Summary
PlayStation has revealed the post-launch roadmap and content plans for its upcoming live-service shooter,Concord. While its August 23 release date is right around the corner,Concord’s beta weekends haven’t done much to incite player interest for the game, at least on PC. Despite the general lack of enthusiasm, though, it appears developer Firewalk Studios still remains committed to its planned content strategy forConcord.
Concordwas first announced in 2021 as a seemingly promising AAA multiplayer project developed in collaboration between PlayStation and Firewalk Studios.PlayStation outright acquired Firewalk two years later, andConcordwas formally revealed with a CGI cinematic at the 2023 PlayStation Showcase. The recent May 2024 State of Play showed off the first gameplay trailer forConcord, which was immediately met with mixed reactions due to its conspicuous similarities to other established hero shooters, as well as its obvious stylistic inspirations from Marvel’sGuardians of the Galaxyfranchise.
With first impressions likely falling behind Firewalk’s expectations, thelukewarm Steam player numbers forConcord’s beta weekendsdidn’t help the hero shooter’s general perception by much either. Regardless, the studio has lately been speaking about its plans forConcord, and recently announced the 5v5 hero shooter’s content roadmap in a recent PlayStation.Blog post. The roadmap elaborates on the next two seasonal updates forConcord, with a subtle tease for the third.Concord’s first major content drop is dubbed “Season 1: The Tempest” and is slated for release in October 2024, and will add a new Freegunner playable character, variants for existing Freegunners, a new map, and additional cosmetics and rewards.
Meanwhile, Season 2 ofConcordis planned for launch in January 2025. While the second update hasn’t been named yet, it will add exactly the same amount of content as Season 1 plus a new game mode. The roadmap also includes a brief slice of the Season 3 update, revealing an April 2025 release date but with the content list blurred out. It should also be noted that every season ofConcordwill bring with it a new set of weekly cinematic vignettes that further the game’s narrative. Players interested in the hero shooter would also be delighted to know thatConcordwill have no battle passand its content updates will be available at no additional cost.
Concord’s monetization strategy differs greatly from the likes of its closest competitors,OverwatchandValorant, as the PlayStation shooter isn’t free-to-play with paid content updates and battle passes. Firewalk charges players $40 upfront, with the only additional costs beingConcord’s in-game cosmetics, which are confirmed to not have any “impact on gameplay.” It remains to be seen if this strategy will work out forConcord, but the general lack of excitement and thesuccess ofMarvel Rivals(another recent entrant in the hero shooter genre) are heavily working against Firewalk’s debut project.
