Why are Multiplayer-only Games Such a Hard Sell? Just Ask Titanfall

GamesRadar - Don't look at the first few months of a new year as a gaming dead zone; they're more of an opportunity. It's a good time to decompress from the deluge of the previous holiday's onslaught, and reflect on the games you played over the past 12 months; maybe give some of those you neglected a second chance. So this year, since most of January's releases were already games I'd played before, I decided to hop back into Titanfall. My crew of friends and I played it for about a week when it came out last March, stomping around and dropping hulking mechs out of the sky, before we moved on to the next, big thing (or just went back to playing Dota 2). So I hopped in for a few rounds, to kill some time and see if the game was still as fun as I'd remembered.

[StrayaKNT]

I loved titanfall, i played it for over 6 months. The gameplay was spectacular it was honestly one of the best fps i have played in years. And i was going in knowing it was a multiplayer-only game so i wasnt disappointed in the lack of story or campaign, i loved it for what it was.

[objdadon]

Was fun for about a month and then got stale imo. I Think it was a good start though, it should have been on every platform.

[r1sh12]

@miyamotoson I assume you made this decision at the launch time of this game yet 1 year on you still have internet :/
How do you know you 'would no longer have internet'?
Youre still on n4g today.
lmao

Titanfall was pretty good, I never got it at release. Had other games to play but I got it about 3 months after, it was a really decent shooter.
The balance was quite good and they added more game modes over time.
It did get repetitive after constant play but thats the same with all shooters, and to be completely fair the balance is what made this such a good and fun game.
I still play it occasionally for a good laugh with some friends.
There are a lot less people on PC and the ones who play are the ones who know every map really well and have mastered the game, so its a real challenge when playing but I still enjoy it from time to time.
especially between games.

Edit:
Also even though it lacks single player, it does not mean people will keep playing it if it had SP. Every COD is virtually the same!
No one keeps replaying it forever, within 9 months of COD getting released the player count does drop off, as it should with most games especially shooters which are run, shoot, get kill and go on kill streak.
In a stark contrast, the order 1886, I just about finished after about 6 -7 hours.
Ive played a lot more of titanfall than 1886, and I am unlikely to play the 1886 again.

[freshslicepizza]

people have some mindset that online games must have some campaign for whatever reason but are willing to spend $60 on a single player only game that lasts less than 10 hours. makes no sense to me when you could get more playtime on the online game and have just as much fun playing it.

[poppinslops]

People complained about it lacking value - and I must admit I wasn't keen on the idea of a digital copy. But I got the bundle and sloooowly downloaded it, and I'm glad I did, 'cause it's one of the few games of 2014 that I've kept coming back to on a regular basis (along with Forza Horizon 2).

It's deep, balanced and demanding. Staying alive takes real finesse... Getting the season-pass for free was great, but I could've happily kept on playing on those same old maps for ages.

It's by far the most heart-pumpingly intense shooter I've ever played... I actually kind of wish Respawn were doing 'Battlefront'.

[VforVideogames]

Great game non the less and still play it till this day on weekly basis, Last Titan Standing still my favorite, haven't even finish "campaign" if there's an ending.

[BattleAxe]

Picked up the digital deluxe edition with all the DLC on Xbox Live for $15.00 on sale just this last November. Probably the best $15.00 game I've ever bought. I'm not a huge fan of online-only games, but if the price is right and the gameplay is good, then why not?

[Lethaltare]

Played it for roughly 3 weeks and was bored very quick. Purchased on the Pc but would of got a lot more use out of it if it was on the PS4. I imagine Evolve will go down a similar path Titanfall did.

[thrust]

I got it on the xbox one and loved every min of it :)

It's not on the ps4 :D

[Torque_CS_Lewith]

So the PS4 would have used its pixie dust magic to make a game you got bored of very quick more enjoyable?

[Lethaltare]

I'm not stating that. Just on the PS4 I have more friends I tend to play online with. I would of got more use out of it if it was on the PS4. I haven't been on Origin for long so I don't really have anyone to play with so, it got boring quick. I know it's not on the PS4, I didn't state it is. Clearly didn't read my comment.

[remixx116]

That's good as it was a quality game.

The problem with multiplayer only games is at the end of the day they are all operating on borrowed time. From the second it launches that clock starts ticking, unlike single player games which can theoretically last forever.

It sorta puts the money you spent on a timer and if your like me then you prefer to keep most of the games you buy. The problem with this is that paying 60$ for said game, then a little extra dough for maybe a season pass, and in the case of evolve you drop some mullah on some cosmetic bullish*t, at the end of the day it will be all gone.

Whether its the community dying out fast, like I hear evolve is doing, or in the case of the late great socom 2 server support is tossed, or maybe it was killed off by its sequal call of duty style. No matter what its gone and for people like me who buy games to keep them its a pain.

I can go back and play majoras mask, dark cloud 2 or shadow of the colossus whenever I feel like, but my days of socom 2, warhawk and cod 4 (i know this isnt mp only) are done.

Which hurts but hey that's what makes it a hard sell.

[awi5951]

Battlefield and unreal tournament did it for years with great success. It's not hard if the multiplayer is great. Titanfall was set up to sale map packs like call of duty. They should have embraced the mod community and let us make maps. That would have saved the game.

[spicelicka]

Agreed! I really wish the second one would have a campaign, there is so much potential in this game. Imagine play 4 player co-op with titans, taking on one of those beasts in the background.

Sometimes I really wish developers would realize how much they could do. Which they probably do, it most likely has to do with resource and time constraints.

[aviator189]

I actually still play titanfall to this day, haha.
It's a hell of a lot better now, tbh. Tons of modes in the game now, even one akin to firefight/horde.

[daBUSHwhaka]

Stuck it on the other day for a blast at co-op and had a great little two hour bash and enjoyed it.

[The-Marb]

Same here, its great game. Its use of bots and stuff also mean that noobs can enjoy it as much as veterans.

Playing say BF4 is great but if you have little experience its tough to break into the rhythm as you keep getting killed over and over by the players who have been on it for nearly 18 months non-stop.

Titanfall is not a perfect game but it has some very good ideas. I have high hopes for a sequel, hopefully it will be multi-platform too to gain some more fans.

[BitbyDeath]

If done right they can be amazing.
Warhawk came out in 1997 and still has a few hundred play it each day.

[coolbeans]

The PS1 game? Didn't know that was the case. I recently recall that being true for PS3 Warhawk when I was on there.

[BitbyDeath]

Lol, good catch.... 2007. :-s

[Bathyj]

I WISH they would do a sequel to the original game, single player only.

It would be like the first trailer for the PS3 version with hundreds of enemies and huge Motherships. Big battles. Thats the game I want.

That or reboot Colony Wars.

[Activemessiah]

Some of us just love SP games I guess...

[uth11]

Because you are at the mercy of the other players in your session, who can make or break the game for you? And if the network goes down, you are out of luck

[rdgneoz3]

Yep, network goes down, you can't play. Hell, you have cases like Sim City which wasn't all the fun for the gamers who lost hours of work from save problems or long wait times. Diablo 3 had a ton of server problems at launch as well.

You're also at the mercy of the devs/publishers. If they suddenly decide to kill the servers down the road, you have a nice paperweight (physical copies) or a waste of hard drive space (digital).

[mochachino]

Because you can normally get the same amount of MP content (or in the case of Titanfall, much more) and a full SP game.

Titanfall was half a game sold at full-price irrespective of how much people enjoyed it. It should have had way more MP content for that price.

[Insomnia_84]

It's not a secret that Titanfall was rushed. The Same goes for Ryse. Hell, the XBone and everything on launch was a rushed mess!!

[captainexplosion]

Titanfall was solid but at launch it didn't even contain much multiplayer. If it would have launched with everything it now contains it would have been a bigger hit.

[rainslacker]

Because MP isn't the end all be all of what people want in games. While not everybody likes MP games, most people do still like SP games. When you make your game MP only, you exclude the entire base of SP only players.

To put it in perspective, the vast majority of games are SP only. Another large percentage is SP with MP tacked on. A smaller percentage is MP with SP tacked on. A very small percentage is MP only. Publishers know the market, and that's why SP is just more appealing overall.

To put it in a better perspective, last gen, less than half of all Xbox owners paid for XBL gold, meaning that less than half it's install base cared about MP despite all the hubbub about how great XBL was. Dunno about Sony numbers, but imagine those playing online was about the same.

COD and other FPS seem to understand that while MP is the reason most people buy their games, they aren't going to lose out on the sales of the SP only crowd.

But the most logical reason is that MP rarely offers a compelling story, and can get repetitive depending on the game. There is a market for MP in games, and there is nothing wrong with pursuing it, but more often than not, a SP game with MP will always sell more because of a larger player base.

[TotalSynthesisX]

I still think Titanfall could've had a very interesting single-player campaign if it had been made. Seems like a missed opportunity tbh.

[rainslacker]

I would have wanted it if it had a SP...even if the story was average. Mechs are a fairly lacking game play element in many western games, and most Japanese mech games never make it over to the west unless they carry the Gundam name.

MP doesn't interest me at all though, so whatever.

[JasonKCK]

I still play this on PC about 3 or 4 times a month. My brother uses my 360 account to play it daily. I don't mind MP only games as long as the content and price are fair. I think games like Shadowrun and Titanfall could have done better if they were $30 or $40. I wait until they go on sale before I buy.

[LightDiego]

Rarely i buy a multiplayer game only, i'm a single-player guy, forever alone.

[22CobraKing]

Titanfall was good but it lacked content at launch. Almost no one will buy a multiplayer only game at $60. People would expect multiplayer games to be around the $30-$40 dollar range.

[Bhuahahaha]

multi play is fun to play

but cheaters destroy it abusing glitch bugs ect ect

and beside that most casual gamers just lost interest in it
and move on (to other new games to play)

[caseh]

I think most multi-player only games fall short of creating any kind of community amongst it's players.

I think a good example to follow is how Metal Gear Online was setup. Clan management, training lobbies, in game text chat, weekly survival and tournaments with prizes, online shop with all items purchased from points earned in game etc

Most online games these days I just feel disconnected from everyone I play with, it's like join a game, kill people for 10 minutes...next match. Like there's not much else to it.

[2pacalypsenow]

I enjoyed it for about a day then meh..

[The-Marb]

There does seem like a strange disconnect as many modern MP gamers never bother playing the SP at all (many people on my friends list are like that). Therefore these guys probably wouldn't care that say...Titanfall is lacking in this department.

Titanfall gets a right kicking about this and as a fan of SP I can totally see why. People want good value for their money and whilst Titanfall is bargain at £20 including all the map packs, £50 is too much for the amount of content provided on day one.

I personally like a campaign which I use to hone my skills, then I jump into the Mp after that. It is nice to have both.

I would also like to state that kicking aside, when it comes to actual gameplay, Titanfall is excellent. Its a really intuitive, fast paced and fun shooter which is one of the best next gen shooters to date. It just needed more content.

[madforaday]

I am talking strictly from a console point of view, last generation and this generation there weren't/aren't any competitive games that focuses on teamwork, skill based shooting, map knowledge, clan management, team focused objectives and also making a game balanced.

No disrespect to the great games like Titanfall and etc. but all we get are shooters that play so similar to other shooters. So many gamers talk about how they want games to be harder, a sense of a challenge for the player. Look how popular the Demon Soul franchise been. I know that type of game isn't for everyone but put that formula into a competitive shooter. When you do that you get that great community, and loyalty from the players.

Most of these shooters that come out are all based around unlocking guns, attachments and etc. One of the best competitive game I played either this generation or last generation was The Last of Us. That multiplayer got over looked somehow. I know a lot of that reason is the difficulty curve.

[The-Marb]

Probably true. Counterstrike arrived on last gen but very late in game and probably too late to make a big splash.

Truth is,if you asked some of guys I used to play Call of Duty with to achieve an objective (no matter how simple) they would become so confused they would drop their M16's. It doesn't mean they are not proper gamers of course, just different and have different priorities. Sometimes gamers play once a week and maybe don't want the complexity?...who knows.

I sympathise, sometimes its nice to unplug your brain and enjoy something more superficial like TDM.

Also I reckon some of this could be down to the amount of players allowed in each game. Console shooters generally tend to have lower player counts and its when you get more players that objective based games get more fun and have more complexity to them.

Anyway, given that we are relatively early in the current gen there's plenty of time to exploit this niche.

[MasterD919]

If it ends up working at all, it will be on this generation. Otherwise, it will eventually get stale. Who knows.