Concord's imminent death prompts "infinite love" from its own developers and sympathy from industry figures: "I feel your pain"
Sep. 5, 2024Gears of War, Marvel’s Blade, and Destiny makers also show support to the failed hero shooter
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After just about two weeks in the wild andsome sad player numbers, PlayStation is unceremoniouslytaking its new hero shooter Concord offline tomorrow- a decision that’s prompted developers from Firewalk Studios to reminisce on their game, and developers from across the industry to show sympathy for a sadly familiar situation.
Firewalk Studios says it’s working to “determine the best path ahead,” but developers from theSonysubsidiary are still saying their goodbyes to the game just in case.
“To those of you playing us out, fighting alongside or against me and the team match after match… Infinite love to all of you, for real,” design director Josh Hamricktweetedearlier today. “I’ll be on as much as I can until we’re down. Say hi if we match up!”
“Firewalk is packed with tenacious fighters,” lead character designer Jon Weisnewski adds onTwitterbefore humbly bragging that “the fact we shipped at all is legendary” amid studio acquisitions, the global pandemic, and a switch from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5. “None of us know what’s next but I do know this team is capable of wild energy when faced with a challenge.”
“Will always be proud of what was accomplished for myself, for Firewalk, and for the PSVA team,” PlayStation Visual Arts Team’s senior artist Hugh Chew said alongside an image of what are now probably considered collector’s items: a physical copy of Concord and its special edition PS5 DualSense.
Developers who worked on Concord weren’t the only ones to share the love, though.
“Permission to be human: I don’t have anything ‘smart’ to say,” Marvel’s Blade and Deathloop director Dinga Bakabawrites. “I’ll keep it to: if you are from the dev team and read this, courage. This too shall pass.”
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Former Gears of War lead and creator of the similarly failed hero shooter Lawbreakers, Cliff ‘CliffyB’ Bleszinski, kept it simple in a social mediapost: “Concord, I feel your pain.”
Former Destiny 2 and current Amazon Fallout community manager Liana Ruppertsharesa reminder that there’s still hope for Concord’s future if other gaming comebacks are any indication. “No Mans Sky, Elder Scrolls Online, Rainbow Six Siege: there are so many games that have proven that this doesn’t mean the end. With the right moves/the right support, we could see Concord come back in a massive way that’s a win for players and the devs.”
After Redfall and Suicide Squad, Concord’s death must be the nail in the coffin for the industry’s failed live-service push.
Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.
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