Concord’s dead after just two weeks and the playerbase’s gameplay is starting to reflect this, with Rivalry mode players repetitively killing themselves in matches.
This group slaughter isn’t just to dunk on the now-closed game though. Players have found SDing in matches leads to the fastest accumulation of XP. It’s why players are begging the devs for XP boosts before Concord fully goes offline; in order to get a Platinum trophy for Concord, players need to grind 10 million XP until they get to level 100. Some are already too daunted, but others are committed to getting the PlayStation achievement.
Playing a full Deadlock match nets 15,000 XP with a couple of hundred thrown in as a bonus for its winners. If players jump to their death instead (cutting the match short since it lacks respawns) that’s 15,000 in the shortest timeframe possible. Compared to a usual Deadlock match that can go on for tens of minutes, this is a steal.
All that XP is the fastest way to Platinuming the game, and the sooner the better for a devoted crowd that’s now in a time crunch. Ahead of the game’s closure, this was still a method in use for players who just wanted to get the trophy and move on. Gamers speculated this type of behavior would easily lead to a ban, but now that Concord’s closing, nobody’s exactly keeping an eye for the posterity of the game’s community. Naturally, some gamers think this is the funniest outcome for Concord while making it look the most appealing to them that it ever has.
People have also noted hints of melancholy in this irony, though. It isn’t every day that Sony buys an entire studio before the game’s even finished, and to have it gone and dead within two weeks feels beyond parody to a community of gamers that’s usually prepared for bizarre situations. Searching for Concord on PlayStation’s websites now leads to 404 pages covered with the brand’s newest mascot, Astro Bot, which indicates Sony is doing everything in its power to bury this failure, or at least change the terms on which it happened.
Concord did its best, and unfortunately for the hard workers at Firewalk, the title just didn’t seem to mesh with gamers. Fans are hoping the industry vets who’ve worked on classics like the Halo and Call of Duty games will be able to put something together after this. Some hope Firewalk gets another chance at something more appealing. Until then, and on theme, players are holding a funeral for Concord in the most appropriate manner.
