"Sony's Concord Receives Updates on Steam Despite Being a Major Flop"

Concord, Sony's hero-shooter game that was pulled from stores just weeks after its launch, is surprisingly still receiving updates on Steam. Read on to delve into these updates and the speculations surrounding them.

Concord SteamDB Updates Ignite Speculations

Will Concord Become Free-to-Play? Get Improved Gameplay? Speculations Arise

Remember Concord? The hero-shooter that debuted with less excitement than a wet firecracker? Despite being officially offline since September 6th, Concord's Steam page has been receiving consistent updates.

Since September 29, SteamDB has logged over 20 updates for Concord. These updates have been pushed by accounts named "pmtest," "sonyqae," and "sonyqae_shipping." The names of these accounts suggest that the updates might focus on backend fixes and improvements, with "QAE" likely standing for "Quality Assurance Engineer."

When Concord launched in August, it aimed to disrupt the hero shooter market with a $40 price tag—a bold move, especially when competing against free-to-play giants like Overwatch, Valorant, and Apex Legends. Unfortunately, the launch was a complete disaster. Merely two weeks after hitting the shelves, Sony pulled the game and offered refunds to all players. The player base was negligible, and interest was virtually non-existent. The game was quickly labeled as dead on arrival, with low ratings across the board.

So, why is a game that failed so spectacularly still receiving updates? In the game's shutdown announcement, Ryan Ellis, then-Firewalk Studios Game Director, promised that they would "explore options, including those that will better reach our players." Gamers are now speculating that Concord might be preparing for a comeback. Many believe these updates signal a potential relaunch, possibly as a free-to-play title. This move could address the criticism about its paid entry model.

Despite its disastrous launch, Sony has reportedly invested up to $400 million into the game, so it's not surprising that they might try to salvage their investment. With ongoing updates, some speculate that Firewalk Studios is using this time to retool the game, adding new features and addressing criticisms such as lackluster characters and uninspired gameplay design.

However, none of this is confirmed yet. Sony has remained silent about its plans for Concord. Could it re-emerge with improved mechanics, broader appeal, or a new monetization model? Only those inside Firewalk Studios and Sony know at this point. Even if Concord returns as free-to-play, it will face stiff competition in an already saturated genre.

For now, Concord remains unavailable for purchase, and Sony has not made any official announcements about its future. Only time will tell if any of these speculations will come to fruition or if Concord will ever rise from the ashes of its initial failure.