Anthem VS Concord
▸ WHICH ONE HOLDS UP BETTERBoth land on the same verdict, but Anthem scores higher on our scorecard (2.0/10 vs 1.0/10) — see each PixProof's full scorecard for what's behind that gap.
Verdict🔴 SKIP IT🔴 SKIP IT
The RealityKotaku journalist Jason Schreier's investigation, based on interviews with current and former BioWare staff, found the game was in development for nearly seven years but didn't enter real production until the final 18 months, following repeated narrative reboots and major design overhauls. The investigation documented a leadership team unable to settle on a consistent creative vision, real tension between BioWare's Edmonton and Austin studios, and a production culture relying on last-minute 'BioWare magic' -- the belief that enough crunch would make everything come together at the end. Multiple current and former employees described real mental-health impacts, including doctor-mandated stress leave. The shipped game launched with thin endgame content and was widely panned for failing to deliver the depth it had been marketed around; EA canceled a planned major overhaul and effectively discontinued support less than two years after launch.Concord launched to unprecedentedly low sales for a project of its size and scale. Sony shut the game down entirely on September 6, 2024 -- just two weeks after its August 2024 launch -- and refunded every copy sold, an almost unheard-of response for a major first-party release. On October 29, 2024, Sony announced the complete closure of Firewalk Studios, the developer, less than two years after acquiring it specifically to make this game. Total investment, including the original acquisition and years of development, has been reported by multiple outlets as exceeding $400 million, making it one of the most expensive single-game failures in PlayStation's history. Sony's own CEO attributed the failure to the competitive first-person-shooter market rather than any single specific cause.
SHORT ANSWERAnthem: Jason Schreier's Kotaku investigation found Anthem didn't enter real production until the final 18 months of a nearly seven-year development cycle, following repeated creative reboots and inconsistent leadership -- directly contradicting the 'years of ambitious, coherent development' framing used to market it.
Concord: Concord, marketed as a major long-term PlayStation live-service franchise backed by a $200M+ development deal, was shut down entirely just two weeks after its August 2024 launch, with all copies refunded and the developing studio closed within two months, on a total investment reported to exceed $400 million.