Concord’s End Credits: A Final Act of Self-Congratulation in the Biggest Flop in Gaming History
In what might be the most head-scratching moment in gaming history, Concord, the game that has already cemented itself as one of (if not) the biggest failures ever, has yet another mind-boggling twist. I swear... it never ends with this game, and watching the end credits for NEARLY AN HOUR... You'd think the same.
Despite being widely regarded as a catastrophic failure both critically and financially, the game's developer FireWalk studios decided to put what feels like more effort into its end credits than the actual game itself. And the result? An utterly ridiculous 36-minute-long, self-congratulatory spectacle. Yeah... you read that right—36 minutes of credits. Thanks to Cyael for the heads up on this!
If you thought it couldn’t get worse for Concord, hold their beer. This final act of unearned self-praise cements the title’s place in gaming history for... all the wrong reasons. The credits, which have been uploaded in their entirety on YouTube, run longer than an average tv show and feature options to cheer on the developers as they scroll by.
I honestly couldn’t make this up if I tried...
Considering how much of a trainwreck the game was (and even saying THAT is an understatement), it's hard to wrap your mind around why the end credits would last this long... and this is coming from me, a dude that used to work in the game industry and has my name in multiple end credit sequences from Sony games. I should know - this is anything but normal.
It’s almost as if the developers wanted to ignore the reality of the game's reception and bask in their own achievements—whatever those may be. There’s a lesson here about misplaced priorities: instead of putting this level of effort into refining gameplay, fixing bugs, disastrous character models, adding maps/game modes... or adding any meaningful content... Concord’s development team instead - decided to indulge themselves in a bloated, egotistical credits sequence allowing players to "cheer" on these developers.
What really takes the cake, though, is how unbelievably cheesy the "cheers" for the staff are during the credits really are. You can press a button to "celebrate" the developers, with voice samples that are... just... beyond cringe—think awkward, forced enthusiasm like "You did it!" and "You’re amazing!" - and oh lets not forget "Woo-Hoo!" - It’s the kind of hollow self-praise that feels completely disconnected from reality, especially considering how badly the game flopped.
It’s as though they tried to manufacture some sort of sense of accomplishment where... none exists, and the result is painfully embarrassing. Even if the game didn't flop, this would be a spectacle.. but in context of how bad the game preformed before being shut down? I have... no words.
Oh and even our friend 'The Professor' makes an appearance, and instead of going by Lisa Brown, she decides to continue to gaslight everyone with her fake 'professor' title...
The irony here in all this is just... staggering. The game that cost Sony a rumored $400 million is also the one where the development team felt entitled to what can only be described as a “victory lap” at the end of a catastrophic failure... And keep in mind, this 'rumored' figure doesn’t even include Sony’s acquisition of Firewalk Studios from the ProbablyMonsters collective. It’s no wonder that rumors are swirling about Sony cutting their losses and shutting down Firewalk Studios altogether. At this rate... they can't keep their doors open much longer - and tbh - I'm surprised they're still open as I write this article.
But what makes this even more shocking is the sheer disconnect from reality in this studio. Instead of focusing on building a better game, Firewalk decided that it was more important to give themselves a nearly hour-long pat on the back. It’s almost poetic how emblematic this is of the entire Concord fiasco: a project that completely missed the mark but still wanted to pretend it was a success.
As it stands, Concord’s colossal failure will go down in gaming history, and this ridiculous end credits fiasco is just the cherry on top. It’s one thing to fail spectacularly—Cyberpunk 2077 at least had a path to redemption—but... it’s another thing entirely to crash and burn while cheering yourself on. It's the ultimate 'everyone gets a trophy' moment.
FireWalk Studios’ time is running out, and it’s only a matter of time before the inevitable shutdown comes from Sony. Until then, the employees can at least say they got the most absurdly self-indulgent credits sequence in the history of gaming… even if it’s their swan song.
~Smash
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