Is Multi-player only a sign of the future of gaming

[Berny Marcus]

I ask this, because when I look at a game like Titanfall, a timed Xbox exclusive (I call it timed because A. Microsoft didn't publish it, EA did. and B. It has been hinted that EA will port it to Playstation, so time will tell, and I'm sure EA will want to since theres more money in it to have it Playstation then make it exclusive) getting great praise at E3 and winning so many awards, it just begs the question is this where gaming is headed?


Titanfall is multi-player only, with some single player elements in it. I am not suggesting that Single Player focused games are doomed, but if a game like Titanfall does well upon release and gets all the praise, do you believe developers will look at it as a model for there future games?

Now Single Player focused games no doubt will continue to be made, and be as successful, but if Titanfall is so successful you think more companies will follow it's lead? It has happened before.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I don't know about the future but sure, it sounds like the kind of bullshit Microsoft would promote: multiplater-only games. Because everybody asked for that right?
Along with the camera?
No?

 

[krazykidd]

Multiplayer only games , on consoles where you need to pay for multiplayer . Sounds like a good idea to me ! /sarcasm .

 

[Berny Marcus]

Multiplayer only games , on consoles where you need to pay for multiplayer . Sounds like a good idea to me ! /sarcasm .

Considering what Microsoft and EA have tried to do, I won't be surprised if this business model happens.

I don't know about the future but sure, it sounds like the kind of bullshit Microsoft would promote: multiplater-only games. Because everybody asked for that right?
Along with the camera?
No?

What about Cloud based service?

 

[darkcalling]

all I know is that I will never buy a game that doesn't have single player. I have made that mistake exactly once when my roommate talked me into playing WoW. That's a month and a half I'll never get back.

 

[Windcaler]

Multiplayer only games arent anything new. We have plenty on PC and many of them are really really good (like Killing floor and Blacklight: retribution). However I have 2 issues with multiplayer games like Titanfall. The first being that multiplayer focused only except in an MMO sense shouldnt be full priced at $60 due to the very reason it doesnt have single player elements. I'll buy some games just for the multiplayer like Battlefield 4 but if it doesnt have some kind of single player attached to it I would feel cheated. Im fine with spending $20 or $30 on a multiplayer only experience but less so for a game thats $60

My second problem will of course be the issues of always online DRM being accepted. Unless your frozen synapse or a game like it its hard to do multiplayer experiences without a persistant connection to the internet. I fear that this could be used as a ploy to initiate always online requirements when games could still be played in a single player way. For example, Dark souls has many multiplayer options in the form of invasions and summonings but at its core it is mostly a single player experience but with this kind of precedent I would fear that always online could become accepted for it or a game like it. As we've seen with all always online connected games there are always problems that cause servers to not work. We just cant trust a company to be on the ball when it comes to always online. To go a step further, eventually such games servers will close down making it impossible to play those games except through peer to peer connections (which most companies dont use).

Actually I have a 3rd issue relating to consoles that just came to me. As long as multiplayer costs money on top of a stable internet connection any kind of multiplayer only experience on consoles is a load of nonsense. Ive always felt like console gamers get screwed with their multiplayer requiring another monetary cost (beyond the machine and ISP) and this will only make the problem worse.

 

[Negatempest]

Multiplayer only games arent anything new. We have plenty on PC and many of them are really really good (like Killing floor and Blacklight: retribution). However I have 2 issues with multiplayer games like Titanfall. The first being that multiplayer focused only except in an MMO sense shouldnt be full priced at $60 due to the very reason it doesnt have single player elements. I'll buy some games just for the multiplayer like Battlefield 4 but if it doesnt have some kind of single player attached to it I would feel cheated. Im fine with spending $20 or $30 on a multiplayer only experience but less so for a game thats $60

My second problem will of course be the issues of always online DRM being accepted. Unless your frozen synapse or a game like it its hard to do multiplayer experiences without a persistant connection to the internet. I fear that this could be used as a ploy to initiate always online requirements when games could still be played in a single player way. For example, Dark souls has many multiplayer options in the form of invasions and summonings but at its core it is mostly a single player experience but with this kind of precedent I would fear that always online could become accepted for it or a game like it. As we've seen with all always online connected games there are always problems that cause servers to not work. We just cant trust a company to be on the ball when it comes to always online. To go a step further, eventually such games servers will close down making it impossible to play those games except through peer to peer connections (which most companies dont use).

Actually I have a 3rd issue relating to consoles that just came to me. As long as multiplayer costs money on top of a stable internet connection any kind of multiplayer only experience on consoles is a load of nonsense. Ive always felt like console gamers get screwed with their multiplayer requiring another monetary cost (beyond the machine and ISP) and this will only make the problem worse.

actually there is a strong weakness about multiplayer on consoles that is ignored. hackers. im not talking about acvount stealing. i am talking about game manipulation. i can no longer play transformers because of hackers online cheat. i cannot play mw2 and halo 3 for the same reason. the moment the new shiney product comes in the old one will become a hack fest soon enough.

 

[Akytalusia]

there are a few megalomaniacal industry corporations that would like you to believe that, and they try every trick they can come up with to drill this notion into the ground. but they're fighting an uphill battle. it's wrong, and everyone knows it. it will be a sad day for gamers if they ever succeed in breathing life into this nightmarish vision.

 

[The_Echo]

Titanfall is multi-player only, with some single player elements in it. I am not suggesting that Single Player focused games are doomed, but if a game like Titanfall does well upon release and gets all the praise, do you believe developers will look at it as a model for there future games?

This is the not first well-received multiplayer-only game. It will not be the last.

Multiplayer-only games have existed as long as gaming itself. What we saw this generation, the legion of multiplayer games and games-with-multiplayer was instigated by the ability for consoles to go online.

Moving forward and getting over that, we'll see the same or maybe-a-little-different multiplayer/single-player prominence in games as we've seen in the 6th gen and earlier.

Titanfall's reception will mean very little to the bigger picture of the games industry.

 

[Miss G.]

I ask this, because when I look at a game like Titanfall, a timed Xbox exclusive (I call it timed because A. Microsoft didn't publish it, EA did. and B. It has been hinted that EA will port it to Playstation, so time will tell, and I'm sure EA will want to since theres more money in it to have it Playstation then make it exclusive) getting great praise at E3 and winning so many awards, it just begs the question is this where gaming is headed?


Titanfall is multi-player only, with some single player elements in it. I am not suggesting that Single Player focused games are doomed, but if a game like Titanfall does well upon release and gets all the praise, do you believe developers will look at it as a model for there future games?

Now Single Player focused games no doubt will continue to be made, and be as successful, but if Titanfall is so successful you think more companies will follow it's lead? It has happened before.

This trend only means one thing to me; money that I will happily be spending elsewhere because multi-player is a deal breaker. If at some point down the line it takes over the industry, I'll be taking my single-player games to my multi-player free zone.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I would hope not. I doubt there will be a future where there are zero single player games, as there are franchises and genres that are inherently made to be single player games. If this sad future of multiplayer only games were come true, I would certainly leave gaming, again though, it will never happen.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

It's a somewhat respectable move on the developers part. They put all their assets on the core of the experience, the same way that other devs have put theirs into Single Player. It's a good sign that they're not wasting money, shoving in a half assed campaign that would probably be a detriment to the overal product (i.e. Spec Ops the Lines Multiplayer, Tomb Raiders Multiplayer, etc).

I doubt they'll make single player games redundant, they'll certainly notice when people who don't enjoy multiplayer games, don't buy their product. Shit, GTAV is single player right?

 

[Chapter11]

Spec Ops The Line, The Walking Dead, Far Cry 3, The Last of Us, Bioshock Infinite, GTAV.

That is all.

 

[Yopaz]

I ask this, because when I look at a game like Titanfall, a timed Xbox exclusive (I call it timed because A.

It's not a timed exclusive. It's also coming for PC.

To answer your question. If the success of multiplayer only titles increase then there is certainly a risk that they will increase. I think we're a long way from seeing a domination, but I think that we'll see at least some companies working on getting more of them. There's money to be made on multiplayer games because they can close servers to people who buy used and they can earn money on items to customize your character and avatar. I can see EA dying to get on the track of eliminating singleplayer from their games. They have gone as far to say that all their games will have online components which might lead to all games have multiplayer and in turn no games with singleplayer.

 

[MHR]

The future holds a ridiculous increase in the number of games made. This naturally will create many different types of games. It's silly to worry about getting only one type of game.

The far future holds huge MMOs that suck up everyone's time and negatively affect the GDP like South Korea. Or nuclear winter, whichever comes first.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I think we're going to start seeing more games that don't try to have their cake and eat it too in this regard. If you look at smaller titles, you'll already find a trend to be either a multiplayer only game or a single player focused game with it being perfectly acceptable to make that choice. Personally, I feel with the rise of access to connectivity, we are going to keep seeing more games that focus more heavily on multiplayer content but I don't see the single player experience going away any time soon.

 

[Ryan Hughes]

It is kinda like this: Games are splitting between the multiplayer and the single player. Sure Titanfall will be big, but how many people play single-player on CoD or other shooters?

On the other hand, sales of games like Bioshock, Last of Us, and other single-player story-focused games mean that they are not going to go away. At all.

 

[Berny Marcus]

It is kinda like this: Games are splitting between the multiplayer and the single player. Sure Titanfall will be big, but how many people play single-player on CoD or other shooters?

On the other hand, sales of games like Bioshock, Last of Us, and other single-player story-focused games mean that they are not going to go away. At all.

Agreed Single Players can still sell good, so I don't worry about them becoming extinct.