Concord Goes Offline on PS5 and PC, Sony Announces Refund

Concord, Sony’s latest first-person shooter, is an example of how even big-budget games can fail in the fierce competition between online titles and live services. Launched exclusively on PS5 and PC on August 23, the game failed to take off, forcing the Japanese company to make a drastic decision: removing it from the PlayStation Store starting September 6. The numbers speak for themselves: estimated sales were less than 25,000 copies, a disappointing result for a title that took eight years to develop. Even on Steam, Valve’s digital distribution platform, Concord did not shine, reaching a peak of only 697 concurrent players.

Game Director Ryan Ellis announced the decision in a post on the PlayStation blogexplaining that Sony is exploring options to “better reach players.” In the meantime, sales have been halted and anyone who purchased the game will receive a full refund. The decision to launch Concord at 40 euros, in a market dominated by free-to-play alternatives like Overwatch and Valorant, turned out to be a strategic mistake. The game failed to offer an experience unique enough to justify the outlay, dooming itself to failure. Ellis’ words, who speaks of options to “better reach players,” suggest that Concord, if it ever returns, could adopt a free-to-play model.