Firewalk and Sony ground Concord, promise to 'explore options' for improvement

Two weeks after release, Firewalk Studios is taking its debut shooter Concord offline on Friday, September 6.

While acknowledging its high points, director Ryan Ellis admitted the PlayStation 5 and PC game's initial launch "didn’t land the way we’d intended."

Concord released on August 23, and its alleged underperformance has dominated conversation around the game. On Steam, it's had low numbers since launch, and PlayStation hasn't commented on its sales or player metrics.

Firewalk will "explore options" to improve Concord so it finds a better audience. Current players will be refunded for their digital (on PlayStation Store, Steam, and Epic Games Store) and physical purchases, then lose access to the game after September 6.

PlayStation's live-service woes continue

Since its reveal, PlayStation positioned Concord as a big live-service offering for 2024 alongside Helldivers II. But in the past year, the publisher has pulled back slightly on its live-service ambitions, and this marks another roadblock to those plans.

Concord's demise follows Naughty Dog cancelling its live-service Last of Us project in late 2023, which was facing alleged development issues. More recently, this news comes after the tumultuous saga of Destiny 2 developer Bungie.

Its end also undermines PlayStation's PS5/PC release strategy for live-service games. A simultaneous launch worked for Helldivers II, but Concord's failure to court an audience on Steam and EGS may call the method into question.

"Your support and the passionate community that has grown around the game has meant the world to us," wrote Ellis. "We’ll keep you updated and thank you again to all the Freegunners who have joined us in the Concord galaxy."