"Just playing the game" should yield meaningful rewards, says the studio.
Upcoming hero shooter Concord will not have a battle pass and doesn't plan to charge for one in the future, say developers Firewalk. The announcement was made via Concord's social media in response to player questions about what the game will be like after launch.
"Concord does not have a Battle Pass," said Firewalk. Instead, the studio hopes that "just playing the game, leveling up your accounts and characters, and completing jobs" will be rewarding enough. (Jobs are like challenges.)
There are plans to add to Concord after it launches with "regular post-launch seasons and updates," but those won't cost money on top of Concord's base $40 price, says Firewalk.
"No Battle Pass, folks," said Concord gameplay animation director Mark DeRidder on X. "You own Concord, Concord doesn't own you."
It's refreshing to hear a developer say that their game is meant to be intrinsically fun, rather than explain all the ways it's designed to extract more money—it feels rare that I don't have to break down a complicated battle pass scheme with multiple currency types. That said, if the game lasts, I would expect some kind of post-purchase monetization to show up. (And Concord does have pre-purchase packages with skins and all that, including one with one of those odious deals where you can pay to play three days early.)
Firewalk also announced that launch will come with the first three in-game cinematic vignettes to flesh out the world of Concord—others will follow weekly, afterward. People who played the beta have already seen the first ones, but there's also that nice cinematic trailer from Concord's reveal back in June.
Concord has had a very short journey from reveal to beta to a release in late August, and saw lower-than-you-might-expect player numbers in its recent Steam beta. Those at PC Gamer who've tried it have enjoyed it, and people seemed to delight in building makeshift fortresses using deployables in the beta.
For his part, Morgan Park thought it was a pretty good game for a hero shooter that you might think is coming to the party eight years late. He spent seven hours with it and immediately wanted back in.
"I'm simply in love with Concord's guns," Morgan wrote. "They look incredible, sound really cool, and animate beautifully. Unsurprising for a team of Bungie vets, but Concord is especially masterful at reloads—I adore the clockwork crank of Haymar's hand crossbow as she loads another firebomb into its breach."
That said, with interest seeming low so far and not much marketing time to build further excitement, Concord might struggle out of the gate. It's scheduled to release near the end of August, and you can find it on Epic and Steam and on its PlayStation website if you, like me, are interested in games that you can just purchase without having to subscribe to a new lifestyle.
