard as this is going to be to believe, EA was not responsible for the shooter’s shortcomings—it was Bioware. A detailed report by Kotaku on the matter lays out the infrastructure of the developer, and how a bad environment and lackluster leadership paved the road toward Anthem’s downfall.

Point being, Anthem and Concord have much in common in this regard, and I can’t help but keep scratching my hair as to why developers forego originality in favor of trend-chasing. It’s all too clear at this point, for those of course who are willing to keep their eyes wide open.