Sony and Single-player games
Sony didn’t get to be an industry leader by ignoring market trends, but the electronics giant still makes a few counter-cultural decisions
According to an article by Venture Beat (which cites NPD sales figures), the top three video games by sales figures in 2016 were Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Battlefield 1, and The Division. These three games all fall into the military shooter genre, but they have more in common than just that. They’re also almost entirely focused on multiplayer. Both Call of Duty and Battlefield boasted single player campaigns, but each title lived or died (in this case lived) based on its commitment to providing an enjoyable multiplayer experience.
The rest of the top ten are almost all games that focus on multiplayer as well, with titles like Madden, Fifa, and Overwatch. In 2017 this trend seems to continue. Madden and Fifa are back, Overwatch continues to be massively popular, and Call of Duty lurks in the wings, waiting for its traditional late-fall release. Multiplayer games, to borrow a cliche (and state the blindingly obvious), are here to stay.
As much as it might be tempting to pronounce a death sentence for single player games in light of this evidence, offline games are still alive and well in the video game industry. Interestingly, Sony has placed much more of an emphasis on these games than Microsoft (Nintendo still makes plenty of single-player games, but more on that later). Sony can afford to spend a great deal of time and energy committing to single-player experiences, largely because of its market dominance, and these games continue to set the PlayStation brand apart from its competitors.
When Star Wars: Battlefront launched last year, it received many negative comments about the lack of a single-player campaign. These comments were loud and angry, and enough to prompt EA to add a single-player component for this year’s version. However, the Star Wars example is only one more tale of a big game eschewing single-player content in the name of online multiplayer. Overwatch has the same lack of non-online content, but has quickly become one of the most important games in recent memory.
My point isn’t that no games have single player modes anymore, it’s that multiplayer components have quickly dominated the video game market. Buzzwords and phrases like “games as a service” exist for a reason — producers and marketers realize that online components make the most money. The single-player campaigns in Call of Duty games are fun, but they represent a miniscule amount of the planning and preparation that goes into each title. Activision’s focus, and the focus of most publishers, is on competitive multiplayer.
There are still some companies that make games primarily for their single-player components. Bethesda, with games like Doom and Wolfenstein, is one such company. Square Enix, with the recently-rebooted Tomb Raider franchise, is another. There is still a strong market for this type of experience, even if it’s not as large as the player bases for Overwatch and Battlefield.
Out of all the companies making single-player games though, Sony and PlayStation show arguably the strongest commitment to this genre. Horizon Zero Dawn came out this year, and was a massive critical and commercial success. This success is even more significant when one considers that it launched perilously close to two other name-brand titles: Mass Effect and Zelda. Horizon is one of the best games I’ve played in years. I can’t recommend it enough, and its success gives me hope for similar titles in the future.
Horizon has no online components, and exists in a purely offline world. For Sony, this is nothing new. Some of the company’s biggest titles — Uncharted, The Last of Us — show a similar commitment to single-player experiences. These titles both have multiplayer modes, but the bulk of the value clearly lies in the story and gameplay in each franchise’s campaign mode. The God of War series, the upcoming Days Gone, and Insomniac’s Spider-Man are all good examples as well. Sony keeps publishing games like Horizon and The Last of Us, and their upcoming release schedule backs up this trend.
It would be unwise to expound on the brilliance of first-party single-player games without mentioning the success of Nintendo and the Switch this year. The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild is a single-player experience that is easily the most successful game of 2017, and the upcoming Mario title promises equal sales and review-score success. Nintendo famously ignores video game trends and market expectations at its own peril, but 2017 is one of the best years the gaming giant has had in a long time.
In fact, there have been many single-player games published this by third parties that I haven’t even mentioned. Persona 5 and Nier: Automata have been huge successes as well. But for every game like these that comes out, there’s another one like Destiny or Battlefront. Through micro-transactions, multiplayer map packs, and a bevy of other money-making measures, publishers often choose to make multiplayer games over single-player ones when given the choice.
I could write an entire think piece on Nintendo and their market strategies in 2017, but I want to focus on Sony and their PlayStation brand. Sony knows that many people still look for quality single-player experiences, and they have the money, time, and market experience to keep pumping out these titles. I know I’m not the only one waiting for The Last of Us: Part II, and developer Naughty Dog has become one of the most respected in the video game universe by dint of their fantastic games. As long as Sony’s success continues, and these games continue to sell, the PlayStation single-player games will continue to be a staple of the game world.
