Analytic Dreamz: Notorious Mass Effect - "CONCORD FLOPPED HARD COSTING SONY OVER $400 MILLION"

Episode Date: October 21, 2024

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/AnalyticDive into the intricate world of gaming failures and successes with Analytic Dreamz in this segment of Notorious Mass Effect, where we break down the rise and rapid fall of "Concord," the game once hailed as the "Future of PlayStation." High Stakes & Higher Hopes: We explore the lofty expectations set for Concord, a game backed by a staggering $400 million investment, intended to redefine the hero shooter genre and become a franchise cornerstone for PlayStation.Launch Letdown: Delve into the timeline of Concord's release in August 2024 and its swift announcement for shutdown merely two weeks later. Understand the factors behind its dismal player count and the critical reception that led to only 25,000 sales across platforms.Gameplay Gaps: Analytic Dreamz analyzes why Concord's 5v5 sci-fi shooter gameplay didn't capture the hearts of gamers, comparing its features to titans like Overwatch and Apex Legends, and discussing why it failed to innovate in a saturated market.Market Missteps: From its $40 price tag in a world of free-to-play giants to the strategic errors in marketing and player engagement, we dissect the pricing strategy that might have sealed its fate.Critical Feedback & Cultural Challenges: Get insights into the game's poor reviews, with only 24% of recommendations and a Metacritic score of 65. We'll also touch on the internal issues like "toxic positivity" that might have clouded critical development feedback.Future Prospects: Despite the shutdown, what are Firewalk Studios' hints at potential game improvements or a relaunch? We discuss the possibilities and the lessons learned.Join Analytic Dreamz in this segment as we navigate through the lifecycle of Concord, the implications for the gaming industry, and what could be next for such ambitious projects. Whether you're a gamer, a developer, or just fascinated by the business of video games, this analysis provides valuable insights into game development, market strategies, and the harsh realities of the gaming world.Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

As a gamer, it does not warm my heart to see any game go under. But more specifically, the video game that was tagged, that was labeled, the future of PlayStation. When we're talking about Concord and the ultimate promise, but then the ultimate way of going out in a blaze of anonymity. So in general, whenever you're getting into a hero shooter and you just realize that people say that is the best time to put out a hero shooter because of Overwatch to being beyond underwhelming and Valorant being beyond underwhelming. But what they fail to realize is those specific fan bases are now dedicated. to mediocrity when it comes to the service from the developers because overwatch the original overwatch and valerent are unequivocally classics in the hero shooter genre so now if you put out a misstep as an overwatch two or certain dc's or skins and variant of valorant you come to realize

that their player base is more inclined to forgive them for the simple fact that they have indeed given us and lived up to their promise time and time again so when they do slip stuff like this doesn't happen because concord had 400 million dollars in development Sony invested 400 million dollars in Concord. So usually when you invest that amount of money into anything on hopes for a high R-O-I, you would be hard-pressed to throw that product to the wayside whenever troubles come about. So when everybody is saying that charging $40, dollars for Concord is what ultimately put the nail in a coffin. I can't argue with them for the

simple fact that in Overwatch, a Valerent, a Fortnite, a lot of these other games are super popular in the shooter genre, but more specifically in the hero genre, we have Marvel rivals that is seemingly creeping onto the scene as going to as far as being one of the big three when it comes to hero shooters now obviously that's a big claim so i'm open to be it wrong but as far as marvel rivals i think that's another hero shooter that a lot of people are looking forward to so when it comes to concord having over 400 million dollars put into it released on august 23rd 2024 for playstation 5 and pc then two weeks later september 6 2024 just completely decimating the video game for the fact that they got poor reception for the fact that Concord failed to gain traction

peaking at only 697 simultaneous players on Steam during his opening weekend so so many factors that played a part into the ultimate downfall of Concord 25,000 total sales were estimated across both both PS5 and PC I just want you all to know if I invest $400 million into something and I'm not even seeing half of that

and I'm not even seeing a quarter of that I mean based on 25,000 total sales that man was doomed from the jump and that man as far as talking about the conglomerate

as far as Sony because my brother you are not getting your money back you spend $400 million on a game that ultimately was selling the same amount as indie games. That is just a no-no. As far as future installments, as far as DOC and Battle Passes for Concord. So guess what?

They pulled the plug. I mean, if only 0.2 of all PS5 players were active on the game post-launch, that should tell you that nobody cared. nobody cared that your 5 v5 hero shooter that had all the promise in the world as far as giving you that unique scratch i mean that unique gameplay element as far as hero shooters in the sense to compete with a overwatch with a apex legends only to have 0.2% of your fan base of your player base even tap into the game post launch that should let you know that it was doomed from the jump because Wu Kong jumped out the gate putting up monster type numbers and it's still one of the most play games Astrobot to this day is still in the top games for PlayStation and even even undisputed somehow undisputed found his way into the top 10 as far as

PlayStation games I know that game just came out but still like if you cannot drum up anticipation when you initially launch, then it's only downhill from here because it was already an uphill battle. But with a lot of people disappointed as far as the people who actually played the game, saying that all those unique gameplay mechanics that you said was going to compete with the Overwatch, which was inadequate because people basically said that the overall lack of innovation left players wanting more and led them to believe that there's no way you thought this video game was going to stand out as far as the hero shooters for the simple fact that you're not innovating on anything as far as the genre so now when you're completely shut down and full refunds were

offered to all purchases so now it's not even oh at least we made a little bit of money I mean, even though you wasn't going to even get close to your ROI, but getting into at least getting some of the sales from its initial launch and keeping some of those to maybe move it to another project, that is completely gone because now they're giving out full refunds to all purchases. Which brings me to my next point. As far as having digital copies and physical copies, this is one of the main reasons, physical copies will always be superior at any point if you own something digitally they can take it away from you to the point where i forget where i seen it but i don't know if it was in l.a or something or but it was mandating companies uh no it was mandating PlayStation and Xbox to put rent instead of buy on all the digital games on their uh marketplace for the simple fact that

You are basically licensing assets. And whenever and whenever they want to take it down, they can because it's digital. You basically don't own it. There's no way for you to download an entire game, put it on a disk through the marketplace. So you are essentially licensing a title, which is why people like physical copies, because then you can go into more of the lane of reselling it down the line because if you don't know, game preservation. is at an all-time low for the simple fact that people just don't take, they don't take care of their consoles, the games,

and it moves so fast as far as the upgrading technology to the point where when they move on to the new game, they usually sell the console, and then when they sell it, it's all battered and bruised. And so as far as finding one in pristine condition, I mean, it's super hard, especially in this marketplace. So, anyways, some of the post-launch, expectations from Sony before they decided to shut down Concord, misaligned with players' expectations,

and because of the lack of innovation, they ultimately felt like they was underserved or basically cut short when it came to the output of content from Concord. So as far as Firewalk Studios that had a hand in making this game, they, They have talked about ways to improve the game and maybe relaunching down the line. But let me tell you something. If you're going to keep putting out a game, pulling it, putting out a game, pulling it. I mean, you've seen what happened to Mota versus. That game, let me make sure.

Is that game even out? That game came and went like it never even released, right? Motive versus release date. multi-verses felt victim to the put it out take it away put it out take it away so when it officially released in May 28th 2024 but in the same year I mean we're not even that far away from May as far as this specific year we haven't talked about multiverses since it came out and that is a testament to how people will forget and maybe forgive. But if they do forgive, best believe they will not forget when you first gave them that

undercooked product that they tried to charge you $40 for it. Right. So ultimately, if you're trying to have a certain toxic positivity when it comes to the overall development of the game. And if you're looking at the development team to provide crucial feedback, I know, if you're looking for the development team to respond to your crucial feedback as far as it being addressed, let's just say it's probably not going to happen for the simple fact that even they haven't got their stuff together as the game director for them has stepped down. So what does this mean? This means that they didn't believe in the game in the first place. I mean, the game director stepped down.

They basically told him he was like, hey, the game that you was head director for is completely being shut down. So either you step down or we fire you. Like they probably gave one of them spills. And ultimately, he probably was like, you know what? I don't want this to happen again for me. So let me just step down and stop taking the brunt of the criticism when it comes to the lack of innovation and Concord's ultimate failure. So anyways, I just think having fewer than 700 concurrent players on Steam, that is very interesting and intriguing to me for the simple fact that it had $400 million put into it. And then the actual lead up to the game was like more than eight years, I believe.

I think it was an eight year development cycle. So I just don't understand how you can have such a long development cycle and it still come out. lackluster as far as the amount of content that's in the game for players to consume like I just don't understand what you was using all those years for it as far as putting Concord together so anyways that's just what I wanted to get into you know the overview of Concord is that it's dead it's no longer here it has passed away it may come back but it's seemingly not looking good as far as it coming back as Concord is ultimately one of the biggest failures in video game history.

So with that being said, click my link to your in my bio. Let me know on one of my social medias. What do you think about the whole Concord situation and them being inevitably shut down by Sony after them investing over 400 million into the game? And what do you think they could have done to get around them ultimately being taken down by Sony?