Skip to main content

Concord is coming this August, and it basically looks like Guardians of the Galaxy

Two characters face off in Concord.
Firewalk Studios
Summer Gaming Marathon Feature Image
This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

PlayStation revealed a new cinematic trailer for its live-service sci-fi game Concord during the May 2024 State of Play presentation. Firewalk Studios also showed off gameplay featuring five of its characters. It also got a fresh release date of August 23 for the PS5 and PC; a beta will also be hosted in July.

Concord is a 5vs5 shooter taking place in the Concord galaxy. Players assume the role of a mercenary-type figure called a Freerunner and are part of an an intergalactic spacefaring crew called Northstar. The five characters unveiled are Vale, a woman with a knack for snipers; Haymar, a woman who can shoot fireballs; the blue brute Star Child; the mohawk-sporting Lennox; and the robot 1-Off. At launch, there will be 16 characters to choose from. The game will also have free post-launch updates that will add more characters, maps, vignettes, and more.

Recommended Videos

Every week, the game will also feature new vignettes that will show what Concord‘s characters are up to outside of gameplay in the Concord galaxy. The vignettes will tell an ongoing story, with characters receiving their own narrative arcs.

Concord - Gameplay Trailer | PS5 Games

Concord is the latest game in Sony’s first-party initiative to create more live-service games. After the massive success of Helldivers 2, it looks like Sony is moving forward with releasing its live-service games simultaneously on both PS5 and PC. Firewalk Studios was founded in 2018 in Bellevue, Washington. In April 2023, the studio was acquired by Sony. Shortly after the acquisition, Firewalk and PlayStation announced Concord.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Those who preorder the game will get access to the early access beta, as will four of their friends.

George Yang
George Yang is a freelance games writer for Digital Trends. He has written for places such as IGN, GameSpot, The Washington…
I own a PlayStation 5 Pro. It still hasn’t replaced my regular old PS5
A PS5 slim, PS5 Pro, and base PS5 all stand next to each other.

When I first got my PlayStation 5 Pro, I had a whirlwind first week with it. I spent days on end testing as many games as I could to determine how much of an upgrade it really was over my base PS5. I looked at five-minute chunks of games like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart for hours, comparing every graphics mode on both systems. At the end of my PS5 vs. PS5 Pro testing, the result was clear: The PS5 Pro was indeed the more powerful console and, frankly, the most capable gaming device I had in my entire home.

So why, just two weeks later, am I still using my regular old PS5 so much?

Read more
PS5 restock update: Where you can buy a PS5 right now
PS5 and DualSense art.

When the PlayStation 5 first launched back in November 2020, it was nearly impossible to get your hands on the highly anticipated console. Despite demand being through the roof, chip shortages heavily cut production -- and due to sustained consumer interest, it was a problem that plagued the PS5 for years after launch.

Thankfully, we're happy to report that those issues have largely been resolved, making it pretty easy to grab a PS5 these days. The launch of the PS5 Pro has ignited another buying frenzy, and with Black Friday coming up, Sony has even cut the price of the base PS5.

Read more
Quiz: Can you tell the difference between these PS5 and PS5 Pro screenshots?
A PS5 Pro that's floating in front of a gray background. It's turned to the side.

Ever since the PlayStation 5 Pro was first revealed, I've seen a common refrain from some skeptics: "I don't see a difference!"

I was in the same boat when Mark Cerny introduced the console in a YouTube video back in September. A compressed YouTube stream just isn't the best way to communicate a console that both increases resolution and frame rate. I only started to see just how different the PS5 Pro looks compared to the base model once I could see them side by side in my own home. It took me some time -- and a lot of eye straining -- to spot some of the finer details outside of its more obvious AI-upscaling benefits, but I was able to see them eventually. The PS5 Pro does improve image quality, but is the bump enough to justify a $700 purchase?

Read more