Sony takes new game offline two weeks after release
FirewalkSony has announced that it is pulling online shooter Concord from sale just two weeks after its launch.
The multiplayer title was released exclusively for PlayStation 5 and PC on August 23rd, but has reportedly struggled to attract players.
In a blog post on Sony’s website, game director Ryan Ellis of developer Firewalk Studios, announced that the game would be taken offline from 6 September.
He said anyone who had bought the £40 game would receive a full refund while the team “determine the best path ahead” for its return.
Concord is a so-called hero shooter with similarities to popular titles such as Overwatch and Valorant.
Players are part of a team made up of characters with distinct abilities, and can compete in straight-up deathmatches or other game modes that involve capturing an objective or controlling sections of the arena.
Reportedly in development for eight years, Concord was the latest Sony title focused on capturing the multiplayer market.
It received mixed reviews from critics, with many praising its graphics and competent gameplay but criticising its failure to offer a new take on the genre.
According to website SteamDB, which tracks the number of people playing games on the PC platform, Concord’s highest number of concurrent users was 660.
By contrast, the most-played game, Counter-Strike 2, has consistently recorded more than 1 million players since August 2022.
FirewalkIn his message, Ryan Ellis said Firewalk had “been listening closely” to feedback.
“While many qualities of the experience resonated with players, we also recognize that other aspects of the game and our initial launch didn’t land the way we’d intended,” he said.
He thanked players who had tried the game and said the “passionate community that has grown around the game has meant the world to us”.
Taking the game offline would allow the developers to “explore options, including those that will better reach our players,” he added.
Multiplayer, or “live-service” games that receive regular updates to keep fans playing are lucrative for companies, and Sony has been investing in them.
Earlier this year it released Helldivers 2 – a breakout success that sold more than 12 million copies and also released on PlayStation 5 and PC.
A detailed reveal of Concord at the company’s State of Play broadcast in May didn’t generate the same enthusiasm, and many predicted it would struggle to find a similar audience.
The live-service market is incredibly hard to break into and stats from US analytics firm Newzoo, which tracks the most-played games, regularly finds that years-old titles including Minecraft, Roblox and League of Legends top the charts.
Earlier this year Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, from publisher Warner Bros, also failed to attract as many players as the company would have hoped despite its high-profile launch.
