PlayStation’s PC strategy has been a rollercoaster this year. Both Helldivers 2 and Concord are first-party multiplayer games that came to PC the same day as PS5, but their stories couldn’t be more different. Helldivers 2 launched as the talk of the town, with well over 400,000 players on Steam alone. Concord meanwhile, despite launching at the same price as Arowhead’s megahit, has come out with little fanfare, and it can’t even break 1,000 players on Steam. What happened?
Let’s start by taking a step back. Earlier this year Sony Interactive Entertainment co-CEO Herman Hulst outlined the company’s PC strategy. Hulst called it a “dual approach,” where live service games like Concord will release “simultaneously, so day-and-date on PlayStation 5 and PC.” Tentpole single-player games will meanwhile come to PC years down the line. God of War Ragnarok, for example, is about to come to PC almost two years after PS4 and PS5.
Helldivers 2 was so popular at launch you couldn’t even get into a game, but Concord has struggled to get near 1,000 players on Steam as I write this. Both games cost $40 / £34.99, are colossal PlayStation PC releases, and have an online focus as multiplayer games, but the reception couldn’t be more different.
You’ve got to be truly unique to stand out from the crowd in the live service space these days, and here Concord just misses the mark. Helldivers 2 meanwhile was a total shock to the industry’s system, with an incredibly unique gameplay loop wrapped in a co-op package.
I’m not here to say Concord is bad either. By all accounts, people are really enjoying the shooter for what it is, but that isn’t enough. 79% of reviews are positive on Steam, but only 200 players have bothered reviewing it. The problem is, that Concord isn’t unique enough. The hero shooter is fine on the surface, but the competition is fierce. Overwatch 2 dominates the space and is totally free, and the upcoming Marvel Rivals is also free-to-play as well. Even Riot’s Valorant, which blends tactical CSGO action with hero shooters, is free.
Concord lead character designer Jon Weisnewski says the shooter has been in development for around eight years (around the time Overwatch started the hero shooter boom). That’s a lot of time and money. I sincerely hope Concord can bounce back from this launch, but with Valve’s Deadlock officially unveiled on the same day, and the positive buzz for that drowning out Sony’s own shooter, only time will tell.
Our Concord preview posited that the shooter was missing the X factor, and it looks like we were right.
If you are trying out PlayStation’s new hero shooter, we’ve broken down all the Concord characters and Concord game modes – otherwise, check out these FPS games instead.
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