The Concord game failed because it was overpriced from launch and didn’t offer a unique gameplay experience from its competitors. Concord was a multiplayer hero shooter where players controlled Freegunners, who each had distinct abilities, in team-based PvP matches.
Concord was developed by Firewalk Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, who acquired Firewalk Studios. The initial budget was $200 million but expanded to over $400 million because of the studio acquisition and marketing costs. Concord was released on August 23rd, 2024, but it flopped after selling only 25,000 copies before Sony shut down the servers. Full refunds were offered.
Concord’s development went on for 8 years. By the time it was released, the market already had games like Valorant to set the stage, making Concord feel obsolete. The gameplay was dubbed generic, with characters reminiscent of other hero shooters, which increased player drop-offs. Keep reading for full explanations of how these factors contributed to Concord’s failure and what game designers can learn from it.
1. High price point
Concord had a high price point ($40 at launch) compared to other hero shooters, such as Overwatch and Valorant. Hero shooters are known for being free-to-play and using in-app purchases for revenue rather than upfront payments, which lowers entry barriers. The base price for Concord was close to that of AAA titles like Elden Ring, but it didn’t offer any unique experiences or systems. The gameplay wasn’t up to par with the price.
Concord offered only multiplayer, with no options for single-player and an uncompelling narrative. The game came out looking like a beta product since Freegunners didn’t stand out or have unique character designs or abilities. Players compared Concord negatively to Overwatch 2. Overwatch 2 is free, has a low entry barrier, and offers more variety with its game modes and unique hero roster.
The high price for Concord also meant that the game relied on players paying for it upfront, but the entry fee limited the player base significantly. Steam showed only 697 players at launch, resulting in an overall low concurrent player count whereas Valorant launched with up to 183,000 players. Valorant, a hero shooter with free entry, also uses Valorant Points for revenue. Players buy and exchange Valorant Points for weapons, skins and cosmetics, which are updated periodically, bringing players back and increasing the game’s long-term profit. .
2. Limited unique features
Concord’s gameplay consisted of standard PvP matches with Freegunners using abilities tied to characters from hero shooters, much like Valorant. The limited unique features made Concord fade into the background. A lack of battle passes or seasonal content further cut down the game’s long-term engagement.
Matches were standard shootouts with teams pitted against each other, aiming to collect a certain number of points via kills. Players picked a Freegunner and had to take down opposing teams via shooting mechanics and abilities. This system was repetitive and didn’t give players room for strategy or experimentation with abilities.
Concord had a feature called Time Trials which let players try out Freegunners and their respective weapons and abilities preceding a match. Trials were tailored to each character so they had different paths and objectives, but these ran a similar loop. Players had to destroy a ceratin number of targets and dodge hazards, while using specific abilities, within a time limit; the repetitive objectives weren’t helped by the lack of innovation for the Freegunners themselves.
Concord’s Freegunners had abilities that mimicked those of already existing hero shooter characters. Emari, for example, was a tank shield user which was similar to Overwatch’s Reinhardt, whereas It-Z had teleportation abilities similar to Valorant’s Omen. Overwatch and Valorant already set their mark in the industry via these abilities so gameplay felt obsolete.
3. Unappealing character designs
Concord’s Freegunners had unappealing character designs with a lack of personality and generic costumes, like spacesuits for the sci-fi setting. The abilities weren’t new, either, reflecting well-known existing hero shooter characters. Hero shooters rely on memorable characters for high community engagement, since they encourage discussions, fan art and cosplays which lengthen the games’ shelf lives.
The Freegunners looked like they were archetypes instead of fleshed out characters even though costumes outlined a clear role in the team, like full armor for a shield tank. There were limited cut scenes to outline character dynamics and personalities, contributing to a general lack of personality across the cast. Characters felt like they were interchangeable, so players weren’t drawn to any of them emotionally.
4. Lack of gameplay innovation
Concord had standard PvP matches that weren’t made memorable via new modes or hero abilities, resulting in a lack of gameplay innovation. Concord’s matches looked outdated when compared to Overwatch’s payload escort mode and Fortnite’s version of a battle royale. Battle passes and ranked ladders were absent, with progression focusing on short-term goals, which didn’t encourage players to keep returning.
Freegunner abilities consisted of shields, teleportation and area restriction powers, which were already tied to memorable characters in hero shooters like Overwatch and Valorant. Concord’s mechanics were comparatively less polished, though, with issues like Emari’s shield stopping both enemy and team member attacks from passing through.
5. Poor marketing
Concord’s poor marketing reduced the hype by failing to mention any new gameplay mechanics or modes, only highlighting the sci-fi setting and putting out trailers with character banter. Multiplayer games need a strong pre-launch campaign to be successful and start off with a high player count. Larger player numbers means reduced wait time during matchmaking and helps smooth over the first-time-player experience.
Marketing also pushed Concord as Sony’s flagship live-service title in 2024, but this didn’t match how Concord was marketed like a single-player game instead of a hero shooter. The hero shooter genre was already known for other games like Overwatch 2 and Apex Legends, so the lack of unique points didn’t help. Players weren’t sure what to expect, so they were less eager to buy the game, which was already priced higher than its competitors.
Concord didn’t use cross-platform marketing to increase the game’s reach, as is typical of successful titles. Building up hype via influencer partnerships and community-building events is common for games like Concord, but these were conspicuously lacking. The low-effort marketing approach combined with not having enough unique details to share in the first place meant it wasn’t possible to build up hype before Concord launched, resulting in low player counts.
6. Prolonged development cycle
Concord had a prolonged development cycle: Firewalk Studios started working on it in 2016, and released the game in 2024. Studios are able to refine gameplay and mechanics with long development cycles, but they also risk market changes. Concord went into development just as Overwatch released, already introducing new mechanics to hero shooters, so the market had evolved past what Concord had to offer.
Concord came out with standard PvP matches, with players needing to grind for XP to progress. Battle royale had already become popular via Fortnite, and hero shooter titles were becoming known for using battle passes and seasonal content to keep players engaged. Concord failed to integrate these aspects and repeated mechanics from existing games, despite having a high entry fee.
Concord’s core concepts even changed multiple times during development. Early design principles for the game focused more on the narrative, but the end result was a live-service shooter. The committee handled multiple design decisions, so instead of one person leading the vision, everyone had a say, which only muddied the water.
7. Derivative concept
Concord’s derivative concept stemmed from the core idea looking like it was a mashup of existing titles, criticized for resembling Overwatch in space or Destiny without the story. The concept was an online-based hero shooter set in a sci-fi universe where mercenary teams called Freegunners battled each other. Concord’s game loops were PvP fights hinging on eliminating rivals, collecting bounties and racking up points.
Concord entered the market with a generic sci-fi setting that didn’t tie into lore or a bigger narrative. The cutscenes and dialogues focused on character banter and generic missions for bounty collections, which didn’t draw players in. Concord’s progression was via daily and weekly targets of high damage and enemy kill counts. These were simplistic offerings compared to competitors that churned out new content and had multiple modes for players to engage with strategically.
Concord’s hero abilities mirrored existing games, like Reinhardt’s shield, and the modes were standard team matches with nothing new compared to the tactical buy phases in Valorant. The marketing for Concord wasn’t able to point out why it was worth playing because the game’s foundation was derivative. Players were likewise unimpressed with the lack of innovative mechanics or a narrative worth sticking around for.
8. Poor PvP experience
Success for PvP in hero shooters depends on engaging game modes and balanced abilities that encourage teamwork. Concord had a poor PvP experience, despite its competent shooting mechanics, because the overall experience lacked depth compared to competitors. PvP games rely on large communities for quick and fair matchmaking, but Concord’s small launch population resulted in long queue times, preventing many players from even getting to try the lackluster PvP.
Concord’s balance problems stemmed from teams having a distribution of over- and underpowered abilities. Emari’s shield blocked both enemy and ally projectiles, preventing teammates from attacking while behind the shield and disrupting team dynamics. Heroes like Roka and Teo felt like generic NPCs that hinged on mobility and nothing else, adding no value to the team.
Hero abilities in Concord didn’t encourage creative team play since they were built for soloing, unlike Overwatch which makes sure ultimates are able to combine for high DPS. Concord had no ranked ladder or esports support, either. Players had little incentive to grind or improve, bringing down long-term engagement.
PvP was restricted to death match-type games without innovative objectives, making matches feel repetitive. Overwatch’s Payload Escort mode is an example of innovative PvP design; one team needs to escort a payload along a set path while the other team defends. The payload moves only when attackers are nearby, which encourages teamwork. Concord needed more of that kind of creativity and added depth.
What can game designers learn from Concord’s failure?
Game designers can learn the importance of pricing strategy and innovation in both character and gameplay design from Concord’s failure. The gross revenue for Concord amounted to $325,000 (its net revenue was $96,000) since Concord sold only 25,000 copies before refunds. The game shut down two weeks after launch and Sony closed Firewalk Studios immediately afterward.
Concord was priced $40 at launch, the same as premium single-player blockbusters, but multiplayer hero shooters survive as F2Ps with built-in monetization, lowering the entry barrier and making them community-driven games. Concord’s development cycle was eight years, so by its launch, the hero shooter market had evolved. Spending years in development is ideal to polish a game, but longer stretches have to include repeated iterations to make sure the product still stands out at release.
Games such as Valorant and Overwatch had already carved their space in the genre, so Concord needed to come out of the gate with unique selling points. Originality was necessary to convince players to pay for an experience that was otherwise free. The gameplay loop needed to introduce new features, instead of standard deathmatches, to hook players and retain them.
The character design in Concord wasn’t memorable. The Freegunners were criticized as being bland and unattractive, which brought down player attachment. Characters like Mercy from Overwatch are among the most cosplayed characters because of their unique abilities and appearances in promotional videos. To achieve this impact, designers have to come up with unique visuals and add enough personality and depth to build a fandom around. Concord, as a game, was just too little, too late.
