Are Single-Player Games Dying Out?

Many people believe that very soon there will be no single-player games. This is mainly due to the popularity of games like the Call of Duty series, Battlefield 3 and even some casual games like Draw Something. These games heavily rely on having entertaining multiplayer aspects to keep people interested.

These games are very popular with the majority of people because they allow them to interact with their friends and have fun, without leaving their own homes. There is also an extra sense of competitiveness in multi-player games. Anyone can be good at a single-player game, because they are playing against an A.I. but multiplayer games require more skill to be good at. This is because you are playing against other people who think the same way as you. This results in competition amongst friends, all curious to see who the best player is.

It is clear that Multiplayer games are popular from the amount of money they make. Call of Duty was constantly the biggest entertainment release of the year between 2007, when Modern Warfare was released, and 2011 when Modern Warfare 3. It is also likely that Black Ops will follow suit. However it has heavy competition from the feature film “Marvel Avenger Assemble” which had the largest opening profit in cinema history. Even if it does not become most profitable of 2012, it will no doubt come second. This shows that these games are incredibly popular, as people constantly buy them, year after year. Another heavy hitter in the multiplayer market is World of Warcraft (WOW). WOW is one of the most popular games in the world. It is a massively multiplayer online, role playing game (MMORPG) and is played by more people every day than any other game in history. So clearly there is a high demand for multiplayer games.

This evidence most certainly suggests that single-player games are dying, but they will not go down without a fight. 2011 saw some of the biggest and most popular single-player game releases in history. Games like Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Batman Arkham City, Mass Effect 3, and Assassin’s Creed Revelations. Some of the most loved games on this generation of console.

One developer that definitely doesn’t want single-player to die and fights to keep it alive, is Rockstar Games. Rockstar have made some of the most popular Single-player games in history and continue to do so. Games like, Read dead redemption, one of the most critically acclaimed games ever made. Grand Theft Auto IV, which made $400million upon its release. If a single-player game can still make that much on release, it is clear that single-player games are still as loved as ever.

Another company that constantly creates popular single-player games is Valve. Their list of Single-Player games includes; Portal 1-2, half-Life 1-2 and Left 4 Dead 1-2. Games that are very highly rated in the gaming community

This gaming season (Aug 12/Aug 13) is also shaping up to be a great season for Single-Player games, with the release of Assassin’s Creed 3, Dishonoured, Metal Gear Solid 5, Splinter Cell: Black List. There are also rumours of Half-Life being a release title for Valve’s new console whenever it’s released. There is also the platform transfer of popular single-playing games to the WiiU this season. Games like Mass Effect 3 and Batman Arkham City are being released on Nintendo’s newest console. Then of course, we have one of the most anticipated games of all time, Grand Theft Auto V. There is strong evidence to suggest Grand Theft Auto V Will be the most money making game in history. In July 2012, they released screen shots of the game. Within 20 minutes the images had gone viral and they were trending on twitter within 30, under 3 different hash tags; #Grandtheftauto5screenshots, #GTAVscreenshots and #GTA5Preview. This level of attention from just a few simple screen shots shows just how anticipated this game is. Furthermore, people aren’t interested in this for the simple multiplayer aspect. They have been heavily investigating the main protagonist of the single-player story, examining every miniature detail to discover everything possible about him and the story. Just this game alone is proof that people still care about single-player games and that they will never lose their allure.

So to conclude, there is a definite increase in the popularity of multiplayer games. This however, does not mean a decrease in the popularity of single-player games like GTA and Assassin’s Creed which people constantly go back to. Multiplayer games may give the players a chance to make new friends and have fun times with existing ones, but they will never provide what a single-player game does; Great characters and a fully immersive story.