How likely do you think that Concord is really coming back? It turns out we all have to recalibrate our assumptions.
Last week, we reported that Steamdb logged some changes being made in Concord on Steam. Today, we can tell you those changes have continued, and a big one has just arrived.
Logged on October 16, 2024, 11:13:5 UTC, change U:54037287 adds this clause to the game’s user agreement:
“HEALTH WARNINGWARNING: IF YOU HAVE A HISTORY OF EPILEPSY OR SEIZURES, CONSULT A DOCTOR BEFORE USE. CERTAIN PATTERNS MAY TRIGGER SEIZURES WITH NO PRIOR HISTORY. BEFORE USING AND FOR MORE DETAILS, SEE IMPORTANT HEALTH AND SAFETY WARNINGS”
On one hand, it’s good that Sony and Firewalk Studios recognized, if belatedly, that Concord’s visuals needed an epilepsy and seizure warning. And it’s one of those things which makes you wonder, why didn’t they catch it before it was officially launched? Why didn’t the players in the two beta periods give them that feedback?
But it’s not that we really should put responsibility on those beta and early players for this oversight. Of course, it’s one of those things that Sony and Firewalk should have caught during development. And the fact that they didn’t seems to support the rumor and speculation that the studio had a culture of ‘toxic positivity’, or as and industry veteran put it, a broken feedback loop. Ultimately, it’s one more thing that Firewalk failed to account for in development.
On the other hand, if they decided to add this health warning, that can only be because Sony is planning to bring back this game in some form or manner in the future. If Sony and Firewalk are facing an actual complaint that this happened to some of the players who did play, it was too late to add this warning in.
We had certainly tried to gauge under what standards we should regard Concord as a failure for Sony. We’re also continuing to report on rumors and speculation on the game’s development.
But we want to make it clear that none of this is coming from a place of malice or bad faith. If Sony and Firewalk Studios really have a plan to revive Concord in a way that could work, we want to see them try.
What’s more important here, than perhaps Sony’s hubris, or how this places in the console wars discourse between gamers, is if Firewalk Studios can be allowed to keep trying. It was an opportunity that many other game developers, such as Volition, Arkane Austin, and London Studio did not get.
Even if you didn’t like or have no interest in Concord, you need to recognize that this is what we want companies like Sony to do. Maybe Firewalk won’t get more chances after this. But if they can set the precedent that developers should get to try to make successful games again, than that could stem the tide of industry layoffs, and the subsequent talent drain and everything else that comes after this.
