5 Multiplayer Games That Need Single Player Spinoffs, and 5 Single Player Games That Need Multiplayer Spinoffs

Single player and multiplayer games often attract very different crowds, because the experiences they offer are usually very different from each other. Of course, that doesn’t mean that there can be no overlap- a franchise that’s seen immense success in one arena can often have the potential to do the same in the other. That’s what we’re going to talk about in this feature, as we take a look at five multiplayer games that would make for excellent single player experiences, and five single player games that could potentially be excellent multiplayer experiences. 

SINGLE PLAYER SPINOFFS FOR MULTIPLAYER GAMES

FORTNITE

Let’s kick things off with the obvious choice. Fortnite is arguably the biggest game on the planet right now, and has been for a number of years running, and thanks to the things it has done with its evolving world, continuous storytelling, constant crossovers, and frequent expansions and changes, it also seems to have excellent longevity. And honestly, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that something like that would be incredible in a single player game. With the building mechanics and solid shooting, Fornite has a great gameplay core to build a solo game around, while all the crossovers from across franchises and media that the game is known for could be truly special in a narrative-driven adventure.

OVERWATCH

Another obvious choice. As is usually the case with Blizzard properties, Overwatch has always been lauded for its amazing cast of characters, lore, and world building, with its narrative elements being a far bigger attraction than you’d expect from a multiplayer game. Blizzard is tapping into that goldmine a little bit with Overwatch 2 with its PvE missions, and that’s a great start- but we want more, as we usually do. A dedicated single player game with an epic campaign that pulls in a variety of characters from the series’ beloved roster would be very, very hard to turn away from, even for someone who currently has no interest in the series.

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

This, of course, is something that we have been seeing more of of late. Riot is well aware of the immense potential that the League of Legends universe has, with its incredibly rich lore, characters, worldbuilding, and more, and from 2021’s Ruined King: A League of Legends Story to Song of Nunu, which is due out sometime this year, we are getting more single player games in the series. What we want, then, is more of that- this is a vast universe with infinite stories to tell, and a bevy of genres to tell them in, so we’d love nothing more than for Riot to tap into the incredible potential here and deliver more single player League-related experiences.

RAINBOW SIX SIEGE

Rainbow Six has a long history with single player content, of course, but that sadly hasn’t been the case for quite some time. Rainbow Six Siege is an absolute behemoth and just keeps going from strength to strength, so it’s not surprising that Ubisoft has put all its eggs in that basket- but as no few people will tell you, the work that they’ve done with the tactical PvP shooter would also lend itself very well to a single player game. A solo campaign with its own story that takes players through missions that are designed around the game’s tactical mechanics, while making use of its large and varied roster of character, would be quite something, if executed properly.

WORLD OF WARCRAFT

Yes, like all Warcraft fans, we’re desperate for Blizzard to make a new strategy Warcraft game. But there’s other things that they can do with the series as well- like an epic single player action RPG. Take the vast world, dense mechanics, bucketloads of content, and engaging storytelling of World of Warcraft, and put all of it into a modern solo action RPG. People would go crazy for something like that. Hell, we’re going crazy just thinking about it.

MULTIPLAYER SPINOFFS FOR SINGLE PLAYER GAMES

POKEMON

A Pokemon MMORPG has to be one of the most frequently requested games of all time. It’s a world and series that’s begging for that kind of treatment. An MMO with Pokemon mechanics that constantly grows and evolves, adding in new regions and Pokemon and dungeons over time- it’s painfully obvious how good something like that would be. Of course, the series is focused almost fully on the many, many different kinds of solo experiences it can deliver, but you only need to look at Pokemon-inspired MMORPG Temtem to see how well a Pokemon MMORPG would do. There’s still hope, of course- if we can get a Pokemon MOBA (even if it is just for mobile devices), surely we can eventually get an MMO as well. Maybe one day.

STAR WARS JEDI

Star Wars Battlefront has had plenty of major games over the years, of course, but while the majority of these have focused on large-scale PvP battles like most shooters do, what we’re talking about here is something much more intimate. A Star Wars Jedi spinoff that takes Fallen Order’s combat mechanics and puts players in 1v1 Jedi vs Jedi battles (or Jedi vs Sith, or Sith vs Sith) would be incredible (if properly executed, of course).

SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE

FromSoftware doesn’t need to be told how to do multiplayer- that’s something that’s been an integral part of its Soulsborne games for as long as they’ve been around, really. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was the once exception to that- so of course, we want a multiplayer Sekiro game now. And it doesn’t even have to do too much outside the box thinking. Just give us PvP battles using those tight combat mechanics, or even something like invasions or co-op summons, and we’ll be happy. It’s too good a mechanical base to be restricted purely to solo content.

RESIDENT EVIL

Resident Evil has plenty of experience with multiplayer games. Sadly, most of it has been- well, pretty bad, simply put. But while Capcom’s horror franchise never seems to know what to do when it goes the PvP route, when it comes to co-op, the series rarely ever misses a beat. Whether that’s dedicated co-op games like Outbreak or co-op support in games like RE5 and Revelations 2, Resident Evil co-op never fails to impress. It’s been a while since we’ve had something like that though, so we’re hoping the developer will go back to co-op sooner rather than later. Maybe make a Revelations 3.

HORIZON

This is something we’ve spoken about quite often here at GamingBolt. A co-op Monster Hunter-style Horizon game would be absolutely perfect. It makes too much sense- everything that Guerrilla needs, from a strictly mechanical perspective, already exists. The core loop of hunting machines for components that can be used to make better gear is already built into the series, while its many, many unique weapon types could function as classes for players to specialize in. According to leaks, Guerrilla is indeed making such a game, and it absolutely cannot get here soon enough.