The video game market is constantly changing. Especially single-player titles are gradually becoming extinct. A trend that is hardly reversible, believes Cortyn.
Increasingly, the single-player campaigns no longer seem like the core aspect of the game, but rather just a nice addition. For example, the campaign of Star Wars: Battlefront II has an estimated playtime of just over 5 hours. More and more, it seems like a single-player mode is only meant to cater to fans who have not yet adapted to the market and are still stuck in the “old times” with campaigns lasting several days.
Even games that are purely single-player titles at heart, such as Final Fantasy XV, are gradually being expanded to include multiplayer modes.
Sure, now and then there are still single-player games with a large campaign, such as Witcher 3 or Mass Effect: Andromeda. But those are the big AAA titles that can generate enough attention to be profitable for the publishers.
So what is the reason that single-player titles are becoming rare exceptions? We want to get to the bottom of this with this article.
Reselling harms developers
In an interview with Gamewatcher, Arcade Berg from MachineGames talked about why he believes that story shooters with an offline focus are slowly becoming extinct.
The simple reason: money. A good multiplayer game generates significant revenue. Players tell their friends and invite them to play together. This means that all players need to own their own version of the game to play with their friends. That boosts sales.
Through additional multiplayer DLCs and microtransactions, such as new characters, weapons, or other bonuses, the studio earns a lot of cash long after the game’s release.
With single-player titles, it’s different. Once you finish the game, you lend it to a friend or resell it. The developers do not benefit from this resale.
I personally could never permanently part with my beloved games, but lending them out for a few weeks so that friends and colleagues can play through them? Of course! And just like that, a publisher loses a few customers again.
Too many games – even good titles get buried
There is an oversupply of games. While big releases are still somewhat special, smaller titles are increasingly struggling.
Sure, a publisher like EA can place ads everywhere until no one can avoid them. But small studios risk their games being swept away in the crowd.
This is particularly evident on Steam. The platform is globally regarded as the market leader for PC games and has rapidly developed in just over a decade. To have a small comparison:
- In 2004, a total of 7 games were released on Steam.
- 2010 saw 276 games
- and 2016 a proud 4,207 games.
- For 2017, it is expected that Steam will end the year with 6,000 new entries
In other words: On average, 16 games are released on Steam every day these days.
We are currently in the crazy situation that more games are being released than we could ever play, even if we put 100% of our free time into it.
And since there is so much competition, developers prefer to focus on online features that hopefully bind a small core community. This in turn leads to games being financed long-term through microtransactions.
Online “compulsion” generates multiplayer interest
One last argument is the constant online “compulsion” that players face today. Whether on PC or console, basically every player is always connected to the internet. And no matter if on Steam, Origin or Battle.net, at any time of day or night, there are a few friends online with whom you can jump into the next match.
While this used to apply only to PC players, PS4 and Xbox One are now also made for online gaming: the respective networks are constantly in use.
Sure, if you really push it, you can also be “offline” and immerse yourself in a single-player title for a few hours. But before that can even happen, usually a few friends have to be “shooed away.” Especially with close friends, the pressure is higher to do something in a group, which is why pure single-player titles languish in our Steam libraries for years until our guilt becomes so great that we simply hide them.
Some who want to play alone today have to decline their friends who are used to gaming together.
In total, there are several reasons for the slow extinction of single-player titles. I can only hope that gems like some JRPGs or even great shooters like BioShock will still be available in the future. Because for me personally, even a “lonely” evening with a single-player title is a true relaxation.
Had enough of single-player games? Then take a look at our October recommendations for MMOs!
