Concord's Free Open Beta Is Performing Abysmally on PC 1

Concord is a good game – but sometimes being good just isn’t enough anymore. After attracting some pretty pathetic Steam player numbers during its closed beta – which, admittedly, required participants to pre-order the game – Firewalk Studios’ free open beta is not doing much better. According to SteamDB data, the test peaked at just 2,388 concurrent players this weekend – and that figure has fallen as low as 557 concurrent players during off-peak times.

Twitch.tv viewership is also pretty low, attracting just 71 watchers at the time of writing. While that number will likely increase as America gradually begins to get up, these kinds of figures will have the higher-ups at Sony furrowing their brows.

While the beta is likely doing better on PS5, where Sony sadly doesn’t share player data, it suggests the arena shooter has an uphill battle ahead of it. Many have complained about the Japanese giant’s decision to charge $40 for this title, but considering the current demo is free for everyone to try, it suggests there’s a level of apathy surrounding the release that may be hard to reverse.

The problem for Concord is that many PlayStation fans have had their pitchforks out for the project since the start, with some seeing it as a symbol of Sony’s push towards live service. Many feel that the platform holder should be focusing on the cinematic single player games it’s known for – although ironically there is still plenty of pent-up social media demand for classic multiplayer franchises like Warhawk, Killzone, and Resistance.

Ultimately, it can be hard to shake the sense of failure, and while it’s not necessarily fair, Concord is going to have to pull out all the stops to attract players ahead of its 23rd August release date. It’s going to be interesting to see how Sony approaches this problem, and whether it has any impact at all.

Are you playing the Concord open beta? (3,086 votes)

  1. Yes, of course I'm playing it12%
  2. Yeah, I'll probably give it a try5%
  3. Maybe, I haven't decided yet4%
  4. Nah, I'm busy with other games9%
  5. No, I have zero interest in Concord71%

[source steamdb.info]