Firewalk Studio’s Open Beta for Concord went live on July 18th and the game failed to top 2,500 concurrent players in its first day.
A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios
The official X account for Concord announced that the Open Beta was live at 4:00 PM ET on July 18th.
The #ConcordBeta is now live!
Looking to become one of the best Freegunners? We’ve got some tips that can help you out. ⬇️ https://t.co/zcL4WcqZw0
— Concord (@PlayConcord) July 18, 2024
According to Steam DB the game’s peak concurrent players capped at 2,388 about 2 hours after the Open Beta went live at 6:10 PM ET.
Concord Early Access Beta Steam DB charts
For comparison, the game’s Early Access Beta that ran through last weekend hit a peak concurrent player count of 1,124. That means the game’s player count just barely doubled between the much more restrictive Early Access Beta and the Open Beta.
Concord Early Access Beta Steam DB charts
READ: Rumor: Firewalk Studios “Shrugging Off” Criticism Of ‘Concord’
YouTuber Endymion also notes that the Open Beta is currently free, but will have an initial price tag of $39.99 when it officially releases to the public.
He wrote on X, “This s**t is free & they can only get 2.3k players? S**t is dead on arrival.”
It’s no surprise that the player counts for the game are so low given the negative reaction to the game’s spotlight in a PlayStation State of Play presentation back in May. The presentation revealed that the game was a 5v5 multiplayer team shooter and it would feature pronoun nonsense and DEI designed characters.
In fact, Firewalk Studios’ Director of IP Kim Kreines also hinted that the game would push divisive progressive themes in cinematic vignettes that will release weekly.
She detailed, “Every character brings their own unique personality, skills, and wide-ranging perspectives to the crew.”
“Every week when you log in to Concord, you will be welcomed with a new cinematic vignette that will give you a chance to see our characters off the job,” Kreines added. “They will feature ongoing narrative arcs that grow the character’s stories and relationships and unpack the broader Concord galaxy.”
A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios
Numerous players took issue with the character designs. Brazilian gamer KabrutusRambo, who created the Sweet Baby Inc. Detected Steam curator list and Deidetected.com, reacted to the listed pronouns writing on X, “so the F** ROBOT has pronouns in the next Sony game. ok.”
so the F** ROBOT has pronouns in the next Sony game.
ok. pic.twitter.com/B3OLPfpIG0
— Kabrutus (@kabrutusrambo) May 31, 2024
X user Mangalawyer mocked the character of Emari, “Omg finally literally a Playable Tank!”
Omg finally literally a Playable Tank! 😆 pic.twitter.com/llhbcKzbsj
— LearningTheLaw (@Mangalawyer) May 31, 2024
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On YouTube, players torched the game for being a live service game and a 5v5 team shooter too similar to Overwatch.
A screenshot of the top comments from State of Play | May 30, 2024 via PlayStation YouTube
Following the trailer’s release it was discovered that the game’s Lead Character Designer Jon Weisnewski is a progressive activist. In 2020 former Bungie Lead Programmer Petar Kotevski stated, “Thinking that all white people are unconsciously racist is the same as thinking that all black people are unconsciously lazy.”
Weisnewski responded, “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
READ: ‘Concord’ Developer Addresses Massive Backlash To Game After Character Design and Pronoun Reveal
Nevertheless, Firewalk Studios dug their heels in the sand and ignored player feedback. A rumor from Mark Kern aka Grummz detailed, “PlayStation owned studio Firewalk Studios has heard your complaints about Concord… And ignored them.”
He added, “Sources tell me internal emails show the Concord team is shrugging off the criticism of their characters as ‘white noise,’ and dismissing it. Very much in their own bubble.”
Grummz then pointed out, “Meanwhile, their trailer has over 44k dislikes, and their lead character designer bashes white folks and is rumored to be the one who pushed for the character lineup to be super woke. They are in for a rude surprise.”
“Meanwhile Sony will be forcing PC players to register for PSN with this game, and barring it from sale in 177 countries. Vote with you wallets,” he concluded.
UPDATE: @PlayStation owned studio @FirewalkStudios has heard your complaints about Concord…
And ignored them.
Sources tell me internal emails show the Concord team is shrugging off the criticism of their characters as “white noise,” and dismissing it. Very much in their own… pic.twitter.com/Obvv58TWhs
— Grummz (@Grummz) June 5, 2024
This rumor appeared to be confirmed when Kreines addressed the backlash in an interview with VGC. She told the outlet, “Yeah, that trailer. That moment is such a tiny slice of everything that we’ve been working on for years and years. We’re excited for the game and for the IP, [and] for the game to be in people’s hands, the IP to be in people’s minds.”
She continued, “I’m personally very excited for the IP for folks to delve into the galactic guide if that is something they choose to do, for these vignettes to come out on a weekly basis. You’ll start to fall in love with the depth of the characters. That’s something that you learn week to week. Their personalities will unfold, their relationships will unfold for you, their backstories. None of that is something that you can get in a tiny little slice of it.”
“But that’s a start,” Kreines added. “There’s something there. So I’m glad folks watched it. I’m glad they participated and I can’t wait for them to see more, to see everything that is there.”
READ: ‘Concord’ Early Access Beta Draws Less Than 1,200 Concurrent Players
Ignoring the backlash looks like it will be a costly mistake as feedback on the game from the Early Access Beta has been overwhelmingly negative.
Endymion wrote on X and noted that “graphically it looks nice in cutscenes.”
However, the negatives piled up. He added, “Character movement feels sloppy & slow. Maps feel lifeless & boring. No character felt ‘good’ to play. Customization is basic. Ugly character designs ( Daveers, Duchess & Daw are horrendous looking ). Feels like an add on that would be attached to a more complete game. Fights can snowball in one teams favour too easily – Pronouns?”
He continued, “Overall not impressed at all not sure what Sony is going for here with this & genuinely concerned if this game will do well or flop. IMO if they want ANY chance of survival in today’s market this HAS to be free to play at launch. $50 for what feels like a side mode in a more complete game is asking too much. Really worried about this one.”
So I tried the CONCORD beta to see if it could win me over here’s the positives & negatives imo
Positives
– it was a free beta
– Graphically it looks nice in cutscenesNegatives
– Character movement feels sloppy & slow
– Maps feel lifeless & boring
– No character felt “good”… pic.twitter.com/gh3CAzewQX— Endymion (@EndymionYT) July 13, 2024
YouTuber DreamcastGuy shared his thoughts, “It essentially feels like Walmart brand Overwatch. It’s a hero shooter that doesn’t really have any of that spark of crazy originality.”
He did share some positives, “I do appreciate the art style, the coloring, the way the characters look, even the environments and stuff. This has a very Guardians of the Galaxy vibe that I absolutely eat up. The problem is that this cool coat of paint doesn’t actually make the game fun.”
A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios
READ: ‘Concord’ Early Access Beta Torched By Gamers As Player Base Evaporated Over The Weekend
He later noted, “The balancing is just radically ridiculously bad. … There are characters that feel like they are powered up beyond the necessary amounts.”
Still later in his video stated, “It never actually feels that thrilling it just feels like another basic match of Overwatch. Something that you can just do mindlessly without any real thrills or enjoyments I never had like a nail-biting victory or anything like that.”
He even commented on the lack of players noting he had over five minute queues.
Angry Joe also noted he was 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.”
As Endymion noted above, given the poor player counts for this game while it is still free-to-play, it’s dead on arrival when it officially released.
What do you make of the player numbers for Concord’s first day of Open Beta?
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