Single Player Games Are Becoming More Important Than Ever

While games as a service like Fortnite, Destiny, and Rainbow Six: Siege take over the world, every developer is clamoring for their piece of the pie. However, what do you play while you’re waiting for the next big update or expansion? That’s right… something short and sweet. Sounds a lot like a single player game. This is where the single player market will expand – in the crevices of mainstream.

Video games are more popular than ever and the industry is actually bigger than film even though we always seem to have a inferiority complex from years of nerd ridicule by the letterman jacket wearing pop culture. So even though I don’t prefer games as a service or multiplayer based games, I can thank them for pushing our industry to reach as many people as possible. This, in turn, will only allow me to get more innovative and advanced versions of the stuff that interests me.

As far as profitability goes, the margins are still there. The lack of required server support and constant continued development makes for an easier gain on investment, especially for independent developers. Just the network infrastructure alone needed to maintain quality multiplayer interaction is incredibly expensive. The Culling 2 had to shut down in just a mere 5 days when there was no one to fill the matches. With competitive multiplayer games, you need a consistent player base just to even keep your doors open; when your players disappear your game disappears. With traditional games, if you don’t get the pop you needed initially, you can go back to the marketing drawing board and cleverly drum up business even years after release.

People are naturally curious or always have some commentary to get off their chest. That’s why interactive narratives or open worlds ripe for exploration will never go out of style. The market will correct itself to make these types of experiences more viable as the highest-tech games become more expensive to make. Whether it be more money upfront or telling smaller stories through DLC, people are willing to support these games because, frankly, people need something refreshing after playing the same game play loop a million times over.