REACTION - Fairgame$ nailed its vibe, while Concord remains frustratingly ambiguous

Mystery box.

By Jonathan Garrett
04/07/23

Sony’s recent PlayStation showcase seemed to be taking a page from the previously seen, less than ideal Microsoft approach to game reveals; unveiling titles way too early in their development cycle with CG trailers which inevitably lead to a flurry of unanswered questions. On the one hand, Fairgame$ (despite its stupid name) was at least indicative of the kind of experience we can expect.

There’s a lot of info to be gleaned from a well constructed CG trailer when it clearly telegraphs its gameplay mechanics (class based squads, character specific abilities and equipment etc…), and in that sense, it was successful. On the other side, you have Concord; deliberately vague and painstakingly non committal, its very difficult to feel anything other than confusion. Given the amount of time between premium Sony events, it was an odd move from a traditionally well oiled machine which boasts a first party that has been cranking out critically and commercially successful exclusives on a consistent basis for years in a row.

If the intention was to generate conversation, then that has certainly been achieved. But for these new IP to gain any meaningful traction, we at least need to know what type of game they’re making. Even just a brief mention of the genre, or number of players etc… would go some way towards helping contextualise these otherwise frustrating reveals.