At a time when it feels like not a whole lot sets Concord apart from other hero-based online shooters, the developers behind the sci-fi live service game just revealed one big difference: Concord won’t have a battle pass.
That’s in stark contrast to games like Overwatch 2, Valorant, and Apex Legends, all of which are based around ranking up a seasonal ticket to unlock new rewards including cosmetics for characters and other unlockables. Of course, all of those games are free-to-play and Concord isn’t. The Sony first-party PVP game will be $40 when it comes out next month, and its developers suggest it won’t nickel-and-dime players the way some games do.
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“No Battle Pass, folks,” tweeted Firewalk Studios gameplay animation director, Mark DeRidder, today. “You own Concord, Concord doesn’t own you.” The team behind the game also shared a series of slides explaining more about how progression will work in the planet-hopping shooter and what the plans are for post-launch content.
“When Concord launches, we’ll have hundreds of items to customize your Freegunners, which you can earn just by playing the game, completing jobs, and leveling up your account and characters,” the studio wrote. It added, “We wanted to focus out attention on making Concord a rewarding and robust experience on day one, where just playing the game, leveling up your accounts and characters, and completing jobs yields meaningful rewards.”
Today’s mini-info dump also teased a potential “leaver penalty system” to incentivize players to finish matches instead of abandoning their teams when things get tough. And it sounds like Galactic Guide might give players a narrative-focused diversion from standard matches, though it’s still not exactly clear what it will be.
Players got a taste of the upcoming PS5 and PC game in a couple of beta weekends this month, and the take-away from some people, including myself, was that it was good but not necessarily good enough to pull people away from the dozens of other live-service games it’s competing with. Players on the subreddit have already started freaking out about the game’s potential collapse shortly after it comes out, with many calling for the game to be delayed until it can find that “it” factor some feel it’s currently missing.
That seems incredibly unlikely. Hopefully Concord finds its legs early, or Sony gives the game enough time to find something that works. As the CEO of Digital Extremes, the company behind Warframe, recently pointed out, sometimes publishers get” terrified when you see the numbers drop” and hit the eject button too early.