Concord

Concord was a multiplayer first-person shooter developed by Firewalk Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It launched for PlayStation 5 and Windows PC on August 23, 2024, after early-access availability for purchasers of its Digital Deluxe Edition. The game put players in five-versus-five matches as “Freegunners,” mercenaries drawn from the Northstar crew and rival crews operating in a science-fiction setting called the Concord galaxy. Its core modes included Trophy Hunt, Cargo Run, Area Control, and Clash Point. Rather than building a single-player campaign around one protagonist, Concord framed its playable roster through an ongoing crew story and competitive online matches. Firewalk designed the Freegunners with different weapons, movement options, and role-oriented abilities. Lennox carried a revolver and combat knife; Haymar used a bow; 1-0FF was a robot crew member; and Star Child was presented as a large, aggressive fighter. Players assembled a crew of characters before a match, then could respawn as another member of that crew, a system intended to encourage use of multiple combat styles. The game also used “Crew Bonuses”: selecting particular Freegunners granted passive advantages for the team’s current round. Sony said content would be available without a battle pass; its $39.99 price exceeded free-to-play competitors. Concord’s public rollout was brief. Sony announced the game in May 2023 and showed more of it during the May 2024 State of Play presentation. A beta test took place in July 2024. Reviews and player response became part of the discussion surrounding its release, but the decisive commercial event came immediately afterward: on September 3, 2024, Sony announced that it would take Concord offline and refund customers. The service ended on September 6, only about two weeks after the full launch. Sony removed it from sale and buyers on PlayStation Store, Steam, or Epic Games Store received refunds. Firewalk Studios itself had been founded by veterans of Bungie and Activision, including former Destiny general manager Tony Hsu, before Sony acquired the studio in 2023. Concord was Firewalk’s first released game. Its shutdown therefore became a notable episode in PlayStation’s live-service strategy: the publisher had invested in a new studio and a new online property, yet withdrew the product before its planned seasonal support could begin. In October 2024, Sony said it would close Firewalk Studios, alongside Neon Koi, another PlayStation studio. Concord remains unavailable and all its release, refund, and closure happened within just one calendar year.