Concord recently shut down after only being available to be played for two weeks. The internet wasn’t well receiving of the game when it first was showcased. I knew this was going to happen in some way, but not as quickly as shutting down in two weeks. I thought maybe it would’ve gained traction for a year, and slowly die out over the next year or two. It just goes to show that this video game market is getting tougher for developers. The competition is fierce, and if you don’t have the right marketing or something to stand out amongst the oversaturated market of video games, that game is doomed to fail, and even sooner than before.

It’s sad to see a game shut down so fast after seeing that the developers put their heart and soul into this game. They needed something for it to stand out amongst the other battle royale games. And there wasn’t much. With the constant announcements of game developers being laid off nearly every month, it seems the developer Firewalk Studios might be heading in the same direction. Even the games that are even somewhat successful in the public eye are being shut down and the developers are eventually laid off. So what is a developer supposed to do? Failure certainly doesn’t guarantee a stable developer team, but neither does success.

This is a lesson for developers that have been long coming. If they’re not going to innovate, they’re going to fail drastically like Firewalk Studios has. The only developers that aren’t obligated to do so are the ones with established franchises like Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Fortnite. They can keep rehashing the same material with minute changes because they are a trusted brand. The upcoming developers trying to grab a slice of battle royale pie are going to need to do something extraordinary to stand out, and I’m glad that is the case. I’m tired of every dev team copying the same formula, and it’s gladly not working as the gamers reject it. Sadly, this may prevent other developers from even trying to make new big budget AAA games as well.

I’m not much for free to play games as I feel they are predatory with their overwhelming amount of mictrotransactions. So the $40 price tag for Concord did entice to be on the lookout for the game once it released. It gave me a sense of security for some reason that this game would not be as predatory. But, I tend to buy $70 games that still have those micronstransactions maybe not in the amount of a free to play game. But, for those who are used to playing free to play games this was a no brainer and they wanted nothing to do with this game. It’s somewhat bold that Firewalk Studios tried to release a pay to entry battle royale game when a lot of them are free to play. It was a foolish move that cost them dearly. I’m not the target demographic that they’re trying to reach because a lot of people that are middle aged like me don’t play video games anymore.

Concord was trying to be the next Overwatch. When I first saw the trailer for Concord, I knew immediately what they were going for, and so does anyone who follows games regularly. There was nothing that made it stand out. It was kind of sad to see as it showed that the writing was on the wall. If it weren’t for Sony’s backing, this game would’ve died out quietly and no one would be talking about it. A lot of money was put into this game, and there isn’t much to show for it.

I’m starting to think maybe battle royale is dying, but the truth of the matter is games like Overwatch and Fortnite have the genre in a chokehold, and is not letting any other developers make even a dent on the market. I can go to work and talk to my coworkers about Fortnite. I can’t do that about Concord. No one who isn’t a hardcore gamer is talking about that game. Even with Sony’s marketing Concord still couldn’t slip into the zeitgeist. There isn’t any room for other battle royale games. Sure Call of Duty has theirs, but I can’t go to a bunch of kids in school or anyone on the street and ask have they heard about the Concord fiasco. None of them would know what I’m talking about.

As I alluded into a previous blog entry, the characters in Concord were not as interesting as I’d find in other hero shooters like Overwatch. There was porn made of some of those characters in Overwatch. I don’t think I’m going to find porn of the middle aged main heroine from Concord. There isn’t enough hype around these characters for artists to even consider doodling some images of them.

Concord is a lesson for developers that they must take heed to if they want to have a successful game leading into a successful franchise. Innovation doesn’t seem like a smart financial choice in the AAA market as it is risky. But, at the same time if a developer wants to go up against a more established franchise it’s going to have to do something drastically different. Or maybe the publishers don’t have to have the developers do even that and be savvier with marketing. Hopefully will start seeing more innovation outside of indie games due the Concord fiasco, but I highly doubt this will be the last time another developer tries to push out another mediocre battle royal hero shooter.