Jon Weisnewski, the Lead Character Designer for Firewalk Studios’ Concord, attempted to sell the game by claiming he and the development team are “strapped in and ready to push it for years to come.”
A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios
In an interview with PCGamer, Weisnewski touted the game stating, “Concord has so much humanity and depth to it. I really hope people give it a shot.”
He added, “Insanely proud of the game, we’re strapped in and ready to push it for years to come.”
A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios
It’s unlikely the game will be around for “years to come” given the game’s concurrent player counts during its Early Access Beta and Open Beta, where players were able to play the game for free before it hits the market for $40.
The Early Access Beta only had a peak concurrent player count of 1,124.
Concord Early Access Beta Steam DB charts
When the game when in to Open Beta a week after the Early Access Beta, the peak concurrent player count did not increase significantly. It peaked at just 2,388.
Concord Open Beta Steam DB charts
That means the player base actually increased by 112%. However, sub 2,500 peak concurrent players is not good for a free Open Beta for a game that will cost $40.
In fact, a report from Kes Eylers Stephenson at True Trophies claimed that the number of players who played the Open Beta compared to the Early Access Beta on PlayStation actually decreased by over 8%.
He wrote, “Using a gameplay data sample from over 3.1 million active PSN accounts (courtesy of our partnership with GameInsights), we can see that Concord has 8.1% fewer players in the second Open Beta than in the Early Access beta.”
He added, “In our PlayStation Chart that ranks the top 40 most popular games every week, Concord ranked in the #29 position both weeks.”
A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios
Not only do players on both PC and PlayStation seem uninterested in this game, those who did play it were not impressed. YouTuber DreamcastGuy described the game as “Walmart brand Overwatch. It’s a hero shooter that doesn’t really have any of that spark of crazy originality.”
READ: ‘Concord’ Early Access Beta Torched By Gamers As Player Base Evaporated Over The Weekend
YouTuber Angry Joe was also unimpressed. He said, “How is the game? It’s mid. It’s not worth $40. Everybody’s saying this and it’s true. It would be great as a free-to-play game because to be honest it does have its moments. The graphics actually look good. It has some great character animations, some good facial expressions. There are high quality cutscenes even if the story is not all that interesting.”
He later added, “The maps are not memorable. Pretty much every single other hero shooter has better maps: Overwatch, Marvel Rivals. These maps aren’t very good. So that’s a problem. And then finally, I didn’t feel much of a sense of progression.”
The game has also been torn apart for its ugly character designs. In the Gaming subreddit, user gpetrakas declared, “Concord might have the UGLIEST Characters Designs I have ever seen.”
Concord might have the UGLIEST Characters Designs I have ever seen.
byu/gpetrakas ingaming
Others agreed. One user wrote, “Yeah I’m not too keen on the character design either but I am also tired of the Pixar toon look that most team shooters have had since like 2007.”
Another added, “It’s like they asked chatgpt to make overwatch again but strip it off all identity.”
Still another posted, “piss yellow, moldy green, wine purple and blue lipstick. who tf thought this was a acceptable color palate need to go.”
Reddit users react to Concord’s character designs
It was not just on Reddit. On X, user Mangalawyer wrote, “Concord is a new progressive and modern shooter for Pc & Playstation. It features five black women, four aliens, three robots, and one white man. It’s incredibly diverse and non-heteronormative. Plus, it has pronouns. Are you excited?”
Concord is a new progressive and modern shooter for Pc & Playstation. It features five black women, four aliens, three robots, and one white man. It’s incredibly diverse and non-heteronormative. Plus, it has pronouns. Are you excited? 😆 pic.twitter.com/DpLfjIvpp1
— LearningTheLaw (@Mangalawyer) May 31, 2024
Former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern also stated, “Concord, the new game by Firewalk Studios is so focused on ‘inclusive’ teams that they forgot the white guys in their game. Inclusive should not mean racists against white people, but it too often does.”
Concord, the new game by @FirewalkStudios, is so focused on “inclusive” teams that they forgot the white guys in their game.
Inclusive should not mean racists against white people, but it too often does. pic.twitter.com/vaJDGiSQ9X
— Grummz (@Grummz) May 31, 2024
As noted by Grummz not only does Firewalk make it clear they are pushing inclusion as a value at their company, but Weisnewski has made it clear he’s a woke activist.
Back in 2020, he responded to a post by former Bungie Lead Programmer Petar Kotevski who stated, “Thinking that all white people are unconsciously racist is the same as thinking that all black people are unconsciously lazy.”
Weisnewski replied, “This is an over simplification. The sentiment being expressed is that whites must acknowledge their privileged position, and then actively work for equality. It will be hard and confronting work, but if we don’t we’re complicit. And complicity allows systemic racism to persist.”
Jon Weisnewski on X
In another post he declared, “I’m not accusing you/myself/’all whites’ of being Jim Crow racists. I also don’t think anyone hearing it should immediately take it that way. Whites in America have always had an advantage in our social/economic/justice systems just because we’re white.”
Jon Weisnewski on X
He added, “Doing nothing and saying ‘well I’M not racist’ allows it to persist unchecked. We need to acknowledge the advantage we’ve had and use it to help others pursue equality and justice. That needs to become the new ‘I’m not racist’: using your privilege to erode that very privilege.”
“Part of that is humbling myself to listen. People are ANGRY. It’s ok for them to yell inflammatory statements. I do it too. I don’t think it comes down to the technical accuracy of their rage and whether or not that results in an accusation towards me. It’s not about ME,” he continued.
Jon Weisnewski on X
Next, he stated, “I also know that when we do the work to listen and learn, we’ll likely find that even though we’re not ‘Racist’, we probably could have been doing a lot more to work against subtle and systemic racism all around us. That’s been true for me and many other white Americans.”
“So I’m not replying because I think you’re wrong. Nor am I trying to say you’re a racist even though you don’t feel racist feelings. Just offering an appeal to hear the humanity coming from the black community right now. Let’s help them,” he concluded. “Nothing but love for you Petar!”
Jon Weisnewski on X
In September 2020, he claimed that the entire judicial system is white supremacy.
He wrote on X, “The entire thread addresses white supremacy. Proud Boys ARE white supremacy. Police brutality is white supremacy. The entire penal/judicial system is white supremacy. The whole thread. White supremacy.”
Jon Weisnewski on X
What do you make of Weisnewski’s claims that the development team is ready to push the game for years to come? How long do you think this game will last?
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