Concord failed because it "didn’t bring any unique value," says Marvel Rivals director
Marvel Rivals game director Thaddeus Sasser believes Sony's Concord failed as it "didn't bring any unique value" to players compared to its competitors.
The details:
Speaking with VideoGamer, the director discussed Firewalk Studios' short-lived hero shooter and why it died after only two weeks of release, claiming it lacked a unique selling point. "There's a switching cost," Sasser explained. "I've already invested in Overwatch, I've got 15 skins for Pharah, I'm not going anywhere."
Concord launched in August, but less than two weeks later, it was announced that the game would be shut down and all players would be refunded. The game was criticized for its lack of innovation in the hero shooter genre, as well as its $40 price tag, with many pointing out that its main competitor, Overwatch 2, is free to play.
Marvel Rivals, which was released following the aforementioned interview, has been a huge success, with over ten million players in its first three days. The free-to-play title has been praised for its diverse roster of popular and lesser-known comic book heroes, as well as having a more unique take on the classic hero shooter formula when compared to Concord.
In the interview, Sasser stated that he hoped the Marvel IP would play a significant role in persuading players of competing titles to try the game. “I think the trick is that you need to have that reason that people want to come and play your game and I think Marvel Rivals does that exactly with the superhero,” he said. “I don’t know about you, but when I heard the concept of the game I was like ‘Oh my God I want to go be Storm in a game’, ‘I want to go be Doctor Strange in a game’. I want to be those heroes in the game, that sounds awesome.”
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