In an interview with Destructoid, vice president of public relations & marketing with Bethesda Softworks Peter Hines talked the relevance of single-player games, and how they’re going to be around for a long time despite the popularity of multiplayer (especially considering the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online from ZeniMax Online Studios)
“Single-player games aren’t going anywhere. Bethesda Softworks has been making single-player games for all of our 25+ years in the industry. We’re still here, we’re still making them, and people are still buying them. Dishonored was single-player and people really loved it, and it sold well.
“Skyrim was a complete success. A single-player RPG. There’s practically a cottage industry dedicated to talking about how that isn’t possible or why that won’t succeed. Console fans won’t get a game like that. Has to have multiplayer of some kind. PC gaming is dead. It’s gotta be a shooter. RPGs are a niche.
“It’s important to note that quite a few people who tend to say those kinds of things do so because it’s not what they’re doing. No publisher or developer making single-player games ever comes out and says single-player games won’t work. Guys that do mobile games predict that console gaming as we know it is dying.
“People that do console-only games proclaim that PC is dead. Funny how people don’t predict failure for the thing it is they’re making or doing. They make those statements to build up or defend what they’re doing and tear down what they aren’t doing. Or, they just don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.”