Go Woke, Go Broke, Sony's DEI Disaster: How Concord Became 2024’s Biggest Gaming Flop

The phrase "Get woke, go broke" isn't just a catchy saying; it's becoming a reality, with failures piling up in 2024 as consumers reject Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in movies, marketing, gaming, and streaming.

Video games have become a primary target for NGOs and progressive governments looking to push their agenda, as gaming dominates entertainment for younger demographics. From childhood through early adulthood, gamers spend more time on video games than any other media, making the industry a prime target for ideological influence.

As we've covered in past articles, there's a clear push by influential groups to inject messaging into the gaming world. Both the U.S. government and the EU have been offering subsidies to developers in exchange for including DEI content in their projects.

Sony’s latest flop, *Concord*, seems to fit this mold. Despite costing over $200 million and taking eight years to develop, the game has been met with massive rejection. *Concord*, a competitive shooter that borrows elements from Marvel’s *Guardians of the Galaxy*, features a checklist of diversity tropes: no straight white males, an overemphasis on minority women, fat positivity, at least one trans character, and plenty of gender-fluid pronouns. The result? Complete failure.

The game launched with a peak of only 697 players on Steam and just 25,000 units sold. Sony has already pulled the game offline after two weeks, offering full refunds—a rare and costly decision reminiscent of Warner Bros. scrapping their $100 million *Batgirl* film in 2022 due to its "unwatchable" content.

The core issue is clear: Companies are forgetting basic market principles. Instead of catering to their core audience, they're trying to push ideological content that most consumers simply don’t want. The idea that "anyone can be an action hero" doesn’t resonate with most gamers, and they’re tired of having DEI themes forced on them. If companies like Sony keep ignoring their primary customer base, these flops will continue.