It’s no secret that Multiplayer capability has become increasingly important in the past few years – with games being as expensive as they are, particularly on console, many consumers are unwilling to fork out that kind of money for 6-7 hours of entertainment. EA has now come right out and said that multiplayer in games is now considered an “expectation”.
Talking to Eurogamer, Jeff Gamon, executive producer on EA’s upcoming Syndicate reboot, says that this expectation is particularly prevalent with shooters.
“It’s a matter of scope and value for money,” he said. “We have to think in terms of our customers and the product. I don’t think online and social modes are absolutely a requirement. It depends on the game. But it’s rapidly becoming an expectation because it’s becoming more and more common.
“We are making a first-person shooter with Syndicate. The kinds of people who play that want to play online with their friends.”
Gamon goes on however to insist that putting co-op play into Syndicate wasn’t about “ticking a box”, but an attempt to recreate the feel of the original game, saying, “When we’re thinking about what kind of online game we wanted to make, co-op seemed the only way to go based on the original games.”
EA have been criticised for making the Syndicate reboot an FPS, as opposed to the original style pictured above.
Despite the controversial addition of co-op to Mass Effect 3, Bioware Edmonton GM Aaryn Flynn disagrees with the “singe player is dead” sentiment, saying, “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“For us, we looked at it and thought it would be fun to make a multiplayer game. Then we said, well, what’s the right way to do it? This is what we hit upon as our solution to that. I hope fans agree,” Flynn explains.
EA has been holding strong to their position for some time; with label boss Frank Gibeau saying last year that “single-player only games are finished”. He insists that the future lies in “connected gameplay”.
Mark Cerny, who has worked on classics such as Crash Bandicoot, Spyro and Jak and Daxter, shares this sentiment, saying that the single-player only experience would not exist by 2014.
“Right now you sit in your living room and you’re playing a game by yourself – we call it the sp mission or the single-player campaign,” he said. “In a world with Facebook I just don’t think that’s going to last.
“A game without the presence of other players in it – you go out three or five years, I believe that is unthinkable given how connected we’re becoming.”
Other detractors have weighed in however, with Resident Evil: Revelations producer Tsykasa Takenaka saying that a single-player only experience is “absolutely valid” and the decision whether or not to include it dependent on what kind of experience the designer wants to create.
Ironically, Revelations introduced it’s own co-op mode.
Another skeptic is producer on PSN exclusive Journey, Thatgamecompany’s Robin Hunicke. She says, “Games were always multiplayer for a long time and then they became single-player.” She likens the experience to music, saying, it’s like how a beautiful album you can listen to on your own is different than a concert. It’s just different. But they’re both really valuable. Being able to play your own music on the piano is different than listening to a record, but you still experience the composer through that act.”
Clearly the industry is divided on the issue, but at the end of the day it is the consumers that will have the final say – as much as some don’t like to discuss it, the end goal is always making money. It is also interesting to note that those who protested also recently introduced multiplayer into their games, which may indicate they are feeling some pressure themselves, whether or not they would like to admit it.
EA: “Multiplayer is expected” << Comments and views
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