A solo player. I am no longer the Industry's target market. Feels bittersweet :/

[MajulaDream]

First off, I have enjoyed playing video games an awfully long time, going back to the the eighties. The freedom to create your own memories, experience amazing worlds and play with fun mechanics have always drawn me in.

Video games have always been a solitary experience for me though. A safe space to unwind from the real world and get lost on adventures by myself. And I feel the industry used to create and market games specifically with that solitude in mind.

I love picking up a controller, playing a character, making discoveries, feeling a sense of accomplishment. All of these things are personal memories for me.

The world has changed an awful lot of course. Multiplayer and Online experiences rule the scene today.
I have nothing personal against these games. Many love to play with friends and enjoy all kinds of fun multiplayer experiences together. Chat online. That is great.

But for me, I often feel forgotten.
Single player experiences used to be the backbone of the game industry. They felt like they were made with me in mind. There were no online only games on consoles. No micro transaction, box loot, whatever you want to call it. The market has changed, and folks like myself are no longer the target market.

I say its bittersweet because even though I feel there are fewer and fewer games for myself to fall in love with, I love that the industry has grown so much and that new games are still bringing lots of joy to others.

I just feel like the kinds of experiences that I enjoy are ultimately going away. Not entirely gone quite yet. I'm thankful for From Software, and even Bethesda for now. But the writing is on the wall. I am no longer the target market. Even with all the new games coming out I just keep popping in old games and hack monsters by myself. As I always have.

How's everyone else? lol

 

[AyaTharja]

I totally get what your saying, I am also a solo gamer mostly

While there are more and more multiplayer games there have been a truckload of games this year for us solo players

 

[Hawk]

They'res been a lot of talk about the "death of single player", but I'm just not really seeing it, Days Gone, Detroit Become Human, Breath of the Wild are just some of the big single player games of 2017. Really I think that people just like it as a talking point.

 

[Deleted member 2254]

The biggest selling games have been local or online multiplayer games for quite a while now most of the times. Whether you want to go back to Call Of Duty, Halo or Doom, being able to play with others has been extremely important for decades as it greatly improves the game's value. Today's big sellers like Call Of Duty, Battlefield didn't exactly have long and massive campaigns 10 years ago either, they were already multiplayer-focused. And single player games are here to stay: just these past 12 months we had a Mario, a Zelda, a Resident Evil, a Dishonered (and a half), more Uncharted, a new Assassin's Creed, a new Middle-Earth game and so on, and they were all pretty good, not to mention the indie games. I play a lot of single player and I'm getting tons of great experiences, that the biggest sellers are going to be co-op or competitive is not exactly shocking though.

 

[DGenerator]

Four of the five Game Awards GOTY nominees are single-player games. Calm down.

 

[CQC]

If you have the means to do so, play older generations. There is probably a lot of quality titles that you missed due to no one having that much free time.

Four of the five Game Awards GOTY nominees are single-player games. Calm down.

Click to shrink...

This as well.

 

[Redhead On Moped]

They'res been a lot of talk about the death of single player games, but I'm just not really seeing it, Days Gone, Detroit Become Human, Breath of the Wild are just some of the big single player games of 2017. Really I think that people just like it as a talking point.

Click to shrink...

Agreed. Also Lucky's Tale, Sonic Forces, ETC.

Single Player is here to stay, what is waning unfortunately is local couch multiplayer.

 

[Black Chamber]

I'm with you my friend!

For example, "Call of Duty World War II" I only bought for the campaign. I could care less about the online multiplayer. I've never played Destiny and I don't want to; I only want single-player experiences and in regards to multiplayer, something akin to those old school co-op games that could be played on the couch with a friend is what I seek.

 

[Deleted member 8001]

I disagree. There's more options now, but there's still plenty of single player games.

 

[texhnolyze]

Have you bought all of the SP games released this year?

 

[Calibro]

Still a lot of singleplayer games without rng microtransactions. They all look fantastic too. Dig deeper. This year has been utterly fantastic: NieR: Automata, Prey, Wolfenstein II, A Hat in Time, Divinity: Original Sin 2, Hitman GOTY, Hand of Fate 2, South Park, Pyre, Hob, RiME, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, Sonic Mania, Torment: Tides of Numenera... Pretty sure I'm forgetting like half of them.

 

[Naked Snake]

Yeah I never play multiplayer either, but honestly didn't even realize "single player games are dying" until I read it on Era recently... I guess i didn't find a shortage of games to play since I naturally don't play as much as I used to anymore, so the reduced output of single player games from the industry is still large enough to give me backlogs.

 

[Antiwhippy]

As a solo player i have played more games this year than the last five years.

 

[Level 9 CPU]

This year I got to play Gravity Rush 2, Yakuza 0, Horizon ZD, BotW, Persona 5, Nier, Crash Trilogy, Divinity OS 2, , Super Mario Odyssey, Uncharted The Lost Legacy, to name a few of the stellar single player experiences this year. We're spoiled for choice with single player games, and next year looks no different. The first half of the year already has GoW, Ni No Kuni 2, Monster Hunter World, Yakuza 6.

Just because a few of the biggest publishers are moving away from single player doesn't mean they all are. This post is over dramatic.

 

[Jako]

I think there are still so many incredible single player games: Persona 5, Yakuza 0 and Kiwami, Nier Automata, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Nioh, Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, a lot more I'm forgetting right now and even more that are coming out in the next months/years

 

[chaos_planes]

Maybe this is true if you only enjoy games with $80m+ budgets. For everyone else, there is more single player content than ever before.

 

[sawatsu]

As a solo player i have played more games this year than the last five years.

Click to shrink...

Yep, haven't even finished half of the games I want from this year.

 

[Crayon]

I play 90% sp and it's been as good as ever. Probably better. If you feel left out because all the kids now want multiplayer then snap out of it and play Hyperlight Drifter or something. Seriously there are so many good sp games.

 

[Nakenorm]

2017 is not the year to complain about the lack of singleplayer games.
I've pretty much had no time for multiplayer games this last couple of months just because my backlog is FULL of singleplayer games, just beat Wolfenstein 2 and now I'm on to Yakuza and Nier.

 

[Vishmarx]

I totally get what your saying, I am also a solo gamer mostly

Buy a Nintendo Switch / play older games

Click to shrink...

i think nintendo makes more dedicate mp games than sony does.

 

[OldBritBloke]

I know where you're coming from, but I don't think we're there yet. Sony will be bringing God of War, Spider-Man and The Last Of Us 2 soon enough; it seems clear that they still see a market for such titles, to say nothing of what Nintendo will produce.

The world of triple A production budgets aside, Indies and emulation (my SNES Mini Classic is currently my most played console) guarantee the existence of more quality single player experiences than one could ever play.

 

[Maximo]

As a solo player i have played more games this year than the last five years.

Click to shrink...

Yeah same here haha.

 

[CaviarMeths]

There's an entire ocean of content outside of Western AAA. Take a dive.

 

[Xelan]

Maybe it isn't a lack of single player games ( there is actually an abundance of SP games) but more of a lack on your part in wanting to play what is available, perhaps you are just burnt out on modern day gaming?

 

[EVAC434]

I rarely play multiplayer games. If you stick with Nintendo you'll be more than fine. And there are more than enough singple player games that are worth it on PS4 and XBOX.

 

[Richter1887]

There are still SP games. The games that are becoming more MP focused is AAA western games. Indies and Japanese games still have tons of SP games. The west as well but less than before.

 

[Exentryk]

Too busy enjoying all the single player games! Just in 2017 and the upcoming year:

Cosmic Star Heroine
Kingdom Hearts 2.8
NieR Automata
Persona 5
Hollow Knight
Observer
Battle Chasers
Assassins Creed Origins

Xenoblade 2
Ni no Kuni 2
Lost Spear
God of War
Project Octopath Traveler
Dragon Quest XI
Kingdom Hearts 3
etc.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

I'm dripping in single player games.

 

[Dunban]

Just wait until the day mobile gaming subsumes all and us outdated fossils are left pathetically clutching our worthless plastic boxes.

 

[Deleted member 18379]

Single player games aren't going away and the publishers who are abandoning them weren't exactly creating the most memorable of experiences anyway imo.

 

[eXistor]

I've also not been part of the AAA industry's master plan and in a way it's actually good because those games, almost wthout fail, are festering trash. I don't even have an interest in those titels, so it's very easy for me to ignore them, which is handy.

That said, there's so many single player games coming out without all this modern disease attached to them that I'm completely fine with it. I don't even have the time to get through all the games released this year and those include precious few AAA games.

Don't get me wrong: the AAA industry is in a completely rotten state and I hope it withers and dies or at least collapses under its weight, but for me personally, I can safely ignore all that bullshit and still focus on well designed games made for gaming enthusiasts like myself.

 

[Akumasama]

I feel the "Solo experience" vs "Multiplayer experience" dilemma much less than you, if at all, but I've been sharing your feeling for a long time now.
I'm 38, I've been playing videogames since I was 8 more or less and I've had the privilege of experiencing this world from many different point of views. As an user first and foremost, as a FAQ author during the golden days of Gamefaqs, as a community manager, as a chief editor in videogame magazine (online), as a betatester.

I still feel enthusiastic about the videogame world and videogames in general, but I struggle to mantain myself as perfectly informed as I was when I was younger. And beyond that, it's like I got much..."grumpier". I still do feel enthusiasm and excitement for new games, but it happens rarely. Most of the time I have this skeptic feeling growing inside of me, this sour taste that makes me think how game X could've been so much better for my tastes if only this thing A or this thing B were made differently.
More in general and more deeply I experience this frustrating and bitter feeling of being part of a minority, of being left out, of not being the prime target of the market anymore.

Back during those days *I* was the prime target of the majority of titles or project, *I* was the one companies were directing most of their efforts to.
And now I feel so... out of place, out of time.
It's been this way for a long time now, I'm slowly starting to get used to it, but when I think about it it's still pretty sad.


I can still find titles that entertain me and excite me deeply, so it's not too bad in the end I guess. It's much harder but... it happens eventually ;)

 

[Sir Guts]

I’m mostly a solo player and I understand where you’re coming from but let’s be real now, 2017 is one of the greatest years in history for SP games!

 

[Oleander]

Besides FFXIV, I only play single-player games.

I'm absolutely swamped in games that just released this year. I've still to complete Nier Automata, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Nioh, Gravity Rush 2, FFXII: The Zodiac Age, Shadow of War, Resident Evil VII, Assassin's Creed Origins, Wolfenstein II, and Breath of the Wild, and that's just off the top of my head. And that's not including all I actually completed, such as Persona 5, Yakuza 0, and Yakuza Kiwami. Which is a humblingly shorter list.

So, I don't know about you, OP, but I feel well catered to.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

I mostly play Single Player games, and I do NOT feel forgotten at all, just from this year my favorite games have been:

Etrian Odyssey V
Super Mario Odyssey
Nier Automata
Persona 5
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Sonic Mania
Doki Doki Literature Club
Danganronpa V3
Trails in the Sky 3rd
Yakuza 0

all single player games, I'm also sure I'm missing tons of games too, and Xenoblade 2 isn't out yet. We are not forgotten at all.

 

[Deleted member 16039]

Dear MajulaDream aka OP,

Please, play DooM 2016, Shadow Warrior (2016) and Wolfenstein The Order (then play The New Colossus). Then, Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, NieR Automata, Xenoblade 2, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Super Bomberman R, Metroid: Samus Returns, Environmental Station Alpha, Axiom Verge, Hollow Knight, (...).

Enjoy your life while people still plays solo games and don't even worry about it, because EA and Activision aren't the fucking center of the universe.

 

[4859]

Four of the five Game Awards GOTY nominees are single-player games. Calm down.

Click to shrink...

Don't do this.

 

[nib95]

I think there are still so many incredible single player games: Persona 5, Yakuza 0 and Kiwami, Nier Automata, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Nioh, Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, a lot more I'm forgetting right now and even more that are coming out in the next months/years

Click to shrink...

Agreed, there are more games than I have time to play. Just because multiplayer games are more prominent, doesn't mean single player games are going the way of the dodo. They most certainly are not.

 

[WarpSpeedMolasses]

Yea put me in the scepticism camp regarding death of single player.

Just look at:

Nier Automata
Persona 5
FFXV
Wolfenstein
Crash HD
Disgaea 5
Zelda BotW
Mario Odyssey
Stardew Valley
Xenoblade 2
RE7
Axiom Verge
Etc

Switch alone has thrown a massive glut of SP games at me. Throw in PC and/or PS4 and you're set.

 

[Deleted member 5604]

Plenty of solo games still releasing. I'm primarily an SP gamer and I'm buried in a backlog. The only thing somewhat concerning is that this won't last and companies go towards MP more, though even then it's GaaS that pubs/devs are after and that's not necessarily bad if it's handled like Witcher 3 rather than something like Shadow of War.

 

[Maximo]

Divinity Original Sin 2
Cuphead
Hollow Knight
What Remains Of Edith Finch
Observer
Resident Evil 7
A Hat In Time
Sonic Mania
Nier, ect
I have enjoyed gaming in the last few years then I probably ever have, you just have to go through indies and middle tier to get them.

 

[Imran]

I've barely played any multiplayer this year but I can't hold on to all the games I want to play.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

There are a ton of great single-player experiences in 2017 you could be playing right now.

 

[Deleted member 19761]

Still a lot of singleplayer games without rng microtransactions. They all look fantastic too. Dig deeper. This year has been utterly fantastic: NieR: Automata, Prey, Wolfenstein II, A Hat in Time, Divinity: Original Sin 2, Hitman GOTY, Hand of Fate 2, South Park, Pyre, Hob, RiME, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, Sonic Mania, Torment: Tides of Numenera... Pretty sure I'm forgetting like half of them.

Click to shrink...

Persona 5 is a tad noteworthy, haha.

 

[Norgler]

I prefer multiplayer and even I see the market crashing on publishers focused on mutiplayer. There are two many now and the player base is being drawn to thin. Most players will group up on what's actually good and these publishers will notice the revenue drop pretty quickly on their attempts.

Also then there is always indie titles which have plenty of great single player experiences that will fill what void there is.. hell they are my preferred single player games these days.

 

[HenryEen]

I mean...sure if you are only looking at EA/Activision output ?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like there is still more SP games released this year compared to MP if you count Japanese games and AA games.

 

[TatteredHat]

You're looking in the wrong places then, there are tons of games for players like us right outside the Big Western Publisher AAA space.

 

[Tickling]

Three weeks ago. Ac origins, Wolfenstein 2 and Mario would say different. Sometimes you see what you only want to see.

 

[LaTasse]

There have been quite a lot of solo playing game released this year, but let's be realistic, most of them were in the making for years, way before the industry realized the solo gaming was fading in front of multiplayer. It's just that starting the development of a game nowadays makes less and less sense if it's solo only. Why bothering making an extremely expensive game like Horizon to sell 4 millions top when a loner like playerunknown can sell 20 millions PUGB for one thenth of the budget?

 

[fourfourfun]

Yeah. I feel that I’ve fallen out of what the traditional big players are wanting to make, but there is a wealth outside of that.

If it’s time to step away from the big E3 headline grabbers, then so be it.