To say Concord has had a rough go of it would be an understatement. From the very start, it was unclear who exactly this game was for, and Sony’s inability to answer that question has led to truly abysmal launch numbers. There’s bad performance, and there’s worse than Gollum performance.
From the very start, Concord had a lot working against it. Not only was it yet another hero shooter trying to break into a genre that grows more saturated by the day, but its uninspired, Destiny-esque sci-fi aesthetic was also done to death even when it started development eight years ago. Add a $40 USD price tag and live service monetization on top of that when Overwatch is free to play, and there’s plenty to dissuade gamers before they ever even pick up a controller.
So great was the communal “meh” response to Concord, in fact, that its Steam release failed to gather enough players to top Lord of the Rings: Gollum‘s launch day numbers. Per SteamDB, Concord launched to only 657 players in a sort of reverse-Helldivers 2 phenomenon. Gollum, meanwhile, which is largely considered one of the worst games in recent memory, had it solidly beaten with a whopping 758 players. This almost feels like an achievement in and of itself; Concord dev Firewalk Studios deserves a plaque for its office or something.
Granted, it’s not like nobody saw this coming. Concord‘s open beta was also a major flop, but still boasted player counts superior to the actual finished game (inasmuch as any live service is ever “finished.”) If you were holding your breath waiting for the game’s full release, I’m so sorry. For the time being, at least, we might have all the hero shooters we need.
