Concord dev reflects back on the last eight years of development. 'We don’t get many launch days in our career'

We've been waiting a while for Concord to be released, but not as long as its developers. Lead character designer Jon Weisnewski revealed that the hero-shooter had been in development "for around eight years", and that he was there for five of those years.

"Today Firewalk Studios launched [Concord]," Weisnewski says. "The game's been in development for about eight years, and i've been there almost five of those. Today is a special day for many reasons. We don't have many launch days in our career. Oblige me some good vibes today."

Concord takes a slightly different approach when it comes to hero shooters. Instead of a battle pass players will pay up front to get everything in the game for free, including skins. It's a risky gamble, especially since there are so many hero shooters available for free. This risk is based on trust.

Weisnewski says, "It's a team effort and to be seated at the same table as others who motivate you and inspire you is a great privilege." "That trust gave this game such a unique identity. Concord is so human and has such depth. I hope people will give it a try. We're incredibly proud of this game and are ready to push it in the years to come."

The hero shooter seems promising from what we've seen so far. Morgan Park, a PC Gamer staffer, played seven hours during the closed beta. She came away with a reserved excitement: "Concord’s guns feel phenomenal across the board (especially Lennox’s revolvers). Each hero has a unique hook that I didn't immediately recognize in other games.

Who can blame PC gamers for being disinterested by Sony's hero-shooter? Competition is fierce. Even players have pointed out that internet has already decided this is a failure. "If people latch on to a game just because [gamers] say it's hugely successful, everyone will speak and act like it is" (despite any flaws the game may have), one player points out. "Unfortunately, Concord was on the other end of the spectrum, and I think that's due to the way they marketed the title. The internet has decided that this is a bad video game and wants it fail."

PC players have looked elsewhere for their fix of hero shooters. Marvel Rivals has been a hit with a few players. The closed beta was a huge success. Players were scrambling to join, even though our online editor Fraser Brown thought it was "aggressively poor."

Concord will be released tomorrow at a price of $40 / 35 PS, but those who prepurchased the game have already played it for a couple of days. It will have six modes, twelve maps, and sixteen characters. The roster will expand in October when Season 1 starts, and again in April and January for successive seasons.