Firewalk Studios and PlayStation are removing players’ digital downloads of Concord from their PlayStation 5 consoles.
A screenshot from Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios
As originally reported by TheGamer, players a receive a message when attempting to load the game on PlayStation informing the game was removed from their consoles.
The message states, “Thank you for being a valued PlayStation customer. Live services for Concord went offline 6/9/24. The game is not playable and as a result, we have removed this content from your account.”
A screenshot of a message from PlayStation when attempting to boot up the digital version of Concord on PlayStation 5
READ: After ‘Concord’ Gets Shut Down, Gamers Take Aim At Anti-Capitalist ‘Fairgame$’
Interestingly, TheGamer’s Jack Coleman claims that when using the physical copy of the game for PlayStation 5 you are able to boot up the game, but “you’re not allowed to progress past the title screen.”
While it is rare for company’s to remove digital games from player’s consoles and digital libraries, it is not unheard of. Ubisoft did something similar with The Crew at the end of March this year.
In the middle of December 2023, the company announced, “Today, The Crew 1, including all its editions, and virtual currency packs, will be delisted from all online stores. The game will remain playable until March 31st, 2024, for all The Crew 1 owners. After this date, the servers will be shut down, which means that the game will not be accessible anymore on any platform, including PC / Xbox 360 / Xbox One / PlayStation 4 / Amazon Luna and Ubisoft+.”
The company explained, “We understand this may be disappointing for players still enjoying the game, but it has become a necessity due to upcoming server infrastructure and licensing constraints. Decommissioning a game, and especially our first one, is not something we take lightly. Our goal remains to provide the best action driving gameplay experience for players and to deliver on it, we are continuing to provide new content and support for The Crew 2 and the recently launched The Crew Motorfest.”
A screenshot from The Crew (2016), Ivory Tower
At the end of March, players reported that they were unable to play the game anymore, and received an error message when attempting to launch it.
One user 7ndrew wrote, ”I saw on Reddit that Ubisoft was revoking licensed to The Crew in their launcher. So I opened the launcher and got greeted to The™ Most™ Fucking™ Pathetic™ error message ever. I’m wheezing.”
He added, “And yep, my license indeed got revoked on Ubisoft Connect.”
7ndrew on X
On The_Crew subreddit, one user danocturno shared a screenshot revealing he no longer had access to the game. Specifically, a message at the top of the game reads, “You no longer have access to this game. Why not check the Store to pursue your adventures?”
A screenshot from The_Crew subreddit
Interestingly, while Ubisoft has not brought The Crew back online, the company did announce it would create offline modes for The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest.
The company announced earlier this month, “We heard your concerns about access to The Crew games Today, we want to express our commitment to the future of The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest. We can confirm an offline mode to ensure long term access to both titles, stay tuned for more news in the next months.”
We heard your concerns about access to The Crew games
Today, we want to express our commitment to the future of The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest.
We can confirm an offline mode to ensure long term access to both titles, stay tuned for more news in the next months. pic.twitter.com/KDlz8h09OT
— The Crew Motorfest (@TheCrewGame) September 10, 2024
As for the fate of Concord, Firewalk Studios Game Director Ryan Ellis left an inkling that Concord might return in some manner when he announced the game would be shut down at the beginning of this month.
In a blog post on the official PlayStation Blog, Ellis stated, “While we determine the best path ahead, Concord sales will cease immediately and we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased the game for PS5 or PC. If you purchased the game for PlayStation 5 from the PlayStation Store or PlayStation Direct, a refund will be issued back to your original payment method.”
He concluded, “We’ll keep you updated and thank you again to all the Freegunners who have joined us in the Concord galaxy.”
A screenshot of the character Bazz in Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios
Given the move to remove digital downloads from players’ consoles, it’s highly likely that Concord will not be returning at all. More than likely Firewalk Studios will be repurposed to work on Bungie’s Marathon or Haven Interactive Studios’ Fairgame$.
When Sony first purchased Firewalk Studios and Concord it declared in a press release, “Firewalk will collaborate alongside world-class development teams, including Bungie and Haven Interactive Studios, to define a new generation of live service experiences for PlayStation gamers.
It’s also possible that the company works with Arrowhead Studios for Helldivers 2 given that is a Sony published game and did find success early, but due to a number of self-inflicted wounds has seen its player base significantly decline over the year. The game hit a peak concurrent player count of 458,709 after it launched in February, but its most recent 24-hour peak concurrent player count only hit 17,905.
Helldivers 2 Steam charts via SteamDB
There’s also a big possibility that most of the studio gets completely shuttered after some employees are moved to other studios within PlayStation Studios similar to what happened with Bungie.
If you recall, Bungie CEO and Chairman Pete Parsons announced at the end of July that it was laying off 17% of its staff while moving 155 people or 12% of its staff to other positions within Sony Interactive Entertainment. It also announced that a significant portion of its employees would be spun out to form a new studio within PlayStation Studios to continue work on an incubation project.
A screenshot from Marathon (TBA), Bungie
What do you make of Firewalk Studios and PlayStation removing digital downloads of Concord from players’ PlayStation 5 consoles?
