Firewalk Studios’ Concord had one of the worst launches of the year and it is getting even worse for the game as player counts declined by over 42% in its first weekend.
A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios
According to data from SteamdDB, the game had a peak concurrent player count of 697 when it released on Friday, August 23rd. That peak concurrent number declined to 402 on Sunday, August 25th. That’s a decline of 42.3%.
Steam DB concurrent player data for Concord
As far as sales, estimates range from Gamalytic estimating it sold over 7,300 copies while VG Insights estimates it sold 12,700. PlayTracker believes it sold 13,100 copies.
Concord sales estimates via SteamDB
The game is likely a massive financial disaster for Firewalk Studios and its parent company PlayStation Studios. The game’s Lead Character Designer Jon Weisnewski admitted to PC Gamer that the game had been in development for around 8 years.
He shared, “The game has been in development for around eight years, and I’ve been there for almost five of them. We don’t get a lot of launch days in our careers, so today is special for a ton of reasons. Oblige me some good vibes today.”
A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios
Weisnewski also noted the development team was planning to maintenance and update the game into the foreseeable future.
He said, “Concord has so much humanity and depth to it. I really hope people give it a shot. Insanely proud of the game, we’re strapped in and ready to push it for years to come.”
A screenshot of the character Lark from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios
It’s unclear how many years if any Concord will last. Most gamers are taking bets on how long it will take Firewalk Studios to make the game free-to-play or how long before PlayStation Studios shuts down Firewalk Studios.
X user KaptainKuba posted, “Concord right now is on a vicious circle of failure. Because now even the people who were remotely interested in it won’t buy it because no one is playing. If PlayStation hopes to save it they’re going to have to make it free to play ASAP.”
KaptainKuba on X
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Slimbaron predicts the game will be free-to-play very soon, “The release of Concord on Steam has been a major flop. We’ll see if the numbers go up or down in the coming days, but something tells me the game will soon switch to a free-to-play model.”
Slimbaron X
Colteastwood shared that PlayStation should make the game free-to-play by September.
He wrote on X, “Looks like just the Firewalk Studios Employees are the only ones playing Concord currently. Their hard work shouldn’t be left to die. PlayStation doesn’t have to wait until next month to go F2P.”
Looks like just the Firewalk Studios Employees are the only ones playing Concord currently. Their hard work shouldn’t be left to die.
PlayStation doesn’t have to wait until next month to go F2P. pic.twitter.com/izR7NUcRdh
— colteastwood (@Colteastwood) August 24, 2024
YouTuber Endymion predicts it will take a little longer. He believes the game will be free-to-play by October. He wrote on X, “Concord debuts to less than 1000 players on Steam, PlayStation is likely scrambling behind the scenes.”
He added, “I imagine within 2 months they announce it’s free to play, there’s no other way it survives.”
Concord debuts to less than 1000 players on Steam, PlayStation is likely scrambling behind the scenes.
I imagine within 2 months they announce it’s free to play, there’s no other way it survives 🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/gQJJz37Mzq
— Endymion (@EndymionYT) August 23, 2024
In fact, Endymion’s predictions are in response to VGC writer Jordan Middler speculating that Sony won’t even release a live-service game in the vein of Concord ever. He wrote, “I don’t think Sony will release another live service game like this.”
In fact, he notes, “Concord will be used as an example at meetings within Bungie to stop Marathon from facing the same fate.
A PlayStation first-party game has launched day and date on Steam to little fanfare, with fewer than 1000 players, and not in the top ONE HUNDRED top-selling games on the platform.
I don’t say this to dunk, because I actually think Concord is better than the memes have given it… pic.twitter.com/WeIZec9afd
— Jordan Middler (@JordanMiddler) August 23, 2024
While Endymion, KaptainKuba, and Colt Eastwood believe the game will go free-to-play, SidAlpha believes it won’t matter, “No, everybody KNOWS about Concord. Just no one gives a damn about it. Even if it were free to play, I doubt the result would be much different.”
No, everybody KNOWS about Concord. Just no one gives a damn about it. Even if it were free to play, I doubt the result would be much different. https://t.co/W7QLq7aAh9
— SidAlpha (@SidAlpha) August 23, 2024
DXfromYT believes the game will not go to Free-to-Play sharing, “Strongly doubt that Concord will go free to play. It requires recertification and that costs money. 2K famously refused to do this for Battleborn, which launched with 17x the player base (on Steam) that Concord has. This is done, I’d be shocked if the game made it to 3 months.”
Strongly doubt that Concord will go free to play. It requires recertification and that costs money. 2K famously refused to do this for Battleborn, which launched with 17x the player base (on Steam) that Concord has. This is done, I’d be shocked if the game made it to 3 months. pic.twitter.com/FemVfzhfwS
— DX (@DXFromYT) August 24, 2024
READ: ‘Concord’ Developer Addresses Massive Backlash To Game After Character Design and Pronoun Reveal
Firewalk Studios did release a Concord content road map that includes its first season launching in October titled “The Tempest.” In a blog post, Game Director Ryan Ellis shared, “Season 1 will mark the introduction of a brand new playable Freegunner, as well as a brand-new map, new Freegunner Variants, more earnable cosmetics and rewards, and a new season of weekly Cinematic Vignettes that will continue the story of the Northstar crew.”
He also revealed that the game will be adding an in-game store explaining, “With season 1, we’ll also be introducing an in-game store for those looking to personalize their Freegunners further with additional customization items and to continue to support the game. These will supplement the hundreds of rewards earnable through progression and will be solely cosmetic, optional, and have no gameplay impact.”
Furthermore, Ellis detailed it will launch Season 2 in January 2025.
A screenshot of Concord’s content roadmap
Of note earlier in the blog post before he revealed the new in-game store, Ellis stated, “From the very beginning, we wanted Concord to be a complete experience, where all core content is available to you on day-one and moving forward—not gated behind paid expansions or a Battle Pass. We take your investment in the game seriously and want to ensure that we bring all players along for the journey.”
Clearly, something changed that they are introducing an in-game store.
A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios
What do you make of Concord losing over 40% of its players in its first weekend? How long do you think this game will last? Do you think it will go free-to-play?
