Not everyone wants to admit it, not everyone wants it to be true, but multiplayer is the future of video games and the single player experience will take a hit in the years to come.
It's not my gaming future will always play single player based story driven games 98% of the time over boring online competitive shooters that only hold my interest for one to two matches at best.
I'm the opposite, I don't even want to play games by myself anymore it's incredibly boring. I'll take good multiplayer, no single player experience tops the fun I have with my friends each and every week, not even close.
With Sea of Thieves being the main example here, you know why.
The journalist is taking a "neutral" approach, but you can tell he'll allow GaaS because Microsoft has no other way to be successful. That's the mentality of a lot Xbox fanboys around here and that's why the Xbox has been a sinking ship in the eyes of the general population that isn't a corporate slave.
The future is that single player games will always be important towards a healthy ecosystem of a platform. Want to know why a console is selling twice as much? It has exclusives which are single player focused and they also give exclusives that somewhat maintain a focus on multiplayer like Uncharted 4, Killzone: Shadowfall, Gran Turismo, and I'm sure Last of Us 2 and Death Stranding will have an MP component. Here's the thing, almost all those titles put SP first and the MP is only extra. That's how it should be done, not trying to nickel and dime you as early as possible.
That's why I have a lot of respect towards devs and publishers like Sony & Nintendo who provide a good balance and not have pure money as the focus, but actually has real ambition and passion towards their projects. That's why their games don't come out sub-par like Microsoft's.
So because you love multiplayer everyone should love it as much as you do? A lot of people are annoying ASF in many multiplayer games. I prefer just gaming and not having some kid screaming, whining or some douche bag talking smack.
Lol, yea right. Multiplayer games, that bring the entire world together in fantastical universes aren't the future, right?... Why would they be when u can sit alone and cater to a single minded adventure game that lasts 5-10 hours!
..History tells facts. The future of video games is multiplayer, you're just too short termed to see a forest for it's trees.
Sword Art Online is where gaming is going, even if it takes 200 years. <- Fact.
let it take 200 years than. I don't think anyone has a problem with gaming with MP what we have a problem with is the game launches at $60 and than on top of that we are expected if not forced to spend more money to enjoy the game. If this is something you are proud of as a gamer than soon you will regret this mindset when everything is being sold to us via MT or loot boxes
there are millions of gamers who will walk away from gaming the day it's all online focuses yes millions. because gamers like you think single player games are only catering 3 million people when success of single player games have shown the market/audience is huge
why can't both gaming fanbases co exist instead of forcing one to stop playing games all together
sony is doing it the right away why spend money on online focused games to compete with other AAA let the 3rd parties take care of that and instead they are focusing on a large audience which feels like it isn't being catered to by many publishers. So god of war selling 3.1 million in 3 days shows if you release a quality game it will sell
What history exactly is there to show that MP is the future? To my knowledge, there is no actual historical event where SP died, and MP took over. PC has been MP much longer than consoles, and there are still plenty of SP games.
So historically speaking, SP seems like it will be around for a while.
Lets look at another form of media. Books. A single minded adventure that last for a set period of time. Movies allowed people to get out and spend time together, and enjoy a story narrative piece of entertainment together. Yet books still exist.
Lets look at current times. Less than half of all console owners pay to have access to MP games. Its the publisher who are pushing for MP as "the future", because they want the higher profits without having to put in as much effort. yet current events show that SP games can and do have a market, and can and do achieve success in sales.
The vast majority of PC games are not MP games.
The vast majority mobile games are not MP games.
The vast majority of console games are not MP, or have any kind of online component.
Even most social media games which require the internet aren't MP, rather connected games which just share stuff between them.
So, again, what exactly is this history you are referring to? It sounds more like revisionist futurism that you're practicing.
I'm sure more MP experiences will indeed be made. new ones that offer up new things. But to think that SP is going to cease to exist is idiotic. At least in our life time. 200 years from now? Sure, maybe, but by then, we could see holodeck level's of immersion, and I guarantee you there will still be experiences that involve a single person, because there will always be people that enjoy that kind of entertainment. They may or may not enjoy MP games at the same time.
Also, speculating on what may happen in 200 years is not a fact. Maybe learn the definition of words before throwing them around.
In the mean time, so what if it's the future? Does that mean that people can't enjoy what they want, and we should just accept it? Or are you one of those people who thinks that because something seems inevitable, or it's what you like, no one else's opinion matters and because you lack any semblance of consumerism, you just roll over and take whatever crap companies what to throw at you, instead of allowing the free market to decide what has demand to determine supply.
How's that future doing for your preferred console. . . . . . . Maybe they flew too close to the sun
Seems ms's ethos and direction has got it's die hard signing from the same hymn book. It's obvious this gen and last gen the console with a good balance has come up trumps. .
Nice response , must be the Sony exclusive single player bandwagon voting you down while millions play and even watch fortnight, overwatch, sfv, lol, pubg, destiny 2, where is Zelda the goty now? History....
If sp games don't get made, I'll just play older games. Maybe I'll actually get through my back log. Publishers can enjoy their higher profits by making games that have no soul, ll enjoy my games.
With all the consoles, handhelds and pc I would walk away from new games if it was multi-player online only. I abstain from games like Destiny and Sea of Thieves/no man's Sky, ect... For a reason. I have enough games in the pile not to worry for a while.
There is a place in the market for all sorts of games. The only thing they need to be is good in what they do. A bad multiplayer game won't survive just like a bad single player game won't .
God of War, tell me about the story. I bet if I played it I could sum it up in a sentance. Ive not played it so I take a guess. Kratos’s son, has a confidence problem, big shoes to fill and all that. Kratos’s has a morality problem of letting his son become a mindless killer like him or something better, a better life for him. Im close arent i?
Atreus doesn’t have a confidence problem. If anything he has too much and develops a blood drunk superiority complex supplanting his earlier moments of child-like wonder. Even shoots his dad until he gets humbled when his impulsiveness lands them in Hel. Doesnt know about his double lineage so he doesnt have any shoes to fill. Kratos teaches him to kill early. Someone from his past reminds him he’s a monster that can’t change and Kratos agrees. Atreus matures and winds up telling his dad to show mercy in the end, to spare his fallen enemy. There is no “better life” as by the credits, they’ve started the snowfalls of Ragnarok and pissed off some serious heavy hitters in the pantheon who swear vengeance. Kratos see’s a prophecy of his death and Atreus is more than you thought.
no, not really - not close at all. play the game and you'll see why - but, no. without ruining anything, Atreus does not have a confidence problem at all; nor is he worried about "filling big shoes". and kratos doesn't seem to be worried about the morality of anything - he just wants his son to grow up right. there is more meat to this story than what you're thinking - too bad you won't play to find out - it's one of the best games I've ever played. (and I've been gaming since the late '70s.
Sounds like a yawn fest. Story that’s been done a thousand times before, dual lineage, a hidden past. If I was a Hollywood exec, I’d wipe my bum with that script
Supply and demand, it is and will always be the rule. If EA wants out of single player it only hurts then, the rule of consumerism means someone will fill that demand. Single player will never disappear as long as gamers still want it
Jeeez, What a Xbox & GAAS surrogate that techweh writer is. He talking like as if PlayStation doesn't also have it's own monetized MP/Co-Op & GAAS list of games. Doesn't he know about Sony's list of over 80 "Free-to-Play" titles as well of the same types of 3rd party MP/Co-op games MS also uses?
The difference is that Sony choose NOT to be 'AGGRESSIVE' about it, it's part of it's service not it's core foundation. Unlike what Microsoft wants Xbox to become. https://www.polygon.com/201...
omg... yes and no... If we are on overboard with multiplayer games like Fortnite, there just a % of people who will play and therefore if we get saturated the amount of people that might play your multiplayer game may reduce if there's no "Amazing chemistry" in yours. Therefor, let developers do as their hearts wishes. Not everyone craves money over creating a great game that may or may not sale well.
I’m surprised so many have already forgotten one of the biggest issues in the 7th gen was every AAA release had to feature MP, and 95% of those MP components were dead within a couple months because the market was way too saturated. I remember when games like Bioshock, Dead Space, Assassins Creed, and God of War all felt the need to throw their hat in the multiplayer ring, after starting life as SP-only titles. Pretty much all of them failed. Multiplayer is great, but it’s a mostly miss industry.
During the end of xbox start to middle of ps3/x360 nearly every 3rd party game fps had a mp mode and it was almost always a carbon copy for each fame ffa tdm ctf . it was shooter glut everygame had to have mp or it was 'bad' then minecraft came and all of a sudden almost every game had to have some form of crafting. And we got the survival glut. Minecraft terraria dayz .... Now we are hitting the battle royal glut.. Every game with have some form or battle royal mode1 mp in games follows the trend. If lootboxes bring in money they will become part of the 'accepted 'method of gaming. The next trend what ever it is will be grabbed onto by greedy and desperate devs and publishers to make as much money and stay relevent. And people will bemoan how sp games are dieing .before going and paying 20$ for a remake of a 20 year old map for cod 35.
Using Cliffy B’s upcoming Battle Royale as a shining example might not be the best example, as his most recent MP venture (Lawbreakers) bombed. That’s what some of these writers forget, or overlook. Not everything is Fortnite.
Evolve, Battleborn, Paragon, Drawn to Death, Dust514. The scratches aren’t limited to shooters either. For Honor, Marvel Heroes. SFV, GTSport, Sea of Thieves were all about online MP, and the backlash was immense. The future’s still up for grabs.
Multiplayer is also very uncertain, not everyone can score a hit like Fortnite, and when people are playing that game how are you going to convince them to move to a new game? That attitude is what made Lawbreakers flop during the MOBA craze (and now they're chasing the Battle Royale craze).
Meanwhile, God of War sold over 3 million copies in just 3 days.
Don’t forget about Battleload and Evole. Those two games are multiplayer centric and failed miserably. Even I asked those who think Gaas is the future, I asked them questions with this. Is Gaas the perfect future ? No, it will never be.
How about the MP games that were extremely successful? Warframe, Overwatch, Fortnite? Is GaaS the perfect future for games that implement it well and keep the users engaged with design changes, new game modes, and content?
pubg, Cod for years, Battlefield, hell even battlefront 2 with all of its controversy sold millions upon millions. But you know what let me do the same thing for single player games like you just did for MP games
What about gravity rush what about yakuza what about dynasty warriors what about....: you get it right, both sides have wins and failures, but when you have something like fortnite making $230 million in a month, as a free game, and it’s gonna continue to do that for the foreseeable future, you can’t discount companies moving towards MP games or games as a service
@gangsta_red and @kribwalker Multiplayer and Single Player games can Co exist. Sure, both of them are not perfect which I agree, but these days publishers want to modernize consumers infinitely by Gaas and digital gaming. I aware games like Fronite, Overwatch and Warframe are successful, but don’t ever think Gaas is perfect.
What about Yakuza, krib? Please enlighten us as to what you think you know about Sega’s ongoing 13 year franchise that Sega doesn’t know themselves http://www.playstationlifes... .
@Nyxus I'll tell you on his behalf. He is intimidated by PS4 games so he needs to conveniently bring up those specific PS4 games to try and take a shot at them and make himself feel better.
Lol Classic @Kryb bringing not niche games to support his nonsense. You know what's cool about Sony? We may get Gravity Rush 3 despite the low sales and us the fans will get to enjoy it. As long as Sony gets money back from hardware and other IPs, they will keep unsing niche games. Meanwhile your overlords just want gass and there's the graveyard of unused IPs especially those from RARE. Enjoy revenue I guess, which MS is not giving you even a dime
Lol?? Krib that’s how publishers have long made livings. Selling games. Yakuza has been a success. They budget, they profit. Sega has proven it via their financials and has continued to develop and publish games as a result for 30 years.
Laughing at Sega, who’s been in this business before the devs at Fortnite were probably even born, is foolish and arrogant. Don’t put all your eggs in one game’s basket. Your Fortnite progress sits at 0% on Xbox anyways. Not sure what your dog is in this fight. I’m knee deep in Y6 myself. Great series.
That would work but only for games that present new ideas instead of rehashing saturated ideas with a twist. The successful games you listed were all original ideas and weren't coatailing off a trend, tho fortnite only got popular due to BR being free, running well, and on console. Shit like radical heights will never get numbers close to success.
PS: I said it’s a 13 year franchise. The 9.3 million sold was over 11 years, not 13, and that’s primarily outside of NA/EU.
Games like this and Dragon Quest prove you don’t need NA/EU or battle royale to be a successful Japanese developer. Dragon Quest 11 sold 2 million in Japan in 2 days https://www.forbes.com/site... . No laughing matter. If they weren’t on to something over there, MS wouldn’t be talking business with them as we speak http://comicbook.com/gaming...
GaaS is a fad that many publishers love because they have so much to gain with minimal effort. They are giving you less content expecting the same amount of profit if not more. Why are some of these games $60? On top of adding micro transactions. God Of War in many ways is a backlash to publishers being greedy 3.1 million in 3 days is a statement made by gamers.
You bring up games that are never going to compete with COD or FIFA because some people only play those games and nothing else and they are in the millions. The same games you bring up as so call failures are the same games that in the long run add to the identity of a console and keep core gamers loyal and engaged. Yakuza 6, Persona 5, Nier, Gravity Rush, Nioh, Nino Kuni 2, Nier, The Last Guardian are all Japanese games that do have a demand even though Sony knows they will never sell numbers like COD, FIFA or GTA. very few games ever sell as much as those three franchises so the comparison is dumb.
You say Fortnite is making 230 million as a free game until it doesn't the problem with online heavy games is that once the gaming community dies so does the game.
The same can be said for GoW though. And God of War is an established IP at that.
Developers are looking for long term commitment from their million dollar plus development and MP is the way to do this. How long ago did games like Fortnite, Overwatch, Rainbow Six, CoD, Warframe, PUBG, WoW, World of Tanks come out and are still popular and still making money.
Yes, not every MP game will successful but the same can be said for any SP game. Or any game regardless of what mode it has.
God of War proves that a game that is just single player, without any GAAS tactics, can be a huge commercial success in this day and age. Of course God of War is just an example, just the most recent one. Of course, not every single player game will be a success, but in that aspect there is no difference between single and multiplayer. Although the problem with multiplayer is that it is dependent on its player base to exist, whereas a single player game isn't.
There seems t be a disconnect between what the publishers want, and what many in the market may want. Obviously, publishers are going to push for higher profits, but things will have to come to a head at some point, and the SP gamer will continue to still buy SP games. If they exist, then when some publishers decide to squander that market in their search for higher profits, which may not actually return them something, others will take up the call and fill the void in the SP market. Even the investors will invest in SP games as well as MP games, because some of them do it because they like to offer up more than just the same old humdrum experience.
"...there is no difference between single and multiplayer."
I somewhat agree, but if you make a successful MP game (like Fortnite) you are not only making that 3 mill in 3 days but now making that for years to come. You have a steady user base and a good constant stream of revenue and the costs for that MP now only focus on maintenance, updates, maps and the occasional big event but nothing super cost heavy as the initial heavy lifting done during development.
"Although the problem with multiplayer is that it is dependent on its player base to exist, whereas a single player game isn't."
I don't really understand this notion especially when that is what makes a MP successful in the first place. Yes a SP game doesn't have to worry about this but has it's own problems too. Not being a recognizable IP, no media or marketing exposure, graphics or resolution not on par with other triple A games, releasing along side major titles all hurt SP games...and MP for that matter.
I think the point we can both agree on is SP and MP games both face the same challenges when trying to be successful.
What the author here and what the industry has said and proven though is that a successful MP game reaps more profit over the long term than a SP game.
Yeah, but you’re assuming that every multiplayer game is going to be as successful as Fortnite. Last gen proved the exact opposite of that statement. Many games featured MP, yet must gamers still flocked to the usual suspects like BF, CoD, and Halo, causing these other games to fail within months if not weeks. My favorite MP game ever was MAG, and that game eventually had to have its servers shut down because it couldn’t retain a player base.
A successful Multiplayer game may make more money than a successful single player game, but is that good for gamers? Or is it good for (greedy) publishers? Have we learnt ANYTHING from this generation. Take a look at the multiplayer focused publishers (EA, Activision) vs the one's focused on single player I. e. Sony, Bethesda and a dev like CD Projekt Red. There has been a fundamental difference between how EA (multiplayer focused) has treated gamer's and how devs like CD projekt red has treated it's fanbase with the Witcher. Power to you if love and only play multiplayer games. I just find where there is a multiplayer focus, there is an opportunity to screw a Gamer over. Just my view, nothing serious.
@marine "but you’re assuming that every multiplayer game is going to be as successful as Fortnite"
Positive that I said the opposite.
Last gen even the usual suspects like CoD, Halo, etc proved that multiplayer games had more of success rate over a longer period of time.
And just as we have already discussed not every MP game is going to be successful, in the same way SP too, that's a given.
@doggo
"but is that good for gamers?"
Ugh, sure it is, if gamers are enjoying a game and the devs are providing updates, maps and other support for months/years then how is that not good?
"Or is it good for (greedy) publishers? Have we learnt ANYTHING from this generation?"
I think a lot of you are just taking the worse aspects of this and applying it to all MP games. Every dev/pub end game is profit, doesn't make them greedy, it makes them a business.
Wow another journalist in delusion
omg... yes and no... If we are on overboard with multiplayer games like Fortnite, there just a % of people who will play and therefore if we get saturated the amount of people that might play your multiplayer game may reduce if there's no "Amazing chemistry" in yours. Therefor, let developers do as their hearts wishes. Not everyone craves money over creating a great game that may or may not sale well.
Using Cliffy B’s upcoming Battle Royale as a shining example might not be the best example, as his most recent MP venture (Lawbreakers) bombed. That’s what some of these writers forget, or overlook. Not everything is Fortnite.
Evolve, Battleborn, Paragon, Drawn to Death, Dust514. The scratches aren’t limited to shooters either. For Honor, Marvel Heroes. SFV, GTSport, Sea of Thieves were all about online MP, and the backlash was immense. The future’s still up for grabs.
Multiplayer is also very uncertain, not everyone can score a hit like Fortnite, and when people are playing that game how are you going to convince them to move to a new game? That attitude is what made Lawbreakers flop during the MOBA craze (and now they're chasing the Battle Royale craze).
Meanwhile, God of War sold over 3 million copies in just 3 days.