Many have wondered whether the upcoming first-person 5 vs 5 hero shooter Concord will feature standard live-service practices like battle pass. After all, in the current year, full-priced live-service games always have in-game monetization in some form or another. Fortunately, in this case, Sony has decided that Concord players have very little to worry about as the game won’t include a battle pass.
After concluding its beta test, the official Concord X account (formerly Twitter) shared information about the future of the game. Most of these questions were regarding Concord’s progression, maps, modes, and post-launch plans.
In its plans, Sony specifically talks about the game’s post-launch content, while confirming that the hero shooter Concord does not have a battle pass. Firewalk Studios claims this is to make the game a rewarding and robust experience from day one.
Commenting on this decision, Mark DeRidder, gameplay animation director at Firewalk, shared an X post saying, “You own Concord, Concord doesn’t own you.”
So, if you want to earn unlockables in-game in Concord to customize your heroes, you don’t have to rely on a paid battle pass. Instead, you’ll unlock them by continuing to play the game and finishing matches. As confirmed in the X post, Concord will feature hundreds of items to customize all your Freegunners, earned by playing the game and not by purchasing a battle pass. Moreover, Sony will add “new Freegunners, maps, modes, and more” post-launch.
However, it is worth mentioning that while Concord won’t have a battle pass on launch, it doesn’t mean it won’t have one ever. Multiple paid games previously didn’t have any in-game monetization and have eventually added an in-game battle pass. Games like Conan Exiles, Hunt: Shodown, etc., are just a few examples. So, we might get a battle pass in Concord down the line.
Concord was first announced at Sony’s May State of Play event to a lukewarm reception. The game recently concluded its beta test and will launch on 23 August 2024 for PC and PS5. Let us know if you plan to play it in the comments below!
