Games Inbox: Why was Concord such a flop?

The Monday letters page is cautiously optimistic about the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, as one reader hopes for new Transformers video games.

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Free advice
The failure of Concord is just staggering really, when you consider how much the average single-player Sony game sells. I have doubts as to whether Sony is just going to give up on live service games straight away, based on this, but I’d be surprised if that was the main reason for its failure anyway.

I doubt the average person has much of a beef against live service games, or even recognises the term, but they certainly know a bad game reveal when they see it. The unveiling of Concord was horrible, with all that poor man’s Guardians of the Galaxy routine and then gameplay footage that looked ultra generic.

It went on forever too, in a State of Play where people were looking for exciting news, and then the clincher: it wasn’t free. Imagine if something like Apex Legends had launched as a paid-for game. It’s an okay shooter but its success is all down to it being free. I’d suggest that Concord’s failure is mostly down to it being not free.
Grant

A simple plan
I think it’s dangerous to put Nintendo on too much of a pedestal, as at the end of the day all they’re interested in is money and their own well-being, not the industry at large. Even so, I couldn’t help but agree with the Reader’s Feature at the weekend, saying that the Switch 2 would be extra welcome right now, given what a mess Microsoft and Sony have made of things.

I think it was the line about Nintendo being the ‘adult in the room’ was the one that got me. Microsoft and Sony have done a lot of dumb things lately but it’s the general sense of just not seeming to have a plan and always reacting to problems instead of being proactive about them.

Whether I have any interest in the console or its games I just hope the Switch 2 has a cool reveal and a convincing roadmap, something they can stick to that isn’t filled with U-turns and excuses.
Focus

The future
At this point I would be very surprised if the PlayStation 6 wasn’t a hybrid console. I think the days of console being only a big slab of plastic that sits under your TV are over. Like the Reader’s Feature said, the improvement in graphics has slowed down to a crawl anyway, so if the new console is no better, or even slightly worse, than the PlayStation 5 I wouldn’t see that as a problem.

If that’s the cost of gaming being more sustainable, and budgets not getting out of control, then I would be all for it. As the reader says, it should also inspire Sony developers to create more unusual and unique games, since budget wouldn’t be so much of a problem.

Maybe that’s wishful thinking but I think the alternative, of blindingly carrying on as usual, making another super powerful TV box is doomed to failure. I’m optimistic about the future and I can’t wait to find out more about it.
Whistler

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Delays possible
I am a fan of Beyond Good & Evil on PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 and have bought the physical version on PlayStation 5 from Limited Run Games but I have noticed for a while you can pre-order the second game on Amazon and ShopTo for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

I won’t be pre-ordering it until I have seen previews and reviews for the game, as it has been in development for so long now. I hope it turns out good, but I wasn’t keen on the type of gameplay it showed in the trailers years ago for 2, as it was not really like the first game.

I was surprised you could pre-order it because so little is known about 2 and the fact that we do not have any idea when it will be out if at all.
Andrew J.

GC: Yes, that’s very bad of them to put it up for pre-order. We wouldn’t be surprised if the game never comes out.

Roll out
GC may already know this, but I saw a rumour that Microsoft is working on two new Transformers games, to be released this year. I don’t know whether that will turn out to be true or not, but I would love to see a new big budget game, if that’s possible.

It’s the 40th anniversary of Transformers this year, so if there was going to be an announcement this would be a good time for it. I don’t know if Microsoft would make it exclusive, but they own Activision now, who made the last few games, so maybe we could get a sequel to Fall Of Cybertron?

If there’s a reveal at The Game Awards in December I will be over the moon. Assuming it’s not based on the Michael Bay movies.
Zeiss

GC: Perhaps they could be re-licensing the two Activision Cybertron games, but that’s all. Nobody would be able to keep brand new licensed games secret for that long nowadays.

No change
I get what the Baldur’s Gate 3 guy is saying about games needing to cost more but I think it’s silly to suggest we should suddenly start charging more for video games all of a sudden. Maybe if there’d been a slow but steady increase every generation people would’ve got used to it but nobody’s going to put up with an increase now, they’ll just not buy anything.

I’m still surprised Game Pass didn’t take off but it’s pretty clear now that subscriptions are not a solution, so the only thing left is to decrease the amount of money spent making games. Like the Reader’s Feature said, if you make the next consoles portable then that should limit the amount you need to spend on them and so you make more profit from the same price tag.

I just don’t see any other solution. You can count on your game being a massive hit, like it did with Baldur’s Gate 3, but who can guarantee that? I agree that something has to change but increasing prices is so obviously not going to work.

My only worry is that publishers will not do any of these things and instead their solution will be more live service games and more single-player games with microtransactions and other money-spinners. I feel like we’re at a crossroads here and I do not trust the majority of companies to make a sensible decision.
Boron

Familiar music
Been really enjoying the Doom remasters that came out during Quakecon.

I was caught out though, on hearing the music in the Evilution level Lunar Mining Project. Essentially a chiptune version of Them Bones by Alice in Chains!

Here’s a remix.
P. Thomas Donnelly

A matter of perspective
I think we’re all in danger of building the Switch 2 up too much in our imaginations at this moment but I have seen a number of comments recently saying that basically the only thing that matters at the moment is Switch 2 and GTA 6.

Obviously, they are the biggest things on the horizon, but I think it simplifies things a bit too much. I expect this year’s Call Of Duty to be one of the biggest for a long time and we shouldn’t forget that for most casuals the only thing they’re interested in is that and EA Sports FC.

People have been moaning about Assassin’s Creed Shadows but that’ll probably be the third biggest seller of the year, it always usually is. And that’s not even counting the fact that the majority of people don’t even pay for the games they play, they’re all free-to-play and mobile apps.

Those of us reading this, that care about gaming and follow the industry, probably have quite a skewed view of what’s important and what other people care about. Even GTA 6 isn’t as big as League Of Legends or whatever, it’s all a matter of perspective.
Lempton

Inbox also-rans
The Civilization 7 piece was brilliant.
Patrick

GC: Thank you.

RE: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Couple of tips… badge points are your friend more than HP and FP and practice the super guard (B not A). Great game
Chevy Malibu (PSN ID)

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

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