The fate of Foamstars shows why the return of Free-to-Play Concord would be risky

There's no way around it: Sony Concord is one of AAA's biggest failures in the past few years. The live-action team-based shooter, while generally praised from a technical standpoint, barely gained traction with the gaming audience, slipping into obscurity and eventually being canceled by Sony just two weeks after launch.

Concord is a spectacular failure not only because its weaknesses are not among the usual suspects – poor performance, outrageous in-game costs, excessive errors – but also because of the speed with which it was abandoned. In recent years, you'd almost expect the big-budget live service to stumble in its early days, slowly gaining renewed interest as new content, bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements seep into the core product. As the years go by, this kind of post-launch flipping seems to become less and less effective, and even more dramatic changes have proven far less successful in changing public opinion about certain titles. A good example of this would be Square Enix Foam starsa Splatoon spin-off that struggled to gain a strong fan base at its premium price, prompting a shift to a free-to-play model. But that didn't move the needle much, and the same strategy could prove just as ineffective for Concord.

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Foamstar's lack of success in Free-to-Play may foreshadow Concord's success

There are rumors of a free switch for Concord

Fortnite, Warzone, Genshin Impact: three of the most popular and influential games of today, and all of them are free. Of course, the success of such titles is not a sign that free-to-play is the right way to go for every game, but they represent the power of the low-risk, high-reward dynamic that characterizes the GaaS model. Naturally, this is a model that many companies want to capitalize on, although some publishers are trying to recreate the same exciting game cycle with live service while charging a premium price for the base product, usually with multiple purchases in games. This can be considered as one of the reasons Foam stars failed.

But even removing the premium price tag didn't help the ill-fated Square much Splatoon a clone that suffers from a constant dwindling player base even after going free. There were rumors that Concord could follow Square Enix's lead by returning to the fray as a free-to-play game in an attempt to make up for some of the losses. Assuming this is true, then this may follow Foam stars' legacy in more ways than one, jumping into the waters of free play only to drown again.

Concord's problems go beyond its price tag

Concord it's a game that screams “free-to-play” at first glance, so its $40 price tag could certainly contribute to its shortcomings, but that's far from the only thing wrong with it. indeed ConcordThe low number of players can be attributed to a number of factors, but most focus on a specific pain point: a lack of soul, identity and charm.

Take the game as Supervisionwhich Concord clearly takes a lot of inspiration from. Supervision is defined by its unforgettable character design, narrative and variable gameplay, which together give it a certain mood. Despite being made by a billion-dollar company, it manages to feel edgy, sassy and attractive – qualities that are inescapably corporate Concord disadvantages.

There is also the more general problem of market saturation. Live-action competitive shooters are everywhere, and it's getting harder and harder for new releases to stand out in this space. This is not to mention the GaaS model itself, which is defined by the constant demand for players' time, and time is the quintessential finite resource. The truth is, many players have never felt this way Concord was worth their time, so its return was unlikely, whether it was $0 or not.

Gather your crew of Freegunner space robbers and team up with friends online for exciting 5v5 PVP modes across the galaxy in Concorde.

Concord is a new team-based first-person shooter for PS5® and PC*. Choose your personal roster of Freegunners from the North Star Crew – a group of outlaws and adventurers who work as hired guns.

GATHER YOUR CREW
From powerful mystics to skilled marksmen and useful healers, each Freegunner brings their own unique skills, personality and abilities that suit a wide range of play styles.

Create your own squads of Freegunners with the Crew Builder to bring an arsenal of different role types to the match, or focus on your favorite characters to master their gameplay and unlock unique modifiers, cosmetics, background lore and more – you decide when play your characters and how you affect the match.

THE GAME. PROGRESS. PERSONALIZATION.
Earn and unlock a wide range of character customization items and learn more about the characters, worlds and factions in the Concord Galaxy with the Galaxy Guide.

You'll also be able to advance and unlock Freegunner Variants—versions of each of the 16 Freegunners with combat trait modifiers added to their base abilities. As you learn and master characters, Combat Traits give you the ability to tailor each character to your playstyle.

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