And just like that, Concord servers are now offline. PlayStation pulled the plug on its struggling hero shooter just two weeks after it stepped out into the brutal live service arena, while Firewalk Studios works out "the best path ahead." Buyers have been refunded, but developers who worked on the game are now saying their (maybe temporary) goodbyes.
Concord animator David Reyes posted a picture of the game's now ultra-rare Platinum Trophy - the one that had players desperately jumping off cliffs - that only 0.2% of players ever nabbed. "This platinum is very special to me... Thank you team, we made something awesome."
This platinum is very special to me🥹 @FirewalkStudios @PlayConcord Thank you team, we made something awesome🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/c9hWgwrV22September 6, 2024
"I cannot thank this community enough for the amount of love and support they've poured into us," community development lead Bethany Hulse tweeted. "Thank you for being here, and for being a part of the journey."
"It's gone," senior lighting artist Adam Alexander tweeted. "I'm sorry to see it go, but I am so lucky to get to have worked with Firewalk and this team for the last two years. I've had the chance to work with and learn from some of the most talented, kind folks in the field here, and am proud of what we made."
Lead character designer Jon Weisnewski instead spent the game's last hours posting some admittedly cool clips from the shooter that make me kind of sad I might never get to try it. He also had some cool tips and tricks to share for any freegunners that were still kicking about - see below.
FYI Bazz has a bigger jump she can do out of slide for those big leap head stabs. 🔪 pic.twitter.com/enuRQlG9AnSeptember 6, 2024
After cramming in as many matches as he could, designer director Josh Hamrick tweeted that "It was really hard to stop playing and head to bed. I love this game so damn much. Thanks for the matches, y’all."
If you're curious about what Concord's final seconds looked like, there wasn't actually anything flashy going on in-game to mark it going offline, aside from an anti-climatic notification screen, probably because the team didn't have much time to prepare.
What happens now is anyone's guess. I imagine PlayStation would want to recoup some development costs from its close to eight-year production journey by potentially cramming Concord to fit a free-to-play model. But as a former Destiny developer recently pointed out, there have been bigger comebacks in gaming, so anything's possible.
