Summary
Sony’s ambitious live-service plan has been mired in controversy since its announcement. The original plan, as stated by Sony in February 2022, was to release at least 12 first-party live-service multiplayer games by March 2026. In November 2023, Sony announced that the 12 live-service projects had been halved to just 6, and just one month later, the would-be flagship,The Last of Usmultiplayer, was canceled. There was clearly something wrong with Sony’s live-service strategy behind the scenes, but despite all of that, Firewalk’sConcordcontinued on.
Generally speaking,Concordis a pretty solid hero shooter that offers plenty of modes and unique playable characters, along with some really nice visuals and sound design. ButConcorddoesn’t do a whole lot to stand out from the crowd, and that seems to be causing some fairly serious issues. Just a week after its release,Concord’s player count is looking tragic, and it might already be time for Sony to call upon its PlayStation Plus life raft.
In The Face of Extinction, Concord Should Turn to PlayStation Plus
Concord’s Numbers Aren’t Looking Good
According to the fairly reliable tracking site SteamDB,Concordhas an all-time peak player count of just 697 players. For a new release, this is an exceptionally low number for launch week, and for a PlayStation first-party title, this type of disappointment is unprecedented. And things only seem to be getting worse. At the time of writing – which is five days afterConcordfirst hit Steam – there are just 130 players onConcord. Reports are already starting to come out confirming that PC players are having to wait over 8 minutes to find an online match.
Of course,Concordhas been marketed heavily as a PlayStation 5 game first and foremost, and these statistics only refer to the game’s performance on PC. There are no precise stats for how many players are onConcordon PS5, but the PlayStation Store’s best-selling list does paint a pretty grim picture for Firewalk’s hero shooter.Concordis currently sitting at the 39th spot on the PS Store’s best-selling list, being outsold by 38 other titles, many of which are several years old, and others aren’t slated for release for another few months.
In the past, PlayStation first-party games have usually stayed in the top 10 of the platform’s best-selling list for several months after their launch. This year’sHelldivers 2is the perfect point of comparison here. Another PlayStation live-service venture,Helldivers 2was the fastest-selling PlayStation game of all time, and now, six months after launch, it’s still three spots ahead ofConcordon the best-selling list. This list doesn’t include physical sales, but it still paints a clear picture.
How PlayStation Plus Can Save Concord
From the momentConcordwas first revealed, its price tag has been a constant source of conversation. While direct competitors likeOverwatch 2and the upcomingMarvel Rivalsare completely free-to-play,Concordhas shipped with a $40 price of admission. Though it’s clear thatConcordhas had a great deal of time and effort poured into it by developers, and a $40 price tag should be more than fair for a product like it, that unfortunately just isn’t the marketConcordfinds itself in right now. WithFortnite,Apex Legends,Call of Duty: Warzone,Valorant, andOverwatchall offering extensive multiplayer experiences for free, there’s little to convince players to pay forConcord.
But that’s where PlayStation Plus could come in. IfConcordwas added to PlayStation Plus, it could offer the game, its developers, and PlayStation itself a way out of its current predicament. Sony would still see some revenue fromConcordvia PS Plus subscriptions, and the game would hopefully be able to pull in a bigger crowd without its $40 price tag.
Concord
WHERE TO PLAY
Assemble your crew of Freegunner space outlaws and team up online with friends for thrilling 5v5 PVP modes across the galaxy in Concord.Concord is a new team-based first-person shooter for PS5® and PC*. Handpick your personal roster of Freegunners from the crew of the Northstar – a group of outlaws and adventurers working as guns-for-hire.ASSEMBLE YOUR CREWFrom powerful mystics to skilled gunslingers and helpful healers, each Freegunner brings their own unique skills, personality, and abilities that cater to a wide-range of playstyles.Create your own custom squads of Freegunners with Crew Builder to bring an arsenal of different role types to the match or focus on your favourite characters to master their gameplay and unlock unique modifiers, cosmetics, background lore, and more – you decide when to play your characters and how you impact the match.PLAY. PROGRESS. PERSONALIZE.Earn and unlock a wide range of character customization items and learn more about the characters, worlds, and factions in the Concord Galaxy with the Galactic Guide.You’ll also be able to progress toward and unlock Freegunner Variants—versions of each of the 16 Freegunners with added Combat Trait modifiers to their base abilities. As you learn and master the characters, Combat Traits empower you to tailor each character to your playstyle.
