Do You Need a Player Two?
There’s been a lot of focus on multiplayer over the past few years. Entire franchises, like Call of Duty or Mortal Kombat, are designed specifically with a multiplayer experience in mind and, while they still offer single-player campaigns, the vast majority of the appeal for these games is the ability to play with – or against – your friends. The streaming world is dominated by multiplayer experiences like Dead by Daylight, Fall Guys, or Phasmophobia and, while an anticipated single-player title is still likely to get a lot of streamers interested around its release, it’s unlikely to have any staying power compared to something like Dead by Daylight.
Still, according to a leaked report by Sony, Single Player is still thriving, and it’s still the preferred option for gamers, but did come with caveats, as well:
1- Players didn’t know how long it would take, and would avoid playing unless they had several hours free.
2- Players avoided socializing for risk of spoilers.
3- If needed, finding help often involved scanning through lengthy videos to find what they needed.
4- Players occasionally forgot where they were in the game – a problem not found as frequently in multiplayer titles.
According to a Sony representative, “In reality, most people have jobs. Or kids. Or school. Or all of the above. Often, free time comes wedged between other obligations. An hour before bed. A 30-minute break between homework assignments. A few minutes before your online [multiplayer] match.”
The data gathered is likely part of the mindset behind PlayStation 5’s Activities feature, which displays progress towards objectives and how long those objectives are likely to take, as well as the ability to save short gameplay videos to help others through particularly tricky sections, whether that’s combat or a tricky puzzle.
Do you prefer single or multiplayer? Let us know in the comments, on Twitter, or on Facebook.