The second beta weekend of Sony’s team shooter Concord is over and once again ends with disappointing player numbers. On PC, interest was significantly lower than expected and only a handful of players on other platforms were enthusiastic about the game. These disappointing figures raise the question of whether Concord is facing a debacle at launch
Concord: Hardly any interest on the PC so far
It was already apparent during the first beta weekend that the pre-order campaign had not been as successful as hoped. On the PS5, all PlayStation Plus subscribers were able to take part, which further underlined the low number of participants on the PC. Despite these efforts, only a few thousand players took part in the first test weekend. Even without official figures on PS5 participation, it can be assumed that the situation was not much better there
The recently concluded open beta weekend also brought little that was pleasing. The number of simultaneous players could only be increased minimally. According toSteamDBConcord reached a peak value of only 2,388 players, although everyone was able to take part in the beta. Even on TwitchConcord was only able to inspire a few viewers. These figures point to a difficult start, especially as Concord has to fight against established free-to-play offerings as a live service game.
Why isn’t the shooter exciting?
One of the main reasons for the poor response is the price. Sony charges at least 40 euros for Concord, although there are comparable alternatives that can be played for free. It remains to be seen whether Concord can stand out sufficiently from its free-to-play competitors to justify this price. In addition, the requirement to have a PSN account has been criticized by PC users, which already led to protests with Helldivers 2
The opinions on the beta are very different. Some players praise Concord as a solid team shooter that is fun to play, while others criticize it as a pale copy of other games. The game’s characters in particular are the focus of criticism.
Whether Concord will be the ultimate flop for Sony and Firewalk Studios is difficult to predict at present. What is clear, however, is that the launch will be anything but easy. Concord will be released on August 23, 2024 and the gaming community will be eager to see whether the game can meet expectations after all
