August 25th 2024.
Is it morally acceptable to feel satisfaction in the struggles of a game? A reader expresses their contentment with the poor performance of the game Concord, in hopes that it will spark Sony's interest in creating more single-player games.
As of now, only a small number of people are playing Concord on Steam, with a peak of just 660 players. This is a shockingly low number for a major game, especially considering it is Sony's first live service title and has been in development for over four years. In comparison, Helldivers 2, which was published by Sony but not developed by them, has over 25,000 players currently and a peak of 458,208 players.
For those unfamiliar, Concord is a first-person shooter that closely resembles Overwatch. The reader did not purchase the game, but did try the beta version and ultimately decided not to buy it. While there are no figures for PlayStation 5, the poor performance on Steam is telling, especially considering Helldivers 2 was most popular on PC.
Many may recall when Sony announced they were working on 12 live service games, which later changed to six. This was around the same time they stopped releasing new games and discussing their future plans. Since then, it has felt like live service games have taken over, but the reader hopes that Concord's failure will put a stop to that.
There have been signs that Sony's plans have fallen apart, starting with the cancellation of The Last Of Us Online and Naughty Dog's announcement that they will only be making single-player games in the future. It seemed like Naughty Dog was rebelling against Sony, and the departure of PlayStation boss Jim Ryan around the same time only fuels that speculation.
However, despite these signs, there has been no official announcement or new single-player game reveals. Sony has also replaced Jim Ryan with two people who have not made any public appearances or given any interviews. Many PlayStation fans have been eagerly waiting for the next State of Play event to bring some much-needed news, but it never delivers. Some are now looking to next year as the potential turning point, but this sounds eerily similar to the way Xbox fans have been waiting for their turn.
The reality is, for both sets of fans, the long-awaited day never comes. It is becoming increasingly clear that it never will, unless something forces Sony to change their plans. The reader believes that Concord's failure may be that catalyst, especially when coupled with the backlash against live service games among Sony developers and fans.
There have been theories that all single-player game development was halted to focus on live service games, and now that live service development has slowed, single-player games may finally be making a comeback. This would explain the continued silence and may continue for another year or so until the end of the console generation.
It may seem like a lot of time wasted just to turn things around, but the most important thing is that it happens. The reader hopes that Sony doesn't stubbornly stick to their flawed plan, but instead, accepts the reality of the situation and works towards ensuring the PlayStation 6 doesn't suffer from the same issues.
As reader Korey states, "companies, like people, aren't good at admitting they've made a mistake." However, the reader remains hopeful that Concord's failure will be the wake-up call Sony needs to start making changes for the better.
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