Concord will still get its Secret Level Episode, which is a grim fit given the past year.

Concord, Firewalk Studio’s ill-fated Live Service Shooter (which announced that it was closing its door less than a week after its release), will still get its episode on Prime Video’s Secret Level. This seems appropriate, given the turmoil of the industry, which we have been reporting about this past year.

Secret Level is a series of anthologies that will follow 15 different games in one episode each, telling their stories as part of a celebration videogame culture. The IPs include Armoured Core and Dungeons & Dragons. Sifu, The Outer Worlds and Warhammer 40,000 are also listed.

Tyler Colp, PC Gamer's very own Tyler Colp, realised this fact with a wince in the immediate aftermath. IGN reported that a "source near production" confirmed Concord's episode would almost certainly still be included in the anthology.

I didn't care about Concord as a video game per se. I was too busy with Deadlock, Final Fantasy 14 and World of Warcraft to have time for another online service. But isn't that the purpose? I'm not trying to be disrespectful to the hardwork that went into Concord. But it does make me angry to see all of this money wasted in a genre that is already competitive.

It's not that Concord was a maligned darling - our own review wasn't very kind to it - but I don't believe anyone wants to see a title with even a hint of potential shut down within a MMO patch cycle.

There's still a part of myself that's happy this episode will likely air. It means that those who worked on Concord's characters, world and story will still have some tangible evidence of their work. Amazon could pull Secret Level at any time in the future, but I don't feel like getting into that aspect of our digital-only nightmare.

It also makes Secret Level a more interesting piece of media. If it's meant to be a celebration of games (in a field already marked by the gravestones left behind by games like Anthem), then Concord getting an episode, launching and shutting down even before that episode could air almost stops Secret Level from being saccharine, in its own, accident way.

This is a bit cynical. Secret Level is not inherently bad or that its episodes will be just a corporate pat-on-the-back. It's possible that there will be some great stories, and I am excited to see my favorite settings told in an interesting and unique way. Because of the horrors.

I'm at least glad that viewers who are in the know will not be able sit through Secret Level and marvel at how cool Armoured Core's mechs look. They'll also be relieved to learn that the games industry is prone to waste, as in games disappearing because there's no law requiring them to remain available, or studio closures and historic layoffs leading to disillusionment in its talent. Concord's inclusion in this lineup serves as a reminder that we are losing access to games as quickly as we acquire them (good or bad).

Concord won't stay buried forever, but it isn't going to be buried for good. Secret Level will likely have one episode that will be a gravestone, in a celebration of victory otherwise. I don't think we deserve anything else.