Single-player games withstood World of Warcraft. They’ll survive PUBG, too

With the recent cancellation of Visceral’s single-player Star Wars game, shifting focus of big publishers on multiplayer games and more than stellar success of cooperative multiplayer games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, gamers are starting to ask questions. Are single-player story-driven games dead? Do players want them contrary to what some big publishers say? Do they have big commercial potential? Is multiplayer the only future of gaming?

Different strokes

Multiplayer and single-player games are two quite different things, two quite distinct experiences. For the most part, they each cater to a different target group. You go for multiplayer games when you feel like competing, to get a quick buzz of some action, or to wake up your reflexes. You reach for a single-player game when you want a more immersive experience. Exploring new worlds, getting deeply involved in the adventure story of some interesting character, solving complex tasks, and getting not just your reflexes but the rest of your senses primed and honed. It’s arguably something like the difference between going to see the football match and going to the theater.