By now I’m sure everyone has heard the news about Concord. The weak multiplayer title Firewalk hit a very bad market with very few selling points, and then did so poorly that PlayStation and Firewalk pulled it from stores and essentially shut it down until further notice. They also refunded all digital purchases of the game on consoles and PC (though I understand that physical copies of the game still exist, albeit not at all times in the hands of scrupulous people).
It’s a sad end to Concord’s development and launch story. Firewalk is a young studio, and Concord was their debut title. PlayStation originally partnered with the studio to support the project in 2021 before acquiring Firewalk in 2023 — and has shown enthusiasm for the project throughout. Firewalk’s vision for a latest multiplayer IP, which originally began as a bun in the oven in UnlikeMonsters, felt so healthful. Tony Hsu said at the time of the PlayStation partnership: “Those incredible and unpredictable moments in games are the sparks that are sparked while playing with others; future memories ready to be replayed and retold.” And it’s sad to read that now.
The worst a part of this story is that it was probably a tragedy that would have been avoided. Of course, it’s hard to assume the team remaking it from a live multiplayer game, given their obvious excitement for the genre, but there have been other ways to make it more palatable. The release date, the high price, the indifferent and extremely short marketing campaign — Concord didn’t must release with so many flaws. Part of me wonders how we might have reacted to Concord in a world where Sony had never partnered with Firewalk… unfortunately, the query is whether the game would have released at all.
On a personal note, I just got back from a pre-release event where I got to play Dragon Age: The Veilguard for a few hours. And since I can not talk about the game yet, I’ll let you know that it’s all about sitting in one place and playing it for that long. So I think I’m in the mood for a short gameplay experience this weekend, something I can pick up and put down more easily. Vampire Therapist is sitting on my figurative Steam shelf waiting for more attention, and Emio: The Smiling Man – Famicom Detective Club and Ace Attorney Investigations Collection would satisfy my current appetite. But if I can get my hands on Astro Bot, that might also meet my expectations.
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What to play this week
What’s latest:
- Astrobot
- NBA 2K25
- Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions
- Ace Attorney Investigations Collection
- Frank Stone’s Cast
- The Age of Mythology: Retold
- Duel of the Shoguns
- Trucker Star
- Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open
What’s latest in subscription services:
- Expeditions: MudRunner Game (Xbox Game Pass)
- MLB The Show 24 (PlayStation Plus)
- Little Nightmares II (PlayStation Plus)
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Game of the Year Edition (Prime Gaming)
- Borderlands 2 (Gaming Prime)
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (Prime Gaming)
- GreedFall: Gold Edition (Prime Gaming)
- Whispered Secrets: Everburning Candle Collector’s Edition (Prime Gaming)
- Minabo – A Walk Through Life (Prime Gaming)
- Eternity (Prime Gaming)
- Lego: Indiana Jones – Original Adventures (Prime Gaming)
- Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (Prime Gaming)
- Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts (GeForce Now)
- Crime Scene Cleaner (GeForce Now)
- Sins of a Solar Empire II (GeForce Now)
- NFL Retro Bowl 25 (Apple Arcade)
- Monster Train+ (Apple Arcade)
- Puzzle Sculpture (Apple Arcade)