by Tyler Colp and the messages was heard loud and clear,” the developer wrote using a Reddit account under the name MrSpug “It was gut wrenching to see our project fail and be the laughing stock of many online.” The developer, who worked at Firewalk Studios before Sony shuttered it a few months after taking the game down said they sympathize with the Bungie developers who put a lot of effort into making Marathon and that they commend them for taking a chance in what is an extremely competitive genre please don’t punish others for our mistakes.” Although Concord was a different kind of game than Marathon, they’re both still published by Sony. One of the biggest criticisms coming out of the Marathon stream was Bungie’s decision to not go the free-to-play route Marathon will be cheaper than most new games Bungie specifically said you can expect to pay less than a “full-priced” title which might put it somewhere around $40 when it comes out in September has people wondering if it’ll end up like Concord calling attention to myself as if I have a horse in this race,” the former Concord developer said in a reply to their post “But to call this game a failure before it’s even out A closed alpha for Marathon will go live on April 23. The best of Polygon in your inbox, every Friday. With Saturday marking the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord the Americans are looking back to the country’s war of independence and asking where its legacy stands today British Regulars fire on New England colonial militia during a reenactment celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and start of the American Revolution stand in line while facing the British Regulars during a reenactment celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and start of the American Revolution A lone protestor sits in the “Free Speech Zone” during a reenactment celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and start of the American Revolution Acton Minutemen and British soldiers fire a ceremonial volley from the North Bridge after the re-enactment of the North Bridge fight marking the 241st anniversary of the start of the American Revolutionary War (John Walker/The Metro West Daily News via AP,File) watch a reenactment celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and start of the American Revolution British Regulars advance on New England colonial militia caresses the head of a baby prior to facing the British Regulars during a reenactment celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and start of the American Revolution British Regulars march past a fallen New England colonial militia British Regulars march past fallen New England colonial militia Thousands watch before sunrise during a reenactment celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and start of the American Revolution runs towards fellow troops before sunrise during a reenactment celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and start of the American Revolution fires a rifle before sunrise during a reenactment celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and start of the American Revolution Colonials embrace while gathering prior to facing the British Regulars during a reenactment celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and start of the American Revolution Colonials gather prior to facing the British Regulars during a reenactment celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and start of the American Revolution a British Regular stabs a New England colonial militia Colonial men carry the papers of John Hancock away from the advancing British Regulars during a reenactment celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and start of the American Revolution leaving Lexington militia dead or dying on Lexington Green during a reenactment of the Battle of Lexington (Ann Ringwood/The Metro West Daily News via AP,File) British re-enactors march past dead Colonial soldiers during the Patriots’ Day re-enactment during the Patriots’ Day reenactment of the battles of Lexington and Concord (Keith Viglione/The Boston Herald via AP,FIle) Colonial soldiers fire on the British during the Patriots’ Day reenactment of the battles of Lexington and Concord (Keith Viglione/The Boston Herald via AP,File) (AP) — Tens of thousands of people came to Lexington just before dawn on Saturday to witness a reenactment of how the American Revolution began 250 years ago with the blast of gunshot and a trail of colonial flair Starting with Saturday’s anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord the country will look back to its war of independence and ask where its legacy stands today Just after dawn on the Lexington Battle Green took on a much larger contingent of British regulars The battle ended with eight Americans killed and 10 wounded -- the dead scattered on the grounds as the British marched off The regulars would head to Concord but not before a horseman rode toward the North Bridge and warned communities along the way that the British were coming A lone horseman reenacted that ride Saturday followed by a parade through town and a ceremony at the bridge The day offers an opportunity to reflect on this seminal moment in history but also consider what this fight means today Organizers estimated that over 100,000 came out for events in the two towns Saturday “It’s truly momentous,” said Richard Howell who portrayed Lexington Minute Man Samuel Tidd in the battle “This is one of the most sacred pieces of ground in the country how a small town of Lexington was a vortex of so much.” AP correspondent Julie Walker reports on the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord Among those watching the Lexington reenactment was Brandon Mace a lieutenant colonel with the Army Reserve whose ancestor Moses Stone was in the Lexington militia He said watching the reenactment was “a little emotional.” “He made the choice just like I made and my brother made and my son is in the Army as well,” Mace said He did not know we would be celebrating him today He did not know that he was participating in the birth of the nation He just knew his friends and family were in danger.” Historians can confidently tell us that hundreds of British troops marched from Boston in the early morning of April 19 and gathered about 14 miles (23 kilometers) northwest Witnesses remembered some British officers yelled ye rebels!” and that a shot was heard amid the chaos followed by “scattered fire” from the British The battle turned so fierce that the area reeked of burning powder the fighting had moved to about 7 miles (11 kilometers) west to Concord and some 250 British and 95 colonists were killed or wounded And the revolt itself was initially less a revolution than a demand for better terms a professor of early American history at the University of South Carolina said most scholars agree that the rebels of April 1775 weren’t looking to leave the empire but to repair their relationship with King George III and go back to the days before the Stamp Act the Tea Act and other disputes of the previous decade “The colonists only wanted to turn back the clock to 1763,” he said a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian whose books include biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Adams said Lexington and Concord “galvanized opinion precisely as the Massachusetts men hoped it would though still it would be a long road to a vote for independence which Adams felt should have been declared on 20 April 1775.” “It did not seem possible that a mother country and her colony had actually come to blows.” The rebels already believed their cause was bigger than a disagreement between subjects and rulers Well before the turning points of 1776 — before the Declaration of Independence or Thomas Paine’s boast that “We have it in our power to begin the world over again” — they cast themselves in a drama for the ages drafted by civic leaders of Suffolk County unclogged with shackles,” a fight that would determine the “fate of this new world The revolution was an ongoing story of surprise and improvisation whose book “The Fate of the Day” is the second of a planned trilogy on the war called Lexington and Concord “a clear win for the home team,” if only because the British hadn’t expected such impassioned resistance from the colony’s militia ever underestimating those whom King George regarded as a “deluded and unhappy multitude,” would be knocked back again when the rebels promptly framed and transmitted a narrative blaming the royal forces Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren did all in their power to collect statements from witnesses and to circulate them quickly; it was essential that the colonies understand who had fired first,” Schiff said “Adams was convinced that the Lexington skirmish would be ‘famed in the history of this country.’ He knocked himself out to make clear who the aggressors had been.” Neither side imagined a war lasting eight years or had confidence in what kind of country would be born out of it The founders united in their quest for self-government but differed how to actually govern and whether self-government could even last Americans have never stopped debating the balance of powers the rules of enfranchisement or how widely to apply the exhortation That debate was very much on display Saturday — though mostly on the fringes and with anti-Trump protesters far outnumbered by flag-waving tourists Many protesters carried signs inspired by the American Revolution including “Resist Like Its 1775,” and one even brought a puppet featuring an orange-faced Trump “It’s a very appropriate place and date to make it clear that we want to take a stand against what we think is an encroaching autocracy,” Glenn Stark a retired physics professor who was holding a “No Kings” sign and watching the ceremony at the North Bridge also used the event to remind the cheering crowd that many of the ideals fought for during the Revolutionary War are again at risk “We see things that would be familiar to our Revolutionary predecessors — the silencing of critics demands for unquestioned fealty,” she said Officials have released the identity of a man found dead following an early-morning RV blaze in Concord on Saturday The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has confirmed the identity of the victim as David Browall Browall’s cause of death was determined to be smoke inhalation and the manner was accidental The investigation is ongoing and no additional information is available at this time The Concord Fire Department responded to a report of an RV fire at about 3:30 a.m at 277 Sheep Davis Road — the address listed for a TD Bank branch by the Steeplegate Mall The first crews to arrive reported heavy flames coming from the RV and worked to extinguish the fire It was deemed under control within half an hour The incident is under investigation by the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Concord Fire Department and the Concord Police Department. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office at 603-223-4289 or fmo@dos.nh.gov pfeely@unionleader.com Email notifications are only sent once a day Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Would you like to receive our daily news? Signup today Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account has been identified as the man who died inside a burning RV parked at the former Steeplegate Mall early Saturday morning The state medical examiner determined that Browall died of smoke inhalation though the fire itself is still under investigation by state and local officials Concord Fire responded to the parking lot on the east side of the property around 3:30 a.m The blaze was knocked down within half an hour according to an announcement from the State Fire Marshal’s office The RV was hitched to a GMC Yukon on elevated blocks Two other trailers were parked in the area a man died at a campsite on the same property Demolition of the mall, sought by the property owner since last summer, has been held up by lawsuits from tenants and neighbors a mixed-use development to bring hundreds of apartment units alongside retail and grocery stores has yet to emerge from the city permitting process but the developer requested permission to tear down most of the mall in advance citing public safety concerns including trespassing trash dumping and intrusions by trend-seeking “urban explorers.” Catherine McLaughlin can be reached at cmclaughlin@cmonitor.com You can subscribe to her Concord newsletter The City Beat at concordmonitor.com you agree with our use of cookies to personalize your experience measure ads and monitor how our site works to improve it for our users The long-awaited reveal of Marathon over the weekend has drawn comparisons to the online service shooter which Sony shut down last October to show some empathy for the people working on it It was gut wrenching to see our project fail I have learned that failure is what drives me to succeed No one feels as bad as the people who put their time on the line hoping it will entertain the masses of gamers across the globe." Some people are clearly expecting the same from Marathon: It's not a massive backlash but there is a strain of persistent negativity out there which is what prompted Williams to post his message He acknowledged that talking about his work at Firewalk exposed him to being "roasted" for Concord but said he hopes that instead of going after him for it readers "see that people create these projects and work very hard to be the next big thing." "Seeing the faces of the developers on the Bungie stream gave me hope and excitement for what is to come for Marathon," Williams wrote Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals In response to one of the replies to his message—which have been almost exclusively positive—Williams said he didn't want to call attention to himself with the message because he doesn't have a horse in the race at all "But to call this game a failure before it’s even out he expressed confidence that Bungie will get it right "I am stoked to see the fully polished product," he wrote Andy ChalkSocial Links NavigationUS News LeadAndy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80 From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014 when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes you will then be prompted to enter your display name The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. Concord fans — we’ve been listening closely to your feedback since the launch of Concord on PlayStation 5 and PC and want to thank everyone who has joined the journey aboard the Northstar Your support and the passionate community that has grown around the game has meant the world to us while many qualities of the experience resonated with players we also recognize that other aspects of the game and our initial launch didn’t land the way we’d intended we have decided to take the game offline beginning September 6 including those that will better reach our players Concord sales will cease immediately and we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased the game for PS5 or PC If you purchased the game for PlayStation 5 from the PlayStation Store or PlayStation Direct a refund will be issued back to your original payment method Customers who purchased from other digital storefronts will also be refunded More information about refunds from Steam and Epic can be found below: Steam Store – Steam Store will refund players who bought the game over the coming days Steam will send confirmation of the refund once it has been processed Epic Games Store – Epic Games Store will refund players who bought the game over the coming days and will contact each customer directly to confirm that the refund has been processed Other retailer refunds – For customers who have purchased a physical copy at a retailer location outside of PlayStation directly please refer to the refund process of the retailer you purchased it from to obtain your refund. players will no longer have access to the game. We’ll keep you updated and thank you again to all the Freegunners who have joined us in the Concord galaxy * Refunds for PlayStation Store and PlayStation Direct purchases may take 30-60 days to appear on your bank statement If your original payment source was unavailable the purchase amount will be refunded to your PSN wallet ShareSaveCommentBETAThis is a BETA experience. opt-out hereInnovation GamingA ‘Concord’ Dev Offers Thoughts On Bungie’s ‘Marathon’ SituationByPaul Tassi Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights movies and the internet.Follow AuthorApr 15 It is not ideal to see the term “Concord” trend online after you’ve just revealed your own game but that’s the situation Bungie found themselves in after its recent Marathon reveal given the historic nature of Concord’s failure and the messages was heard loud and clear," Williams said "It was gut wrenching to see our project fail hoping it will entertain the masses of gamers across the globe He goes on to say that just because Concord failed that the public “shouldn’t punish others for our mistakes,” referring to Bungie He says in the comments that “to call this game a failure before it’s even out Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase It is hard to escape the “discourse” online about Marathon YouTube comments or subreddit fretting about it at times it should not be pre-deemed a failure due to a single reveal stream a truly historic flop that shut down in two weeks It had never happened before and if it does again I think it’s worth reading Williams’ whole thread as it should hopefully make you sympathize with the devs making this stuff who are often tossed under a bus immediately during situations like this Join the conversation You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account A major Vancouver developer says a recent “alignment of the stars” means it will will go ahead with developing what is likely downtown’s largest undeveloped waterfront property Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience We apologize, but this video has failed to load.Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team.Play VideoArticle contentOn Tuesday Concord Pacific released preliminary details of its proposal to build 5,000 homes in 12 towers — including skyscrapers taller than any others in the city — as well as dozens of restaurants and services in False Creek’s northeast shore between the Plaza of Nations and Science World Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox Interested in more newsletters? property owner Concord Pacific says it’s ready to start the formal process with city hall “There is a sort of an alignment of the stars here at this moment that may cause activation of the actual development,” said Concord Pacific’s senior vice-president of development This project will depend on the long-planned demolition of the Georgia and Dunsmuir street viaducts which were built in the early 1970s and run along the north side of Concord’s property A previous Vancouver council voted in 2015 to replace the viaducts with ground-level streets to free up land for housing and parks it was reported the viaducts’ removal could be completed by 2020 the city has said it was not possible to provide a timeline because it needed to be funded by development in the area Concord and another local developer have provided a combined $210 million for the viaducts’ replacement The project will require additional funding and is likely still years away from completion based on Concord Pacific’s recent conversations with city planners the developer is confident in the city’s commitment to replace the elevated roadways The other key element was the ABC-majority council’s decision last year to overhaul long-standing policies protecting view corridors Council’s decision last July to amend the view protection policies — which were first established in 1989 to protect the public vistas considered a crucial part of Vancouver’s identity — was met with some public criticism But Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC caucus said the move could play an important role in enabling the development of more housing At Concord’s Northeast False Creek property alone the view policy changes mean 5,000 housing units can be built The developer’s vision for what it calls “Concord Landing” includes 12 towers The lower buildings closer to the waterfront would be around 20 storeys with taller buildings of around 50 storeys just to the north The tallest buildings would be the “landmark towers” flanking Georgia Street which Webb said could “go to 60 to 65-plus storeys Those buildings would be taller than Vancouver’s tallest skyscraper the 62-storey Shangri-La tower on Georgia Street Concord plans to submit a rezoning inquiry to city hall within a few months after which the company will work with city staff on a plan with the hope to make a formal rezoning application by the end of this year Concord CEO Terry Hui said: “We are excited to bring the knowledge this team has gained over the years to the development of the Concord Landing community.” The information released this week by Concord does not specify how many of those 5,000 homes might be condos but the developer’s statement said it will align “with the city’s goals for housing inclusivity.” said the development’s residential mix “will be subject to a discussion with Concord through a rezoning but for sure we’d be looking for non-market and rental housing to be part of the mix.” which council approved in 2018 and covers this Concord property says residential rezoning applications must include a target of at least 20 per cent non-market housing The broader Northeast False Creek plan — including removing the viaducts and adding housing once-in-a-lifetime city-building opportunity,” Shillito said He added that the Concord Landing property “is really the linchpin site in the plan area by virtue of its size and pivotal location in terms of achieving the land needed to bring the viaducts down and replace them with a new ground-level street network which is obviously at the heart of the plan.” Concord has agreed to provide $110 million to the city which has been earmarked for the new streets planned for Northeast False Creek involving a land transfer between the city and Concord Housing to build social housing on three sites in the former Expo lands The owner of the neighbouring Plaza of Nations site also committed to a $100 million contribution to the city as part of rezoning the property in 2018 But even if all $210 million of those two developers’ contributions goes to the viaduct project The city’s most recent detailed costing for replacing the viaducts with a street network was in 2018 estimated at between $400 million and 500 million “The plan that was approved in 2018 was done so on the basis that it would be essentially self-funding from development revenues within the plan area,” Shillito said And so we may need other sources of funding to actually deliver on this.” dfumano@postmedia.com transmission or republication strictly prohibited This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy You can manage saved articles in your account New Hampshire (WGME) -- One person is dead after a fire in Concord fire officials responded to Sheep Davis Road for reports of a RV fire Crews say they saw massive flames and heavy smoke coming from the RV It took them over an hour to put out the fire Officials say they found a man dead inside the camper The New Hampshire State Fire Marshal's Office is investigating Robert Maccini is an editor and a member of Concord Concerned Citizens noting that anger has produced incivility in some corners of public discourse “It’s just not the Concord that I’ve lived in for 40 years.” He sees the anger as a byproduct of polarization at the state and national levels “All politics is local.” I believe that the anger is sparked primarily by local officials disregarding the voice of the public unwilling to silently defer to elected officials are speaking up and questioning their decisions I heartily agree with the mayor on the need for civility who recently observed that sometimes a “holy anger” must be harnessed to bring about change The chief example of shrugging off public opinion is the school board after hearing months of overwhelming public testimony against relocating the middle school to Broken Ground when Concord Concerned Citizens (CoCoCi) properly followed the existing procedure to propose amendments to the school district charter the board spent the public’s money on lawyers trying to prevent voters from having a say in the matter the board presses on toward spending $164 million for a middle school most likely with little or no state building aid even though there is widespread public opposition to this sort of exorbitant price tag regardless of the school’s location the Concord of the past forty years is vanishing in another way It appears that gentrification of the city is proceeding full speed ahead A realtor in my neighborhood just listed a fairly modest house for $580,000 This is now typical of the astronomical house prices in Concord She tells me that buyers are normally well-heeled older folks and that young families are priced out of the market of the 234 incorporated towns and cities in New Hampshire Concord ranks 156th in median household income which puts us about two-thirds of the way up on the income ladder — far from the top rung the median household income in Concord was $83,700 It seems like our elected officials are either unaware of that or don’t care about it as they are placing some $375 million worth of projects on the table all at once: a middle school Exhausted homeowners and renters are struggling to keep their heads above water in the steadily rising river of tax increases The new property reassessments will only exacerbate these increases the brunt of which will be borne by those least able to do so As the mayor himself warned in his “From the Mayor’s Desk” email on April 4 based on the experience of other communities it’s likely that lower-valued homes in high demand — such as manufactured housing and condominiums — as well as multi-family properties and apartment buildings will see the highest percentage increases.” On top of this the school board says that the building of a $164 million middle school with no state aid will increase the property tax on a house assessed at $350,000 by $1,113 over the first two years “I think we can hash out our differences and our challenges by sitting down around the table and how often I have wished that city officials would actually do this CoCoCi’s repeated requests to the school board for face-to-face dialogue have been met with silence Our comments to the board at their public meetings have sometimes been met by eyes either rolling or fixed on electronic devices and always — unless we can speak for less than 180 seconds — by being cut off in mid-sentence with The mayor says that he is “looking for ways to promote and participate in community conversations.” I’m glad that he is and I hope that the school board will do likewise Skeletal remains found in a dilapidated shed off North State Street have been identified by Concord Police as those of Michael Schilz Concord Police responded to the property at 282-284 North State Street after its owner reported finding a body inside a shed on April 21 The skeletal condition of the body indicated that it had been there for “an extended period of time,” possibly as long as years but no related charges are expected at this time The state sex offender registry lists Schilz who was convicted in 2005 of aggravated felonious sexual assault on a minor Schilz was released in December of 2021 and had been wanted on parole violations stemming from his original conviction since May 23 according to a state Department of Corrections spokesperson He had never been reported as a missing person to Concord Police the property was the site of an arson that killed Robert McMillan who owned and lived in a duplex there at the time he was convicted of second-degree murder for McMillan’s death It was purchased in early April by Benjamin Carbone of Hooksett The previous owners listed are Pennsylvania residents Several streets in downtown Concord will be closed Wednesday evening for the 23rd annual Rock’N Race a fundraiser supporting cancer programs and services for patients and their families and raises funds for the Concord Hospital Payson Center for Cancer Care is expected to draw thousands of runners for a 5K or a shorter 1-mile loop through downtown Concord more than 3,200 participants helped raise over $339,000 for the center North State Street at Pleasant Street (northbound) North State Street at Capitol Street (northbound) North State Street at Centre Street (southbound) between North Main Street and North State Street (westbound) between North Main Street and North State Street (eastbound) between Green Street and North State Street North Spring Street at Centre Street from 5:45 – 7:30 p.m Rumford Street at Centre Street from 5:45 – 7:30 p.m Parking is available in downtown Concord’s parking garages and limited street parking is offered on a first-come There will be no parking on Capitol Street For more information, visit https://runsignup.com/Race/NH/Concord/RockNRace By using this site, you agree with our use of cookies to personalize your experience, measure ads and monitor how our site works to improve it for our users Why did a big Sony first-party game get sent out to die immediately As usual when questions of this nature crop up I asked a bunch of professional industry analysts to explain it to me While historically low numbers like the ones being experienced by Concord have a tendency to be used to drive narratives that don’t always paint a full picture “The Steam numbers are so bad that even without the exact data on the PS5 side we can be pretty certain that the game is doing very badly.” estimated that Concord’s total sales are sitting around 10,000 units on Steam and around 15,000 on PlayStation (he responded to my email Wednesday Many of the analysts I spoke to lamented the reality. As they pointed out, Concord has been in development for years now a substantial financial and time investment for Sony And incredibly talented people worked on it: it’s well-produced and as Midia Research analyst Rhys Elliott specifically notes high-quality shooter is not enough in the oversaturated live-service space these days.” when I reach out to analysts for comment on a piece like this they largely have similar assessments of the big picture but can offer differing perspectives on certain details everyone I spoke to agreed on the reasons it had failed a lack of differentiation in an oversaturated genre added that since Concord was a new IP that marketing was sorely needed as it "lacks a pre-existing fanbase to bolster its launch." Concord also suffered from what was considered to be an overly high price point given that its main competitors are free-to-play high-skill multiplayer shooters can struggle to gain traction because players will only “shift” their preferred game if all their friends also agree to do so players may be reluctant due to sunk cost fallacy around the various cosmetics and other perks they’ve picked up on their preferred game over time who won’t know in advance if their audiences will be interested in a new game they’re considering switching to and see if it sticks without a high commitment cost the $40 price makes players unlikely to give it a shot in the first place and van Dreunen adds that this is even less likely near the end of a console cycle when players are more reluctant than usual to take a chance on new games “A tight-knit group of players might be willing to take a chance on a new game for free but paying $40 is a big ask in today’s macroeconomic climate,” Elliott observed “Launching Concord as a premium game limited its audience numbers and user acquisition Network effects are crucial for building a healthy “Concord should have launched free-to-play – or at least as part of the PlayStation Plus subscription – to have a fighting chance in its overcrowded genre but the damage might have already been done Every analyst I spoke to also hammered home what may be Concord’s biggest problem: lack of differentiation Harding-Rolls noted that when Concord started development Sony was banking on the then-hot trend of multiplayer shooters such as Overwatch we’ve had a few more big budget hero shooters come to market – Apex Legends Valorant and Overwatch 2 – each with their unique gameplay attributes,” said Harding-Rolls “All three of these games are played by millions of gamers every month and dominate this category Concord’s gunplay compares most closely to Overwatch 2 and overall the hero shooter market is already well served with a collection of very strong free-to-play titles.” I asked all the analysts I spoke to if this means live service is over, especially for Sony. Hardly, they all say – but this should serve as a reality check. As for Sony itself, Deane expects it will continue chasing live service. Helldivers 2, after all, was a huge hit earlier this year. “Though clearly they won’t want any more Concord-level disasters, if half of their forthcoming slate of live service games over the next few years succeed, that won’t be a bad result.” Elliott agreed. “It only takes one big live-service win to generate billions upon billions in revenue and unlock new audiences – two things PlayStation very much wants right now, as the console business is facing growth challenges and reaching saturation. That said, I also expect some resources to be redirected to strategies that are working better for the company: PC launches and cross-media/transmedia, for example.” Nevertheless, analysts suggested that Concord is a perfect example of the dangers of AAA companies chasing trends, especially with how long game development cycles have become. Elliott pointed out a growing list of failures in the space, even from major companies: BioWare’s Anthem, Crystal Dynamics’ Marvel’s Avengers, PlatinumGames’ Babylon’s fall. Some developers, he notes, have even canceled projects in advance, such as Sega with Hyenas or PlayStation’s The Last of Us Online. “Pivoting to live services is high-risk, high-reward venture, and the risk is heightening to levels that might not be worth it for many AAA console/PC publishers that aren’t already active in the space,” he said. As Mat Piscatella summed up, “Sometimes everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Although it's quite rare to see everything go this wrong.” Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com. I asked a bunch of professional industry analysts to explain it to me.","@type":"NewsArticle","datePublished":"2024-08-30T23:25:29.970Z","headline":"Concord Is Estimated to Have Sold Only 25,000 Units These corporations put too much stock into social media discourse which turns out doesn't translate to real life It's like they're making games for the identity-politics-obsessed Twitter crowd when those are not the people actually buying games They're just the people that have had the loudest voice on the internet for the past decade (which thankfully that seems to be shifting) there is nothing wrong with diversity in gaming but it's obvious when its just forced pandering trying to tick and many boxes as possible If the reasons listed in the article were the true reasons for Concords failure please explain to me the huge success of Deadlock A game that could be considered a type of hero shooter that received essentially zero marketing and already has player numbers that dwarf Concord before the game was even formally announced Look at the analysts trying to be all diplomatic for twitter People were tearing it apart during the CGI trailer and most didn't even know what type of game it was I get that people want to shift the blame onto the corpo side of things That is easy and doesn't lose you friends on Twitter But this game is a fundamental failure on the creative side people just hated the general presentation of the game Sony's gonna have to figure out a way to financially recover from this and possibly backtrack on their live service plans Concord will now be infamous for being on every gaming media's most disappointing games of 2024 list I dont buy that the game did poor because of its diverse cast Overwatch is a very diverse game and it got a sequel and is making Blizzard a lot of money The major problem with Concord imo is the marketing was non existant compared to how Sony normally does things I rarely saw any ads for it on social media or streaming sites like Youtube and Twitch Then to top it all off theres a 40$ charge when most of these games (OW If they want people to try the game to see how much work they put in Sony ultimately dropped the ball on this one and hopefully they learn from it and do better next time even for a game with middling critical reviews (we gave it a 7/10) lol trying to justify yourselves - you scored it a bit too high as did most of the media we need a mass amount of articles that will convince our readers that Concord failed for literally every reason but the ones they've been saying the whole time there are Atomic Colliders that could get jealous of the spin being generated in these desperate attempts to frame Concord's absolute failure on anything other than the reasons basically everyone has pointed out already the heroes have to very specifically not be butt-ugly and annoying Overwatch would not have succeeded nearly as well as it did if a certain percentage of their characters weren't fap material Charging an entrance fee for another cookie cutter live service game when the market is already saturated with free to play options As if Sony's management just wants to send this game to die It's hilarious IGN spent money for the research in this article just so they can point fingers at everything except the true reason Concord flopped There are numerous games with the same issues Some games with zero marketing fared better than this This is indicative of avoidance not mere \"lack of distinguishing features\" Those cannot explain this level of disaster Look where you and these \"analysts\" are seemingly afraid to look to find the real answer \"Analysts\" 🤣🤣🤣🤣 It doesn't take analysts to know why this game is failing Its definitely not the fact that it was marketed as LGBTQ+ The devs decided to make a game for the \"modern audience\" Turns out modern audience is too busy canceling people on Twitter.. I'll tell you the reason for free - no one wants to play as ugly DEI characters in a w()ke game that 25,000 are all Twitch streamers and YouTubers who Bought the game simply for their own coverage and 10% of that is probably returning it in the return window of play LIVE-SERVICE games will eventually cause these companies more financial harm than good so I say let's keep up with the resistance Developers need to learn that the LGBT community represents the small minority of the population Straight people are the main ones who play games The main reason is that the game literally DEI - the Game Gamers are getting tired of devs trying to push an agenda in games and they voted with their wallets this time Other reason being that it's a paid hero shooter in a f2p space Vote with your wallets if you don't support DEI games if you want to make a stand against DEI in other places Idk maybe don’t add some political agenda to your game and maybe it’ll sell more than 25k units. 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February and March Rebar is in place across the site where forms are being created for the five underground parking levels the white weatherproofing materials cover the back side of preserved heritage walls Looking northeast to the recently installed tower cranes image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor Johnny Au The project reached grade by the end of that year in the foreground materials are staged behind fencing along O’Keefe Lane on the eastern edge of the site while concrete columns and formwork is in place for more ground floor walls the north crane’s jib is hoisting formwork visible between the rebar cage and concrete column Ground-level construction next to the south tower crane image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor busybeaver construction had progressed to the fifth storey slab with a parapet wall prominent above the retained heritage facade on the east elevation. Looking southeast from Gerrard Street to construction rising above the heritage facades image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor fanoftoronto Taken from a high vantage point in the last few days A platform extends from the seventh floor on the east elevation A white concrete boom pump is visible between the two cranes An aerial view looking southeast to construction at the top level image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor ndawgg The tower volume is is stepped-back from the streetwalls along Gerrard and Yonge streets. Looking southeast from Yonge and Gerrard Streets to the heritage facade at the north end of the site image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor rdaner the south elevation reveals a concrete wall the tower will step back and then rise vertically in comparison to the angled north wall of the tower. image by UrbanToronto Forum contributor ImmenselyMental UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development you can learn more about it from our Database file you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page UrbanToronto has a research service, UTPro, that provides comprehensive data on development projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe — from proposal through to completion. We also offer Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider that tracks projects from initial application. InDepthNH.org (https://indepthnh.org/2025/05/01/hundreds-gathered-may-1-in-concord-and-around-nh-to-stand-with-immigrants-workers/) May Day demonstration in Concord on Thursday Arnie Alpert spent decades as a community organizer/educator in NH movements for social justice and peace. Officially retired since 2020 he keeps his hands (and feet) in the activist world while writing about past and present social movements Get unbiased nonprofit watchdog news sent directly to your inbox The first day of May, which has been an occasion for labor rallies since 1886 and immigrants’ rights marches since 2006, has taken on new significance this year due to President Donald Trump’s assaults on immigrants and unions. A thousand demonstrations were expected nationwide on Thursday including a rally at the State House arch on Main Street in Concord other public shows of support for immigrants and disapproval of Trump’s agenda were expected to take place in Alton This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License A generous gift in any amount helps us continue to bring you this service InDepthNH protects independent journalism that holds government accountable to the people Our investigative reporting prompts civil discourse that spurs citizens to action corruption and influence-peddling while giving voice to the disenfranchised InDepthNH fulfills the press’ watchdog role as envisioned by the founders of our democracy InDepthNH.org is published by the New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News Sign In Register A major Vancouver-based developer has big plans for northeast False Creek—provided the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts are demolished first. which would require hundreds of millions of dollars for upgrades or replacement beyond 2032 are the biggest obstacle standing in the way of 5,000 new homes to be built by Concord Pacific Developments Corp in its planned “Concord Landing” district Vancouver city council voted to remove the viaducts almost 10 years ago. Although they are still standing, Concord Pacific’s recent update to its development plan is expected to finally trigger removal of the elevated roadways serving motorists Although the first phase of Concord Landing is at least five years away with an initial rezoning inquiry made to the City of Vancouver a week ago to be followed by a formal rezoning submission “We have been working on this rezoning plan since the view corridor policy … came down in July,” said Peter Webb senior vice-president of development with Concord Pacific we have submitted our materials as a rezoning inquiry The significance of this submission is that it will bring the city and province together to work on the business framework at which point the public consultation will follow with a rezoning application.” Concord Pacific acquired the roughly eight-hectare site for Concord Landing in 1988 as part of the whole 83-hectare parcel known as Concord Pacific Place stretching from the Granville Bridge to Science World The original official development plan (ODP) led by the City of Vancouver was completed in 1990 A new plan was drawn up in 2018 with more discussion regarding the removal of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts About 17,000 Vancouverites weighed in on the second plan in 2018 Concord Landing is envisioned for the developer’s last 15 or so per cent of the Expo lands which it has developed over the years with seven other Concord neighbourhoods in the area was completed in 2019 and consists of two large buildings: The Arc and One Pacific in northwest False Creek Concord Landing would feature about 5,000 homes as well as a large green space matching the green space adopted in the 2018 ODP The proposed development would also feature between 50 and 100 small commercial units mostly between 500 and 1,000 square feet in size The company said it believes Concord Landing would create a new focal point along the waterfront and Science World and the Olympic Village to the south Georgia Street would come down to grade connecting Stanley Park at the far end of the downtown peninsula to the waterfront at northeast False Creek In addition to anticipated delays due to the 2026 FIFA World Cup when the site may be used for staging They complicate the development by cutting through where the district’s buildings would be More than 12 buildings of varying scale and shape are planned. Scrapping the viaducts would open up the land underneath The developer said removing them sooner rather than later will mitigate costs and conserve capital New city infrastructure and street networks are already planned for the area as part of the entire budget for removal To help pay for the viaducts’ demolition and related streetscape planning the city has allocated Concord Pacific’s contribution of $110 million a sum paid toward a six-site deal in northeast False Creek in 2024 Another source is the Plaza of Nations’ $100 million in community amenity contributions from its rezoning in 2018 which could grow if greater density is sought by new owner Northchild Group “We are excited about the renewed focus on removing the seismically challenged viaducts a pivotal step in developing this [last] neighbourhood,” said Terry Hui [email protected] x.com/jamimakan jamimakan.bsky.social After decades of stagnation, one of Vancouver’s last undeveloped waterfront plots is finally set to transform. Terry Hui an ambitious redevelopment of the Northeast False Creek shoreline that will introduce thousands of new homes The project promises to redefine a long-overlooked part of the city and establish a vibrant the vacant 10-acre site between False Creek and downtown Vancouver has been little more than an expanse of parking lots occasionally hosting events like Cirque du Soleil which was once part of the 1986 Expo fairgrounds has remained undeveloped mostly due to regulatory challenges including the existence of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts and strict view cone policies limiting building heights recent policy shifts have removed many of these obstacles The Vancouver City Council approved the demolition of the viaducts in 2015 the city relaxed its protected mountain view cone policies paving the way for higher-density development Concord Pacific is now moving forward with its vision for Concord Landing a project described by the developer’s senior vice-president as “a comprehensive and ambitious vision that integrates local and global elements of urban design.” Concord Landing will feature twelve visually striking buildings including mid-rise podiums and towers ranging from 40 to 65 storeys The project’s signature “Gateway” twin towers are set to redefine Vancouver’s skyline Concord Landing will incorporate 220,000 square feet of commercial space including a retail village designed to support over 50 small businesses The development will emphasize pedestrian-friendly streets ensuring it becomes a destination for both residents and visitors Inspired by the picturesque Italian fishing village of Portofino Concord Landing will feature stacked housing receding from a walkable shoreline The site’s design prioritizes open spaces and connectivity incorporating a three-kilometer stretch of Vancouver’s famous seawall and completing the city’s world-renowned waterfront pathway The project will include a new marina and three floating pavilions serving as hubs for major public events such as the Dragon Boat Festival The development will also introduce convertible playing fields reinforcing the community’s focus on outdoor recreation and urban livability The removal of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts is critical to the success of the project as the elevated roadways currently sever downtown from the waterfront Vancouver city officials have long planned to replace them with a more integrated road network that prioritizes pedestrians and cyclists while improving overall traffic flow Concord Pacific has contributed $110 million toward the demolition with an additional $100 million from Metropolitan Properties These contributions cover about half of the estimated cost but city officials still face challenges securing full funding for the project With the rezoning process expected to take two to three years and viaduct demolition to follow construction on Concord Landing is still some time away the transformation of North False Creek appears inevitable “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine False Creek’s waterfront,” said Concord Pacific CEO Terry Hui “This neighborhood is going to be transformational for Vancouver We’re turning what has long been an underdeveloped part of downtown into one of the most vibrant waterfront districts in the city.” Concord Landing will join the existing Concord Pacific Place development and public spaces while setting a new standard for waterfront development in Vancouver the neighborhood will become an integral part of Vancouver’s urban landscape In this week’s newsletter: Eight years and many millions of dollars in the making the latest high-profile multiplayer flop points to an existential problem in game development • Don’t get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Don’t get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Everyone who bought it on PlayStation 5 and PC was refunded Concord had been in development for eight years with bespoke cinematics and a long-term plan that would have cost $100m or more to develop even compared with the year’s other bad news for developers and studios Much has been written about why Concord flopped so spectacularly. As Keith Stuart pointed out in his review of the game in which many players already have their preferred game (Overwatch Sony’s marketing of the game also seemed to fail in that almost nobody knew about Concord before it arrived and it’s my job to know these things.) Criticisms were levelled at its characters and design: it was generic and didn’t have any particularly interesting gameplay ideas The failure of Concord is also symbolic of the existential-level problems in modern game development: they are so expensive to create and they take so long that a game can miss its moment years before it is released but if you’re simply trying to recreate what’s popular it’ll be out of date by the time it’s finished My feeling is that people simply don’t have time for another forever game one of the first of the current generation of eternal live-service games that aim to keep players playing for years turned 10 this week: it has become part of the lives and routines of millions even the decades-old World of Warcraft are dominant in their genres What would it take to get those players to abandon it for a new game people aren’t just abandoning the game – they’re also abandoning their friends The live-service game rush reminds me of the time in the 2000s where almost every publisher was trying to create a massively multiplayer online game like World of Warcraft Every day I’d get a press release saying that so-in-so has secured millions in funding for a new Warcraft-killer Some of the resulting games were good – Guild Wars to pick one example – but most of them enjoyed mild to moderate success at best It is striking that this comes right on the heels of the enormous sales of Black Myth: Wukong, a resolutely single-player game. Many factors contributed to Wukong’s success, as I wrote about last week but nonetheless there is huge demand for that game huge demand for single-player games in general I do not want a game that takes years to play A game whose artistry comes before its business model there is an enormous market for live-service multiplayer games; it’s just that most of those people are already playing one I highly doubt that there are untapped millions of players desperate for a hero shooter or battle royale game who just haven’t found the right one yet It’s time that publishers try something new instead One for the kids … Bakeru Photograph: Good Feel CoMy family remains enthralled with Astro Bot who now wakes me up every morning talking about his preferred power-ups (the “frog punchies” are his fave) so on a long train journey recently I gave Bakeru a go It is a distinctly Japanese-flavoured action platformer in the vein of long-forgotten 1990s series Ganbare Goemon For the benefit of the 98% of people to whom that means absolutely nothing that means whacking gorgeously animated yokai with drumsticks as you whirl through a comic-book version of Japanese towns and scenery The difficulty is definitely geared towards children so I found the first few levels almost completely frictionless but it’s been a welcome platformer time-warp nonetheless reminding me of the screenshots of similar Japanese games that I’d pore over in the pages of my Nintendo magazines in the 90s Free weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gaming In more positive news for Sony, details of the long-awaited PS5 Pro have finally been unveiled An extra £200 outlay on its current system price tag buys enhanced technical specs As mentioned, Bungie’s space-opera shooter Destiny turns 10 this week – and as Christian Donlan writes in this anniversary essay it’s a game that people always have something to say about: not just one of the first forever games The Rubber-Keyed Wonder a new film about the development of the ZX Spectrum Does the Minecraft movie really look that bad? Only a 10-year-old can tell us | Rich Pelley Astro Bot review – glittering ideas make Team Asobi’s 3D platformer a gem What the Car? A racing game with a ‘complete disregard for actual vehicles’ I Am Your Beast review – like Rambo on fast-forward Baldur’s Gate 3 plays best on a PC Photograph: Larian StudiosReader Maisie asks this week’s question: After years of happily gaming on the Switch I decided to expand my horizons and invested in a PS4 and gaming laptop The PS4 is great but I’m struggling to get into Steam games – sitting at my desk is just not the same as lounging on the sofa next to my husband Do you have any tips for making PC gaming feel less like work and more like fun as will any Xbox controller – I use an Xbox One pad for PC games now but for many years I used an old wired Xbox 360 one The Steam Deck is also a gamechanger – I unreservedly recommend saving up for one As for a PC-only game that might make all of this seem worth it: these days almost everything is cross-platform But Baldur’s Gate 3 really does play best on PC and if that doesn’t make you willing to put up with a keyboard and mouse If you’ve got a question for Question Block – or anything else to say about the newsletter – hit reply or email us on pushingbuttons@theguardian.com it was pretty hard for PC players to find games without queuing in console lobbies deciding to chalk it up to a slow early access things haven't gotten better since the game became available for everyone. There are no public records for player counts on PlayStation so this is really all we have to go on right now regarding Concord's popularity. PC players have reported that long queue times are very much a problem for those not queuing alongside console players. "Just waited eight minutes for matchmaking, and then it timed out," one player says I can't wait eight minutes plus between games [So] I decided to play something else and come back on peak hours This really doesn't look promising at all." I've also had some pretty long wait times on Concord over last weekend—I got to about seven minutes before I found a game and I've played plenty of other games that can have similarly long queues but the difference is that I'm not sure Concord is worth the wait which is probably why players are finding the $40/£35 price tag hard to stomach. and while I enjoy some of the heroes like Haymar and Daw most of the matches feel indistinguishable and the maps seem too big for their own good You spend a lot of time walking around looking for fights There's more to Concord than just the fights but that doesn't mean it's worth the price tag. they can't wait." Something like this could help bolster numbers although there wasn't massive interest around the free beta either. and every additional map and hero is free!" but when there are so many alternatives available at no extra cost it seems like a misstep to try and subvert that Some people say that this shows confidence but it's not a great business model if you want to cast your net wide and encourage loads of people to play your game If I had to choose between tons of free and fantastic team shooters or take a chance on one for £35 B.C. moves to speed up energy projects amid growing demand and environmental concerns4 hours agoVideo2:02 Advocates, families call for coroner's inquest into deaths of Indigenous women, girl4 hours ago Video2:44 Duty free shops fear Trump’s trade war will force them out of businessThe National |4 hours agoTrending NowVideo2:17 Video evidence, NHLer testimony raise questions in world junior sexual assault trialThe National |May 2 Video4:45 Trump repeats 51st state taunt as Carney prepares for White House visitThe National |May 5 Video11:28 It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in Canada including people with visual Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem A massive new development could be coming to the shores of Vancouver’s False Creek Concord Pacific is submitting to Vancouver city council a “transformative urban village” named Concord Landing The development would put another 5,000 homes in about a dozen buildings at the head of False Creek using the land on the north side of the water bordered by Pacific Boulevard and Quebec Street “While Concord Landing is a working name for the project at this stage This is the first step of the zoning process aimed to create this significant new neighbourhood,” the developers said in a statement “This initiative aligns with the City’s proactive approach to addressing housing challenges under City Council We look forward to this collaboration,” it added the proposal also includes “European-inspired” indoor-outdoor spaces and pedestrian-friendly areas with cafes and restaurants and a neighbourhood art program are also featured in the design The developers note that city council’s commitment to pulling down the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts along with recently relaxed rules around view cones has made a big difference to the timing and scale of the project “With the arrival of the new Planning Director and City Council’s directives on creating housing Concord Pacific is now able to advance this significant project With a long-standing track record of collaboration with the City of Vancouver and other municipalities in the Lower Mainland Concord Pacific is eager to work with the City to complete this significant development on False Creek We are enthusiastic about the City Council’s direction and the Planning Department’s new expedited approach to housing,” the developers said The date of when the proposal will go to council has not yet been set The federal council and the NDP caucus decided on the local MP The Surrey Police Service (SPS) is turning to the public for help Jendhel May Sico is described as a person who lived her life to the fullest she was celebrating the Lapu-Lapu Day festival with those she loved most -- her cousin Killed in a car-ramming attack on Saturday she was celebrating the Lapu-Lapu Day festival with those she loved most -- her cousin speaks to reporter Kier Junos about the day their lives changed forever Huge crowds lined the streets of Vancouver to cheer on 25,000 runners making their way around the city for the 53rd annual BMO Marathon on Sunday The accused person in the deadly car attack at the Lapu-Lapu Day block party in Vancouver on April 26th appeared at the provincial Court of British Columbia 30-year-old Kai Ji Adam Lo appeared via video in court Four people remain in critical condition in hospital and another two remain in serious condition five days after the deadly attack at the Lapu-Lapu Day festival in Vancouver on April 26 Jack Rabb has more on the efforts to support the victims Juror illness led to an early adjournment Thursday with NHL player Taylor Raddysh expected to continue his witness testimony Friday Michelle Mackey has the latest in the sex assault trial of five ex-world junior hockey players Listen to NewsRadio Vancouver live anytime and get up-to-the-minute breaking-news alerts weather and video from CityNews Vancouver anywhere you are – across all Android and iOS devices allowing anyone to enjoy tactical combat from the comfort of their setup and some titles don't make the cut — Firewalk Studios' 2024 release famously became one of the biggest flops in gaming history and Shroud's Spectre Divide dwindled after its pre-launch hype In 2024, Bungie revealed it was joining the FPS battle with a new title called Marathon Marathon's gameplay trailer officially dropped on April 12 2025 earning over 240,000 views in only 5 hours the release also received significant criticism: gamers have since compared Marathon to Concord in droves even calling the title 'Concord 2.' Let's explore what users are saying and how similar the two titles may be — does Marathon have a shot against the gaming greats 'Concord' is widely regarded as the worst flop in game development history The title was a hero FPS developed by indie group Firewalk Studios who promised intense competition in a unique sci-fi atmosphere and the esports world was watching to see whether its drop would refresh the industry and live up to player expectations Concord's failure was unprecedented: the title's player count dwindled as users became dissatisfied with its awkward gameplay and poor mechanics shutting down a mere two weeks later on September 6 and refunding all its buyers with YouTuber and entrepreneur Charlie "MoistCr1TiKal' White branding it a 'flop' in a video that received two million views Concord is ultimately considered a cautionary tale warning developers not to fly too close to the sun — literally development studio Bungie (famous for the Halo and Destiny franchises) released the first gameplay reveal for its upcoming FPS Marathon which amassed over 240,000 views on YouTube The video elaborates on the game's format how matches will function and what players can expect in upcoming releases which users can join through an application process While Marathon's trailer quickly went viral Gamers swiftly took to the video's comment section to converse about its unorthodox graphics and genre "This game looks like it's going to make a concordillion dollars." Another netizen named @elevenfly took things even further by stating: "Concord 2 looks amazing." This meme went viral on Reddit's main gaming sub just two hours after Marathon's gameplay trailer / u/piggycurrency via RedditThis 'Concord 2' moniker seems to have stuck as similar content is going viral on other social media platforms a post on the r/gaming subreddit would appear containing a meme comparing Marathon to Concord The image called Marathon a "corpo (corporate) shooter" and has since received over 10,000 upvotes original poster u/piggycurrency simply stated Concord and Marathon undeniably share several similarities both titles are part of the FPS shooter category and have a bright neon color scheme They also both feature outer-space settings and include hero classes with unique abilities several former Bungie developers were involved in Concord's production while Marathon will include plenty of clones the game itself isn't one and has distinct differences from Concord Reddit user u/teddytwelvetoes also notes in a reply to the viral Marathon meme "comparing Bungie to "Firewalk Studios" is wild lol." Bungie's gunplay is also notably distinct from Concord and other shooters The studio is renowned for enabling weapon customization and facilitating aim assist for smoother duels While it's impossible to tell if good gunplay can carry Marathon if it lacks a strong structure upon release Marathon's Alpha playtest will not open until April 23 2025 and the game will not go live until September 23 It's entirely possible that Bungie could make major updates to the game before that point and address major player concerns One person who has played Marathon is streamer Benjamin 'DrLupo' Lupo Lupo revealed he had been involved in Marathon's playtesting for several years and indicated the game had potential He did state he thought the game "could be better than what it is right now," but confirmed testers were offering feedback to Bungie the title is entering an extremely saturated market with heavy competition Esports icon Shroud's game Spectre Divide similarly prioritized gunplay experience but did not survive against competitors including VALORANT While many gamers are reserving their judgment until a full release Marathon's public perception (and fate) currently hangs in a precarious balance GABBY DESENA 4 months agoDuration 8:10Questions remain over Concord's proposed False Creek development4 months agoNewsDuration 8:10Michael Geller, an urban planner, praised a plan from developer Concord Pacific to transform northeast False Creek — but questioned how much the developer would kick in to fund the demolition of the viaducts essential to its plan. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. will refund customersHero shooter suffers disastrous launch by Michael McWhertor Players who purchased Concord will be refunded announced Concord’s fate in a message to players writing that “aspects of the game and our initial launch didn’t land the way we’d intended.” “Concord fans — we’ve been listening closely to your feedback since the launch of Concord on PlayStation 5 and PC and want to thank everyone who has joined the journey aboard the Northstar,” Ellis wrote “Your support and the passionate community that has grown around the game has meant the world to us we also recognize that other aspects of the game and our initial launch didn’t land the way we’d intended including those that will better reach our players.” Refunds will be issued to the original payment methods for players on PS5 whether the game was purchased in the PlayStation Store or via PlayStation Direct as well as players who bought the game on PC The game’s poor reception was signaled well before launch, however. Concord’s dual multiplayer beta tests were also sparsely populated, and there was a downturn in players from one beta weekend to the next One option for Concord is for Sony and Firewalk to retool the game to be free to play, or as an ongoing PlayStation Plus catalog title. Concord was not built with free-to-play mechanics in mind, though. The game did not feature a battle pass or other microtransactions at launch, and instead promised free updates to those who purchased the game. fireballs and knives to obliterate opponents in familiar modes like “capture the point” and “kill stuff.” There’s nothing in it that’s surprised me or blown my mind and a broad sense of apathy I have not seen for a first-party PlayStation game in a decade—but it’s clear a lot of love and attention went into every aspect of the live-service shooter I’ve played for about 5-7 hours during the early access period this week ahead of Concord’s August 23 launch, and, as was the case during the beta the moment-to-moment gameplay is solid and I’ve really enjoyed experimenting with the unique weapons and movement style of its starting roster of 16 “Freegunners.” It feels like going to a new restaurant and enjoying a novel menu full of experimental dishes and new twists on old classics But would I really want to eat here every day or even once a week but nothing about the game looks cheap or unconsidered from its detailed character models and elaborate custom cosmetic kits to its elegant interface and bespoke text fonts I love that you navigate menus directly rather than via a floaty on-screen cursor and a sprawling lore map point to a lot of deep and imaginative worldbuilding especially a decade ago when we were not swimming in online multiplayer shooters especially colorful ones not called Call of Duty or Battlefield and a live-service game doesn’t offer a discrete experience so much as it demands an ongoing relationship and dedicated investment and there are a lot of time sinks out there competing for people’s precious and dwindling minutes on this earth And there’s just not a lot of things pulling me back to Concord right now and lots that are actively dragging it down with most lasting around five minutes or so scoring some cool kills and racking up a few objectives and then not getting bogged down in the casual matchmaking chaos when one team is blowing the other out of the water Occasionally it feels like matches get cut off at the legs right when they’re starting to get interesting It takes a few rounds to get a feel for the strangers on your team and your opponents on the other side with mini-dramas and revenge stories flickering in and out of existence as the match unfolds There’s a lot of strategy when it comes to planning matchups and accruing bonuses from getting more and more of your roster out into the field in a given match part of Concord’s crew builder mechanic which adds additional interesting wrinkles with a card system for alternate variants of each Freegunner that have different bonuses Often it just feels like matches are too short for much of that to develop into an interesting dynamic one of three playlists available at launch simply didn’t have enough players to test out prior to Concord’s full launch (in my efforts to try it the matchmaking kept timing out after a 10-minute wait) Progression is another area that’s really not working for me either With no supers or killstreak-like mini-objectives to chase during matches it doesn’t feel like you’re working toward anything outside of maintaining a healthy KDA and keeping an eye on the tug-of-war over objectives And while some maps started growing on me over time too many of them feel overly spaced out and austere with bright colors masking a lack of interesting scenery The simplicity doesn’t help play into the fantasy of being a space mercenary in the thick of a shootout in an exotic locale add an extra layer of readability to the environments My favorite multiplayer shooter maps have spaces that take on personalities of their own thanks to the sorts of encounters they facilitate and most of my matches have felt too messy for that That might be a smart strategy for a successful live-service game but I’m not sure what currently exists is enough of a bridge to that point I would make my friends play a few rounds with me if Concord was free-to-play I’d love for us to have a PVP game with a vibrant aesthetic that’s not super sweaty like some online shooters But as much fun as I’ve had with Concord so far in the moment-to-moment gameplay it hasn’t hit the threshold where I can recommend others take time out of their busy lives and ditch their current obsessions to place a bet on it permanently cancels gameSony Interactive Entertainment also shut down mobile dev Neon Koi The failed shooter has been permanently sunset we have determined the best path forward is to permanently sunset the game and close the studio,” Hulst said in the email to employees on Tuesday “I want to thank all of Firewalk for their craftsmanship Hulst explained that after taking Concord offline in September SIE “spent considerable time these past few months exploring all our options” for the shooter “The PvP first-person shooter genre is a competitive space that’s continuously evolving we did not hit our targets with this title,” he said “We will take the lessons learned from Concord and continue to advance our live-service capabilities to deliver future growth in this area.” In a statement on X (formerly Twitter) Firewalk Studios wrote that it was “signing off one last time.” “We took some risks along the way – marrying aspects of card battlers and fighting games with first-person-shooters – and although some of these and other aspects of the IP didn’t land as we hoped the idea of putting new things into the world is critical to pushing the medium forward,” the studio said “The talent at Firewalk and the level of individual craft is truly world-class and teams within Sony Interactive Entertainment and across the industry will be fortunate to work with them partners and fans who supported us along the way.“ Concord was originally released in late August for PlayStation 5 and Windows PC then pulled from sale and taken offline on Sept Concord game director Ryan Ellis said that the studio planned to “explore options including those that will better reach our players,” while it “determine[d] the best path ahead” for the game Before Tuesday’s announcement, Sony and Firewalk’s plans for Concord’s future appeared open-ended, leading to speculation that the game could be re-released as a free-to-play game — Concord cost $39.99 — or as part of Sony’s PlayStation Plus subscription. Firewalk Studios was founded in 2018 as part of the ProbablyMonsters game studio collective founded by Harold Ryan. Sony and ProbablyMonsters announced a publishing deal for Firewalk’s debut game in 2021. In April 2023, Sony announced it planned to acquire Firewalk from ProbablyMonsters. the Marathon reboot was praised for its clean It's becoming increasingly hard to see a path to success for the sci-fi extraction shooter reboot By any realistic metric Concord was dead on arrival. What's also remarkable is that Concord presumably had the deep pockets of Sony to draw on after the publisher acquired Firewalk Studios last April notably including several who worked in senior gameplay roles at Bungie on Destiny 2 That DNA connection is partly why I've been thinking about Marathon this week and Sony must have had the same inkling given the lack of marketing support Tyler Wilde wrote about why Concord had landed with such a thud last week and I'm not here to relitigate those reasons but I agree that it's a conflation of many causes: The aesthetic was too safe to stand out The combat lacked a hook that made you rush to tell your friends about it The retail pricing in a world of free-to-play games felt like a wild misreading of the room. and Sony must have had the same inkling given how little marketing support I saw around the launch being an okay game is nowhere near enough to break through What I don't think is true is the idea that Concord is the canary in the mine for live service games as a model. Take another look at the Steam numbers and you'll see the likes of Apex Legends Rainbow Six Siege and now Deadlock ticking along nicely What we can say is that it's getting harder and harder to persuade players to abandon their current 'forever' game in favor of spending time with something else To a degree all games face the same battle for attention but there are few genres as brutally competitive as online PvP shooters All of which adds to the challenge facing Marathon and is why if I were an accountant at Sony I would be sweating Gjallarhorn rockets right now I'm not going to pre-judge the quality of a game that we've only seen a CG trailer of [above] but I've always had a nagging worry about Marathon's fate not least who it's actually supposed to be for Here's what we know for certain about Marathon: there's a reason it slipped a whole year and some developers don't even think it'll even hit its current deadline." It would be little wonder if Sony took a very hands-on approach with the studio it bought for $3.6B A source I spoke with confirmed that the game has seen substantial scope changes since announcement They added that Marathon had seen multiple senior departures and that in the wake of what's happened with Concord some are worried about what it will mean for Marathon You can also imagine that the failure of Concord—also a live service game also in development for many years—has severely spooked Sony. we might be having a very difficult conversation about what's to be done with Marathon combined with the vertiginous difficulty of launching any new live service game in such an oversaturated market that leaves me struggling to see a scenario in which Marathon is the savior Bungie now needs. But if there's one studio that does seem to do its best work from a stress position I love the feel of its gunplay to the tune of many thousands of hours logged in Destiny 2 and frankly I go into every new game hoping it succeeds But if I were Sony and I was picking up the tab for what has just happened with Concord particularly with Destiny 2 bleeding players in the aftermath of The Final Shape… Well then we might be having a very difficult conversation about what's to be done with Marathon. Tim ClarkSocial Links NavigationWith over two decades covering videogames that meant playing Elite in 'co-op' on a BBC Micro (one player uses the movement keys the other shoots) until his parents finally caved and bought an Amstrad CPC 6128 Tim spends his time complaining that all Priest mains in Hearthstone are degenerates and raiding in Destiny 2 He's almost certainly doing one of these right now. April and May 2025 claimed White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reconnected with and organized a fundraiser for her old high school's elderly janitor For example, on April 25, the manager of a Facebook page named Animals & Pets posted (archived) "Karoline Leavitt Discovers Her Old High School Janitor Still Working at 80—And Her Next Move Leaves the Entire Town Stunned!" The post received over 92,000 reactions An article featured under the post hosted on the website viralstoryus.noithatnhaxinhbacgiang.com tells the story of Leavitt reconnecting with a janitor named "Mr Reynolds" at "Jefferson High School" in Concord Leavitt organizes a fundraiser for Reynolds receiving a total of $137,492 in donations "fully paid apartment," health insurance and "freedom to visit his grandchildren without worrying about rent." However, the story of Leavitt and her old high school janitor was false. Searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo found no reports from news media outlets about this matter including from conservative political blogs A White House spokesperson told Snopes by email Further, the photo of "Mr. Reynolds" displayed in the Animals & Pets post matched a picture previously featured in a rumor making similar false claims about NBA great Michael Jordan reconnecting with his old high school janitor Both videos featured generative artificial intelligence (AI) scripting "Karoline Leavitt Discovers Her High School Janitor Still Working at 80 Such made-up stories — often featuring inspiring stories about famous people from the worlds of entertainment politics and sports — drive social media engagement potentially with the goal of Facebook page managers or YouTube creators one day selling their pages or accounts after earning high follower or subscriber counts The content also possibly allows for monetization whether through the ads on a website or directly included with YouTube videos For further reading, a previous fact-check article claimed Leavitt was kicked off "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" after a confrontation with host Jimmy Kimmel Attridge, Margaret. "Where Did Karoline Leavitt Go to College?" BestColleges, 9 Apr. 2025, https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/where-did-karoline-leavitt-go-to-college/ Costa, Jamie L. "Taking Flight: Karoline Leavitt's Rise from Atkinson to the West Wing." The Derry News, 28 Nov. 2024, https://www.derrynews.com/news/local_news/taking-flight-karoline-leavitts-rise-from-atkinson-to-the-west-wing/article_410d653d-a296-5407-938b-5720b7d431c0.html Holman, Jim. "Karoline Leavitt Open about Her Catholic Faith." California Catholic Daily, 19 Nov. 2024, https://www.cal-catholic.com/karoline-leavitt-open-about-her-catholic-faith/ Wazer, Caroline. "Don't Fall for This Story about Michael Jordan Reconnecting with His High School Janitor." Snopes, 5 Mar. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/michael-jordan-high-school-janitor/ 2025: We updated this story to add a statement from a White House spokesperson Jordan Liles is a Senior Reporter who has been with Snopes since 2016 This material may not be reproduced without permission Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com