Astro Bot Is Pure Joy, Concord Is a Total Disaster - Beyond 861

Astro Bot is finally here, and surprise! It’s awesome! Simon Cardy joins us to discuss his review of Team Asobi’s full-sized follow-up to Astro’s Playroom, which is a rock-solid 3D platformer jam-packed with references, easter eggs and playful nods to thirty years of PlayStation history. We do our best to avoid spoiling any of the fun surprises, but really, it’s impossible to spoil the best part of this game, which is just the unadulterated joy of playing it for yourself. Anyway, if that was all that was going on, it’d be a good week for Sony, but we just got word that Concord had such an underwhelming launch that Sony is pulling the plug indefinitely, taking the game offline, and offering full refunds to the people who did actually buy it. This is part of the ongoing issue across the industry of live-service games not being able to sustain themselves. What’s next for Concord, a free-to-play relaunch, or is it just gone for good? We’ll have to wait and see.

00:00 - Intro and Welcome
01:12 - What Happened to Concord
13:08 - Concord and Sony's Games as a Service Plan
18:09 - Does Concord have a Future?
18:26 - Astro Bot Review Discussion
23:00 - How Does Astro Bot Handle PlayStation IP?
42:06 - Jada and Simon's Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Impressions
46:05 - It's time to Cut the Concord and Play Valorant
47:20 - Star Wars Outlaws Discussion