The reason for this, according to Raph Koster, is down to a combination of several factors: increasingly sophisticated computers and 💴 interfaces that enabled asymmetric gameplay, cooperative gameplay and story delivery within a gaming framework, coupled with the fact that the 💴 majority of early games players had introverted personality types (according to the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator).[4]
Although most modern games incorporate 💴 a single-player element either as the core or as one of several game modes, single-player gaming is currently viewed by 💴 the video game industry as peripheral to the future of gaming, with Electronic Arts vice president Frank Gibeau stating in 💴 2012 that he had not approved one game to be developed as a single-player experience.[5]
The question of the financial viability 💴 of single-player AAA games was raised following the closure of Visceral Games by Electronic Arts (EA) in October 2024. Visceral 💴 had been a studio that established itself on a strong narrative single-player focus with Dead Space, and had been working 💴 on a single-player, linear narrative Star Wars game at the time of the closure; EA announced following this that they 💴 would be taking the game in a different direction, specifically "a broader experience that allows for more variety and player 💴 agency".[6] Many commentators felt that EA made the change as they did not have confidence that a studio with an 💴 AAA-scale budget could produce a viable single-player game based on the popular Star Wars franchise. Alongside this, as well as 💴 relatively poor sales of games in the year prior that were principally AAA single-player games (Resident Evil 7, Prey, Dishonored 💴 2, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided) against financially successful multiplayer games and those offer a games-as-a-service model (Overwatch, Destiny 2, 💴 and Star Wars Battlefront 2), were indicators to many that the single-player model for AAA was waning.[7][8][9][10] Manveer Heir, who 💴 had left EA after finishing his gameplay design work for Mass Effect Andromeda, acknowledged that the culture within EA was 💴 against the development of single-player games, and with Visceral's closure, "that the linear single-player triple-A game at EA is dead 💴 for the time being".[11] Bethesda on December 7, 2024, decided to collaborate with Lynda Carter to launch a Public Safety 💴 Announcement to save single-player gaming.[12]
A few years later in 2024, EA was reported to have revived interest in single-player games, 💴 following the successful launch of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in 2024. The company still planned on releasing live service 💴 games with multiplayer components, but began evaluating its IP catalog for more single-player titles to revive, such as a remake 💴 of the Dead Space franchise.[13] Around the same time, head of Xbox Game Studios Phil Spencer said that they still 💴 see a place for narrative-driven single-player games even though the financial drivers of the market tended to be live service 💴 games. Spencer said that developing such games with AAA-scale budgets can be risky, but with availability of services like cloud 💴 gaming and subscription services, they can gauge audience reaction to these games early on and reduce the risk involved before 💴 releases.[14]
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