With the success of Marvel Rivals, the world seems to be forgetting Concord faster and faster. Where did this game from PlayStation go wrong?
The creators of Concord will have been watching the launch of Marvel Rivals with sad eyes. This brand new hero-shooter attracted millions of gamers in the first days of its release.
Concord is considered one of this year’s biggest gaming flops. Remarkably, Marvel Rivals did have success. After all, the games are quite similar. So what did Concord do so wrong compared to Marvel Rivals?
Marvel Rivals is textbook example of a hero shooter
Before games like Fortnite and PUBG exploded the popularity of the Battle Royale genre, Hero Shooter was the hype. Overwatch took the crown in this genre, but games like Paladins and Valorant also did well.
Although the genre never completely disappeared, it saw another resurgence with the release of Overwatch 2. So the announcement of Marvel Rivals was a special one. Wasn’t Marvel a little late with its own version of these games?
(image: NetEase Games)
Apparently not: Marvel Rivals had a very successful launch week. Millions of gamers played on PlayStation, Xbox and PC and were positive about the game. And that while it is not a revolutionary game. That doesn’t matter: because it has a rock-solid foundation and is a top example of how a Hero Shooter should be.
Concord will now be forgotten even faster
Marvel Rivals enjoyed instant fame. Something Concord absolutely failed to do. Chances are you’ve forgotten that title again, so just a reminder: PlayStation worked for years on their own Hero Shooter called Concord, a game that was supposed to knock Overwatch 2 off its throne.
When the game finally appeared on the market after a long development phase, there proved to be extremely little enthusiasm. On Steam, the game was played by no more than 700 gamers. A hard financial blow for PlayStation. The game was put out of its misery just days after its release: the servers went offline.
The game survived only four days. (image: PlayStation / Sony)
It may be the biggest gaming blunder of recent years. Too bad, because the game looked promising. So what does Marvel Rivals do so much better than Concord? It’s not just in Marvel’s name recognition. PlayStation can learn a wise lesson from Marvel Rivals.
For these reasons Concord flopped (and Marvel Rivals didn’t)
The goal of both games is the same: two teams of heroes compete against each other to complete different objectives. Each hero has its advantages and disadvantages. Marvel Rivals does this in a superhero jacket, of course, but it has its affairs in better order than Concord. Concord could have done this better:
Marvel Rivals is free
Concord cost a whopping 40 euros. For a game, that’s not very expensive, but it is when all the competition is free. Practically all Hero Shooters are free. You can spend money on the games for a battle pass, but it remains cosmetics.
Many gamers didn’t see fit to play so unnecessarily much money for a game for which there are plenty of good free alternatives. Certainly the Hero Shooter genre has always offered many options in terms of games.
Poorly designed heroes
The whole idea of a Hero Shooter is that the heroes you can choose from are the focus of the gameplay. Ideally, different heroes excel in specific points and all have their weaknesses. By working well together, you can maximize each other’s strengths and defeat the opponent.
The heroes in Concord were not well designed. Not only from a graphical standpoint, but also in terms of gameplay. Except for some different skills here and there, there were few heroes that really stood out. Compare that to Marvel Rivals where no hero is even remotely similar. Thus, there is something for everyone.
Poor marketing
Marvel Rivals obviously has the advantage of being affiliated with a huge company with worldwide name recognition. They reach a larger audience with ease, which no doubt generates more attention than an unknown game studio.
Yet Concord’s marketing has gone wrong. Eight years were spent working on the game, but in all that time, very little was published about it. Unnecessary, because it is not as if PlayStation did not have a budget for an attractive marketing campaign. Very few gamers were aware of the game. Logically, so few played it.
