Will be interesting to view Concords performance through the lense of Sea of Thieves. Rare was a 200 person studio in 2020 (wikipedia) and Sea of Thieves has historically averaged around 13k players on Steamcharts every month. Sea of Thieves has been called Rares most successful game by Rare leadership. Firewalk is a 150 person studio. If Concord can average 10k+ players on Steam, they'll likely have a hit on their hands. I have a feeling the media has this one wrong. I bet Concord becomes another W in PlayStations GAAS playbook.
With Concord seemingly not hitting numbers that can sustain it just yet, how do you feel about it now? As someone who is more steeped in GAAS, how do you think this game can be turned around from where it currently is? I have to admit, as someone who is often more dubious of GAAS titles, I never expected the game to be where it currently is. I thought at worst it'd have seen an immediate pop of players and an eventual slope off of players in a few months time. Have you played it? Thoughts on it? - Brett
@@NARTECH I love talking about this stuff! (I actually paid for the Digital Deluxe Version because I wanted to play it early. That's how obsessed with GAAS I am, lol) Obviously, I blew it on Concord. I really thought the game getting greenlit after PUBG and Fortnites success in 2017 would yield a more modern (open world) type multiplayer game. I was honestly shocked that it took inspiration from Overwatch. If I was in the room with the creative directors right now I'd tell them to do 4 things... 1. Go F2P and follow Valorants unlocking heroes with in game currency model. 2. Brainstorm how to improve the games horrible sense of progression and turn it into the best sense of progression in the genre. Winning (or losing) in Concord provides a nothing feeling. There's no real reward or interesting development if you perform well in the game. 3. Create one new Concord specific mode that feels unique. There has to be one idea kicking around in the Firewalk offices with a mode that feels truly fresh. The 6 current modes are all things we've seen to death over the last 25 years in gaming. Honestly though, I think they might just need to can it. I'm not sure if the game is salvageable at this point. That said, I do hope they get another crack at a new multiplayer game as there's a lot to like about Concord. It's polished, the moment to moment gameplay feels good, the visuals and animations are great. Looking forward to hear what you two say on the next podcast!
In light of its incoming closure (hopefully temporary?) I've decided to hop on with Chris tonight and give the game a go in case that opportunity never comes back. I'll be excited to talk about it next week! I like the idea of giving it something truly unique to set it apart, much like Gambit showed a truly interesting idea in a market we've seen lots of the same stuff in. It's hard to want every dev to be able to reinvent a genre but it'd be nice to see them pull off! - Brett
Will be interesting to view Concords performance through the lense of Sea of Thieves.
Rare was a 200 person studio in 2020 (wikipedia) and Sea of Thieves has historically averaged around 13k players on Steamcharts every month. Sea of Thieves has been called Rares most successful game by Rare leadership.
Firewalk is a 150 person studio. If Concord can average 10k+ players on Steam, they'll likely have a hit on their hands.
I have a feeling the media has this one wrong. I bet Concord becomes another W in PlayStations GAAS playbook.
With Concord seemingly not hitting numbers that can sustain it just yet, how do you feel about it now? As someone who is more steeped in GAAS, how do you think this game can be turned around from where it currently is? I have to admit, as someone who is often more dubious of GAAS titles, I never expected the game to be where it currently is. I thought at worst it'd have seen an immediate pop of players and an eventual slope off of players in a few months time. Have you played it? Thoughts on it?
- Brett
@@NARTECH I love talking about this stuff! (I actually paid for the Digital Deluxe Version because I wanted to play it early. That's how obsessed with GAAS I am, lol)
Obviously, I blew it on Concord. I really thought the game getting greenlit after PUBG and Fortnites success in 2017 would yield a more modern (open world) type multiplayer game. I was honestly shocked that it took inspiration from Overwatch. If I was in the room with the creative directors right now I'd tell them to do 4 things...
1. Go F2P and follow Valorants unlocking heroes with in game currency model.
2. Brainstorm how to improve the games horrible sense of progression and turn it into the best sense of progression in the genre. Winning (or losing) in Concord provides a nothing feeling. There's no real reward or interesting development if you perform well in the game.
3. Create one new Concord specific mode that feels unique. There has to be one idea kicking around in the Firewalk offices with a mode that feels truly fresh. The 6 current modes are all things we've seen to death over the last 25 years in gaming.
Honestly though, I think they might just need to can it. I'm not sure if the game is salvageable at this point.
That said, I do hope they get another crack at a new multiplayer game as there's a lot to like about Concord. It's polished, the moment to moment gameplay feels good, the visuals and animations are great. Looking forward to hear what you two say on the next podcast!
In light of its incoming closure (hopefully temporary?) I've decided to hop on with Chris tonight and give the game a go in case that opportunity never comes back. I'll be excited to talk about it next week!
I like the idea of giving it something truly unique to set it apart, much like Gambit showed a truly interesting idea in a market we've seen lots of the same stuff in. It's hard to want every dev to be able to reinvent a genre but it'd be nice to see them pull off!
- Brett