Concord Shuts Down Permanently After 11 Days

While it's not uncommon for publishers to shut down video games to cut losses, yesterday's events were truly unexpected. Speculations were rife about Concord, with some suggesting that PlayStation Studios might take down the game for Firewalk Studios to restructure it. The possibility of a cancellation and subsequent refunds was high. Yet, when PlayStation posted an update yesterday announcing the shutdown, it caught many off guard. Starting this Friday, Concord will suspend all operations, including sales, and provide a full refund to all customers.

 

Game director Ryan Ellis of Firewalk Studios has published an official statement. He expressed his gratitude to everyone who had been part of the Concord journey, emphasizing the community's significant role in the game's development. He reassured Concord fans that the developers had listened to their comments since the game's PC and PlayStation 5 release. He mentioned they are grateful for the support and incredible community formed around the game. While they were pleased that many gamers enjoyed the experience, they knew other features didn't do as well in the first release. So, they decided to take the game offline starting September 6, 2024, to figure out what to do next, including looking at other solutions that could better serve our gamers.

The Concord subreddit also shared this news. Surprisingly, the moderators immediately disabled the comment section of the post. It seems they are trying to silence any criticism or discussion of this game. Their only goal is to finish the discussion immediately and act as if nothing had happened. No new posts have been made on the subreddit, so it seems they have already closed it down. There is no discussion on this topic, which is surprising given the recent headlines.

So, starting right now, all players who have bought Concord for PlayStation 5 or PC can get a full refund. If you've purchased the game on PlayStation 5 via the PlayStation Store or PlayStation Direct, you will get a refund using the original payment method. Refunds will also be given to players who have purchased from other online stores. After receiving a refund, gamers will be unable to access the game again. The refund process will begin immediately and is expected to be completed within a specific timeline.

Concord went up on August 23 and was pulled down on September 6, and it's just insane that the game is shutting down within 11 days. The game took eight years to develop and may have received 150 million dollars in financing. Concord was, in fact, praised by some groups of players and journalists, and it had a very small user base; the problem is that the majority of the gamers found it terrible. While it was sad to see this AAA gaming disaster unfold, PlayStation did the right thing by closing the game and refunding people instead of trying to sell it to recover their losses.