You could argue that video games have always had a divide between singleplayer and multiplayer focused titles. Games pretty much started out with both believe it or not with arcades. As some were singleplayer focused and others encouraged battles between friends and rivals. Then, as consoles came and technology advanced, the divide became more visible. And now, the “love” for multiplayer games is asking the question of whether there’s a future for singleplayer title. Well, the Director of the upcoming God of War game certainly thinks so.
For Cory Balrog, the appeal of a singleplayer title is that if can “deliver the promise on the back of the box.” He tells US Gamer:
“That’s why single-player games are awesome. I still feel like I have that experience that I had in school where would be like, ‘I can’t wait to get home. I’m going to get transported into this whole other world.'”
Now, you might say, “Hey, there are multiplayer games that also take you to other worlds!”, but that’s not the point he’s trying to make. What he’s saying here is that singleplayer games are ones that you don’t need anyone else to play with, so you can literally pick it up and go without the need for an internet connection or hoping that someone else is on the same game you are.
The God of War series is a perfect example of this, as the series has never had multiplayer, yet it’s still been praised for its story, combat, design, graphics quality, and more.
The debate about singleplayer and multiplayer titles is going to be one that lasts for quite some time. But here’s something to think about, some of the biggest games coming out this year are singleplayer focused, and multiple Game of the Year nominees from last year were singleplayer focused. We’re just saying.
That God of War never had a multiplayer function is not true. You probably forgot about God of War: Ascension where the multiplayer function was introduced in God of War. But it didn’t work out as well as they thought.