Ahead of last month’s launch, Sony had high hopes that Concord would become the latest groundbreaking hero shooter. However, the response was so disappointing that Sony decided to remove Concord from shelves just two weeks after its release and refund players who purchased it. Now, gaming professionals, journalists, and fans have taken to the web to share their reactions to the news.
Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski sympathized with Concord’s rapid demise. His first-person shooter Outlaws suffered a similar fate in 2018.
Art director Michael Maurino also expressed his support for the game’s team.
Shame on Concord, I just want to say that you can have a world class team, smart and unique gameplay, super engaging art and characters, highly optimized performance, cross play, and results in players staying Pandemic challenges at home. pic.twitter.com/xbV09YsJtM
— Michael Goe Froome (@Iron_Stylus) September 3, 2024
Regular gamers on social media also shared their thoughts on Concord’s failure and what it means for the future of live gaming and original IP games.
Popular opinion: Concord failed, and that sucks. The PS5 era is known for sequels and remasters. The fact that new IPs fail only means more sequels and remakes are coming.
— Brandon S. (@OptimusHeim) September 3, 2024
It’s not misleading, confusing, destructive, or any other stupid nonsense. Narrow-minded? perhaps. But did you know it’s even more destructive in a real, physical sense? Let hundreds of people work for eight years on something that fell out of favor for four years.
— Kris Wolfheart (@KrisWolfheart) September 3, 2024
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reporters Jason Schreier and Christopher Dring took aim at gamers who celebrated Concord’s demise because of its diverse cast of characters.
Every time an unappealing or poorly-received live game fails to crack an oversaturated market, the most annoying people on the planet blame diversity
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) September 3, 2024
Dear fans. When a game on a console you don’t own doesn’t perform well, whether it’s Concord, Hellblade, or NES World Championship, it’s not a win for you. No one wins.
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) September 3, 2024
It’s widely believed by fans and some industry professionals that Concord could eventually resurface as a free-to-play game.
Considering Concord’s crazy moves, I think this is best for Sony. Pulling back and refunding, redesigning the game and relaunching it as a free-to-play title next year was inevitable.
— Superboy (@GreyWolf513) September 3, 2024
Ironically, “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 by the time the Concord-specific episodes of the Amazon TV show are released, the game will have been down and offline for three months. pic.twitter.com/MvZoxLTi5P
— Christina Tasty (@ChristinaTasty) September 3, 2024
Some fans joked that Astro Bot took over Concord’s official page.
Washington Post video game reporter Gene Park noted that many of Concord’s remaining players are actually killing their characters in order to level up and unlock the Platinum trophy before it becomes unobtainable.
Concord will officially close on September 6th.
