Richard Browne who has worked with THQ before and was at an influential position there, has mentioned in an editorial published on Games Industry International that – used-games are killing the single-player market, and this has resulted in studios taking less risk and making games with less variety.
“How do I stop churn? I implement multiplayer and attempt to keep my disc with my consumer playing online against their friends,” he said.
“It works wonderfully for Call of Duty – no doubt it can work wonderfully for me. The problem is, at what cost? Countless millions of dollars would be the answer.”
“What on Earth was the point of taking the completely single-player experience of Uncharted 1 and bolting on an entirely new game to Nathan Drake’s second adventure?
The multiplayer game – brilliantly executed as one would expect of the Naughty Dog team – had absolutely nothing to do with the single player experience, and from my perspective had absolutely zero interest from me as a consumer, and I’m not alone in that,” said Browne.
I have to agree with this – as Naughty Dog created a good multiplayer component but it didn’t remain that popular with the audience. Wasting resources in such endeavours is pointless. He also gave another example in Ninja Gaiden 3.
“Take a look at the most recent Ninja Gaiden game. Why does that multiplayer mode exist? What effect did having to build it have on the single-player experience?”
“There is no reason for the multiplayer game to exist; it makes no sense in NG’s universe. I’m not singling out Ninja Gaiden here, as the number of games that have gone the same route over the past couple of years is substantial. But is it good for the consumer?
“Absolutely not – in general they’re getting a poorer single-player game. But again that’s the tip of the iceberg,” he added.
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