Sony has issued Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices and pursued “worrying legal action” against a volunteer fan project attempting to revive the short-lived multiplayer game, Concord. The game, which was infamously pulled from sale just two weeks after its PS5 and PC release due to disappointing sales, was being brought back to life by a team of developers. The group had managed to reverse-engineer the server to get the main menu, character select, and matchmaking functional on private servers.
Fan Team’s Caution and Project Status
The fan team, operating on the “Concord Delta Discord,” took explicit measures to maintain legal compliance. They only hosted players who already owned the game files through a legitimate original purchase and actively removed any posts sharing copyrighted files. Despite these precautions, Sony filed copyright infringement claims against videos demonstrating the project on YouTube and other social media. This legal pressure successfully halted the revival effort, with one developer announcing they had to “pause invites for the time being” due to the legal action.
Context of the Original Game’s Failure
The original Concord live-service shooter, developed by Sony-owned Firewalk Studios (which was later shut down), was quickly deemed a commercial failure, selling less than 25,000 copies before being pulled indefinitely. The game’s abrupt shutdown was even highlighted in a recent UK House of Commons debate as a prime example of the need for improved consumer protections regarding video game preservation and digital ownership.
