Well, that didn't last long, did it? After eight years of development, Firewalk Studios' Concord is about to kick the bucket. What makes this even more shocking is that the developer's first game has only been out for less than two weeks.

While it was well-documented that Concord was struggling to get off the ground (peaking with 660 players on Steam), we at least expected Sony would give it a chance. However, with reports that the PlayStation version only sold 15,000 copies, that wasn't translating into active players.

Concord is going offline

Concord is officially D.O.A., with Game Director Ryan Ellis confirming via a PlayStation blog that Concord is going offline on September 6, sales will cease, and refunds are being offered. The end is nigh for Concord, but that hasn't stopped its small playerbase from making the most of its short lifespan.

Over on X (formerly Twitter), it seems those few who are destined to play Concord to the bitter end are diving into its Rivalry mode and immediately killing themselves to earn XP. Across socials, fans are trying to grind to the Platinum trophy, with the road there including the "Experienced Freegunner" trophy - requiring you to reach Freegunner Reputation Level 100. 

Rivalry only gives you one life but a tonne of XP, so by throwing yourselves off ledges as soon as a match starts, you're destined to grind XP in record time. Simply playing Concord would've slowly seen you edge toward Level 100, but with just days to get there, players are becoming desperate. The Platinum trophy is sure to become something of a collector's item, and Rivalry is an easy way to get there. 

As for Concord itself, what went wrong? IGN says that while analysts usually struggle to agree on an exact cause, most are united on Concord's fumblings. Citing poor marketing, a high entry price, and a lack of USP to differentiate itself from the likes of VALORANT and Overwatch, Circana analyst Matt Piscatella says it had "low awareness and purchase intent among video game players." 

As a new IP, Concord needed a lot of marketing but simply didn't deliver on that front. That's before you get to the $40 price tag, and as IGN notes, Concord's free-to-play competitors are more likely to appeal to newcomers because they don't have anything to lose by dipping their toes in. When it comes to paid games, you're probably not going to jump in unless all your friends do as well.

With Concord having been in development for years and costing Sony a chunk of money, it's a sad turn of events for a game which could've been so much more. As Concord is already confirmed to appear in the upcoming Next Level anthology series, it might be an awkward reminder of what's being billed as one of the biggest gaming disasters of all time.