As someone who has spent countless hours immersed in the vibrant world of hero shooters, I found myself intrigued yet disappointed by Concord. Coming from a background where Destiny 2 has been my go-to game for years, it’s hard not to draw comparisons between the two.
2024 is likely to be known for a surge of predictions, particularly about video games. Many believed that titles such as “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” and “Skull and Bones” would fail, and they did indeed struggle. This must have been a nerve-wracking situation for Firewalk Studios when they unveiled Concord a few months later – an action-packed, live-service 5v5 hero shooter that drew heavily from “Guardians of the Galaxy”, with its gameplay incorporating elements from “Destiny” and “Halo”. After an engaging but somewhat formulaic cinematic trailer, the game was officially announced. Needless to say, many instantly declared it a failure.
I wasn’t very optimistic about its success either, but like any game, I was open to trying it out. However, as time went by, it became clear that Concord wasn’t creating much positive excitement. There was some criticism, but even that seemed surprisingly minimal given the initial controversy. The open beta occurred and ended with a notable 2,388 peak concurrent players on Steam last month. Even after making it available to PlayStation Plus subscribers on PS5, its growth appeared to be stagnant.
It’s not surprising that it started with a small player base when it was first released, struggling to reach 700 simultaneous players on Steam. Although weekends usually bring more players, Concord has only managed to peak at 459 players in the last 24 hours, and currently, there are 353 active players on Steam. While PlayStation numbers might paint a different picture, it’s worth noting that Skull and Bones, which launched for the platform the previous day, peaked at 2,615 concurrent players right now. This suggests that Concord may have failed to take off, particularly on PC.
It’s puzzling, given the mostly positive user feedback on Steam, where the game has a 74% “Mostly Positive” rating, and yet there are relatively few reviews – less than 400 to be exact. The game was marketed by Sony before its release, which helped some people become aware of it. However, it seems that not many are interested in playing it despite the marketing efforts. I’ll discuss more about the inadequacy of these marketing strategies later on.
For the movie Concord, there aren’t many negative critiques available, yet few are offering enthusiastic endorsements. Personally, my viewpoint is unstated here, but with nine reviews, it has earned a 66 Metascore. I anticipate this score might rise slightly as more opinions roll in; however, at present, it’s not the top choice.
According to Firewalk Studios’ statements, development on the game “Concord” supposedly stretched over approximately eight years. However, this doesn’t necessarily imply continuous work; instead, the studio was founded in 2018 with several veterans from Bungie. Sony acquired the studio last year, but their agreement to publish “Concord” was established in 2021 – a few months prior to when Sony declared they would release ten live service titles over the next four years.
Regardless of when or how Concord began production, it’s somewhat reasonable why Sony and Firewalk believed it could resonate (no pun intended). After all, Overwatch was successful and movies like Guardians of the Galaxy were popular too. Mixing these elements might seem strategic from a business standpoint. Moreover, Bungie veterans likely wanted to leverage their expertise with Destiny’s Crucible and apply it to the hero shooter format, which is also understandable.
Initially, there’s a challenge when it comes to the characters in Overwatch. Regardless of one’s opinions about its balance and ranked system, the character designs and kits are exceptional. Characters like Tracer, Pharah, Mercy, Zenyatta, D.Va, Winston, Reinhardt, and Lucio have become iconic since their launch, while more recent additions such as Juno, Kiriko, Sojourn, Ramattra, Venture, Mauga, and Junker Queen fit seamlessly into the roster. Despite drawing initial inspiration from other hero shooters, the way each character’s kit was developed – both individually and collectively – was executed effectively.
In other competitive shooter games such as Valorant and the officially announced Deadlock, there’s a crucial element that can be traced back to what makes a good Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game. If your characters aren’t thoughtfully designed, the game may not last long, regardless of the intellectual property or publisher supporting it. This is demonstrated by Ninja Theory’s Bleeding Edge, which faced an early demise after being published by Microsoft.
One of Concord’s early flaws lies in its character designs, even though it excels in terms of graphical detail, such as the expressions and textures, and boasts a talented voice cast. However, if a hero shooter fails to grab the attention of its target audience with captivating characters, it puts itself at a significant disadvantage. Unfortunately, many of Concord’s personalities lack appeal.
The other problem is the abilities and kits. Lennox’s rogue-ish playstyle based on revolvers and exploding throwing knives is cool, but I can also do that in Destiny 2 as a Hunter. I could also throw in Gunpowder Gamble and Tripmines – the latter belonging to a separate hero, Vale, in Concord – for some more boom. I could float around as Haymar, blinding enemies and throwing firewall grenades, or play as a Warlock, tossing Solar Grenades that spit projectiles like mini-volcanoes, snap my fingers for a quick burst of burning damage.
Occasionally, it seems as if Firewalk borrowed many of Destiny 2’s class abilities and divided them among a variety of general characters. On the other hand, Bungie launched Prismatic and fundamentally altered the gameplay. Compared to other hero-based shooters, Concord’s kits appear less captivating.
Besides the frequent updates and generally fun gameplay, another significant factor contributing to the ongoing popularity of Overwatch 2 and Valorant is their free-to-play model. This free accessibility is a key reason why games like The First Descendant and Once Human didn’t lose traction as quickly as something like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
If you’re introducing content in a genre that’s already saturated, offering it for free is an effective method to draw in new players. This tactic isn’t groundbreaking compared to hero shooters and loot games – consider Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, which provides a free version specifically to pique the interest of fighting game enthusiasts.
Despite Sony’s belief that launching a rival hero shooter at a cost would entice consumers, one might wonder if they’re banking on the weekly character shorts, which haven’t yet won over players, to justify the price. The “pay once and get all future content for free” strategy no longer seems effective, given that many other free-to-play games are offering the same while remaining, you know, free.
There are numerous other factors contributing to Concord’s downfall that I could delve into. It’s worth reconsidering Sony’s traditional approach to promoting console exclusives, particularly for multiplayer games. Instead of unveiling the game trailers approximately a month or two before launch, they should consider a different strategy. Merely releasing a series of animated adventure trailers or showcasing each character’s abilities isn’t enough, especially when it comes to multiplayer titles. A single round of beta testing isn’t sufficient either; more extensive testing could provide valuable insights and enhance the final product.
If Concord had been unveiled last year and Firewalk had spent the following months in closed beta, refining their game based on feedback and meticulously detailing each aspect, there might have been a greater level of excitement surrounding its release, rather than the current sense of indifference leading up to launch. However, it’s unlikely that this approach would significantly impact the success of the game itself.
Live-service games thrive on their ability to maintain player interest over the long term through consistent content updates. If a game faces numerous problems at launch, improving it, adding new content to retain existing players, and attracting new ones becomes a complex challenge. I’m unsure if Concord will be able to meet this demand. In games where first impressions are crucial for player engagement, and players don’t show interest at launch, it speaks volumes about the game’s potential success.
As a passionate gaming enthusiast, I’d like to emphasize that the opinions shared in this piece are my own personal perspective. They may not align with the collective viewpoint of GamingBolt as a platform.
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2024-08-27 15:43