Bethesda: "We have to change the way we approach single player games"

[ArkhamFantasy]

UPDATE: This is the original article with a longer quote from Hines. https://amp.theguardian.com/games/2...odd-howard-pete-hines-elder-scrolls-starfield

Pete Hines quote "Nonetheless, Hines is bullish about the future of epic single-player adventures. "Well, we keep doing it," he says. "There was a lot of hand-wringing around [2017's] Prey, but we just announced a huge update. Rage 2 is a giant single-player game, [the next Doom game] Doom Eternal is single-player, and Wolfenstein: Young Blood is single-player. Single-player is still a thing; it might continue to grow or evolve, but it's part of who we are, and we still think there's room to be successful. That doesn't mean that we should keep doing things the way we did five or 10 years ago – we've got to continue to change how we approach it."

 

[Sabercrusader]

I'm okay with that, but the flip side is that Bethesda really needs better marketing for their single player games not named Fallout or Elder Scrolls.

 

[MrNewVegas]

Welp I'm going to ship them some Saran because that's a wrap!

 

[Silky]

Yeah no one's gonna buy full price single player western games by a publisher who is still only known for Elder Scrolls, Fallout and DOOM

Wolf 2 and Prey had solid marketing campaigns and woah lol no one bought them

Its whatever though. Mooncrash is excellent and probably my favorite expansion of the year, so I'm all for more Mooncrash-like experiences.

 

[Deleted member 14002]

First post on point, tighter Dev cycles also.

 

[Eolz]

I guess an issue they have is that they've always been a bit too arrogant in their marketing thinking their games would sell well because they're known for that, regardless of any other factors.
Not all their studios have this issue, BGS and iD's games usually sell well, Arkane/Tango/Machinegames, a lot less.

 

[Dazraell]

It's ironic considering that last year they had a whole campaign about saving player 1.

 

[Joeyro]

Can't really blame them with how their games been selling despite of their quality.

 

[Lukemia SL]

Just don't focus more on the MP for Doom Eternal's extra content over SP this time yeah.

 

[Glio]

It's ironic considering that last year they had a whole campaign about saving player 1.

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Campaign that did not work for their sales

 

[Silky]

I guess an issue they have is that they've always been a bit too arrogant in their marketing thinking their games would sell well because they're known for that, regardless of any other factors.
Not all their studios have this issue, BGS and iD's games usually sell well, Arkane/Tango/Machinegames, a lot less.

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There are way more issues with Bethesda's marketing strategy that need to be discussed, arrogance isn't one of them lol

Just don't focus more on the MP for Doom Eternal's extra content over SP this time yeah.

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You're gonna get both. DOOM Eternal is gonna be GAAS'd the fuck out now that Id took full creative control over DOOM MP

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

All I want is co-op in their big open world RPGs.

 

[Deleted member 7450]

"Save space on the couch for player two" then?

 

[DMVfan123]

I have no problem with this comment at all but since a lot of people on this forum spit venom when they hear the word "multiplayer"or "GaaS" I'm not expecting it to go down well

 

[angelgrievous]

He said nothing really and now people will only speculate on what he meant. I'll wait until more is revealed before passing any judgement.

 

[Branu]

Don't care about co-op or multiplayer gaming at all. Loved some of your games, Bethesda, but count me out if you're going to follow the trend of unnecessarily shoehorning online components many of us don't want.

 

[Yerffej]

Welp I'm going to ship them some Saran because that's a wrap!

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Bethesda better change their name to Reynolds...cuz it's a wrap!

 

[Bufbaf]

Bethesda figuring out GaaS is a thing years after the fact. Now it's only, like, 5 to 10 years until the first game with these "learnings" comes out, while the world is moving on.

Sometimes videogames are weird.

 

[zombiejames]

All I want is for them to go back to making RPGs.

 

[GitarooMan]

It's ironic considering that last year they had a whole campaign about saving player 1.

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Yeah and it didn't work

 

[Strangelove_77]

Outside of Sony, this generation they've kind of become THE single player games publisher. Good ones at that.
But I suppose those don't sell like they want them to.

 

[Silky]

All I want is for them to go back to making RPGs.

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They will never, ever be as good as TES 1-3. Imagine living in a world believing in hope and optimism.

Don't care about co-op or multiplayer gaming at all. Loved some of your games, Bethesda, but count me out if you're going to follow the trend of unnecessarily shoehorning online components many of us don't want.

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The best part about comments like these is that after two years of these games releasing to critical acclaim and there being an obvious defecit in sales , them responding naturally to the business is met with groans lol

 

[Doskoi Panda]

Multiplayer and co-op aren't even mentioned or alluded to past the link.

He said nothing really and now people will only speculate on what he meant. I'll wait until more is revealed before passing any judgement.

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^^^

 

[Darkstorne]

Bethesda figuring out GaaS is a thing years after the fact. Now it's only, like, 5 to 10 years until the first game with these "learnings" comes out, while the world is moving on.

Sometimes videogames are weird.

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They've been doing GaaS with Elder Scrolls Online for years now and it's making them ludicrous amounts of cash. I assume they were hoping the market was still there for "traditional" single player games as well, but other than TES and Fallout that doesn't seem to be the case. Doesn't surprise me they want their other games to earn as much as ESO does. Hence Fallout 76 I suppose...

 

[Kolx]

Hopefully this means co-op instead of ditching Sp all together and focusing on MP.

 

[Relix]

They need to market their games better dammit.

Opinion: I loved Doom, probably top 10 this Gen for me. On the other hand, Wolfenstein 2 is...err..subpar. Not having.a lot of fun with it at the moment.

 

[Ausroachman]

Bethesda can't win. Everyone loved doom BECAUSE of its single player , so they made some amazing single player only games like prey and Wolfenstein .

No one bought them so now they think they need to tack on multiplayer again .

People will then whinge that dooms multi sucks but it's campaign is great so they shouldn't have wasted time on the multi.

And the cycle continues .

 

[Tigress]

*sigh* and be the last holdout is breaking down. I just hope it doesn't mean a fallout and elder scrolls more aimed at being a co op game than a single player game.

 

[Derrick01]

Please no co-op. I'll accept almost anything else. Like the MP in doom was fine and had no effect on the single player portion and it was easily ignored.

 

[Branu]

They will never, ever be as good as TES 1-3. Imagine living in a world believing in hope and optimism.



The best part about comments like these is that after two years of these games releasing to critical acclaim and there being an obvious defecit in sales , them responding naturally to the business is met with groans lol

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A deficit in sales, in spite of the critical acclaim their releases met, could be for any number of reasons. Maybe the games are too high concept for your average gamer nowadays. Perhaps some people don't want to spend $60 on a game. I don't know the reason, and I understand that they're responding as a business probably should, searching for avenues of profit. That doesn't mean I have to like it. As has already been mentioned, Sony is churning out critically acclaimed single player titles that are doing gangbusters on the charts. The market for single player gaming is still there.

 

[Silky]

Adding co-op in a single player design template ruins a lot of it. If you're gonna make a co-op game just make a fucking co-op game and make SP the option instead of the reverse

 

[Xiao Hu]

TES is not a series that is fit for coop. It's a power fantasy trip where one character, the player, matters.

 

[HeisenbergWW62]

theyre still gonna make single player games, just probably with coop option and MP modes. wolf 3 will probably be like doom with a big MP mode with it, and both that and Eternal will be supported much longer

 

[Filament Star]

It's not their fault gamers beg for single player games and then refuse to pay full price for them.

 

[Old Gimlet Eyes]

Bethesda figuring out GaaS is a thing years after the fact. Now it's only, like, 5 to 10 years until the first game with these "learnings" comes out, while the world is moving on.

Sometimes videogames are weird.

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Lol you do remember horse armor right??

 

[LonestarZues]

They could always go the Ubisoft style of GaaS for their traditional single player games Assassins Creed and Far Cry. Have dlc sprinkled throughout the year and have daily/weekly events. Co-op optional like Far Cry wouldn't hurt anyone either if they want to go that route.

 

[nbnt]

Uh huh.. The last big third party publisher with SP only games is joining the rest I guess. Was good while it lasted. Thanks, people who keep asking for quality SP games yet don't actually buy them.

 

[Deleted member 2809]

How about some polish and tested jobs/xp progression

 

[Noppie]

People will then whinge that dooms multi sucks

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I mean, it did. That's not the fault of the people who are 'whining', but Bethesda's.

 

[LonestarZues]

It's not their fault gamers beg for single player games and then refuse to pay full price for them.

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100% agree with this as well.

 

[daniel77733]

Bethesda has been a top five publisher for me this generation and continue to stay that way due to their single player focus with their games but their marketing needs to get a lot better because that's why they don't sell as opposed to no one buying single player games. Every game I buy is for the single player story campaign so Bethesda is easily on the list. Wouldn't mind them doing bigger and better expansions for their single player games ala AC Origins. I would be all in for that.

For 2019, im looking forward to RAGE 2, Wolfenstein: Youngblood and Doom Eternal. Considering that outside of RAGE which I played and completed a month ago, Bethesda was non-existent for me last generation so to be where they are now for me is huge. I just hope they stay on course for the most part and just increase their marketing because that's what their games need the most.

 

[TheBaldwin]

They will never, ever be as good as TES 1-3. Imagine living in a world believing in hope and optimism.



The best part about comments like these is that after two years of these games releasing to critical acclaim and there being an obvious defecit in sales , them responding naturally to the business is met with groans lol

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Yeah. People saying they want single player focused games, and then not buying them/ waiting for sales are the reason why bethesda is going to try and change some aspects to appeal to more people.

Whatever it takes for more dishonoured, ill take. Adopt as much GaAS as they want as long as the quality is maintained

 

[Doskoi Panda]

Bethesda can't win. Everyone loved doom BECAUSE of its single player , so they made some amazing single player only games like prey and Wolfenstein .

No one bought them so now they think they need to tack on multiplayer again .

People will then whinge that dooms multi sucks but it's campaign is great so they shouldn't have wasted time on the multi.

And the cycle continues .

Click to shrink...

*sigh* and be the last holdout is breaking down. I just hope it doesn't mean a fallout and elder scrolls more aimed at being a co op game than a single player game.

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Uh huh.. The last big third party publisher with SP only games is joining the rest I guess. Was good while it lasted. Thanks, people who keep asking for quality SP games yet don't actually buy them.

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Click the link in the OP and look for mentions of multiplayer. Click the link to the Guardian interview within the article linked in the OP and look for mentions of multiplayer.

You'll find that you're actually responding to one half-sentence of speculation from the OP, rather than something that anyone at Bethesda said.

 

[Ganyc]

whatever you do: keep the modding tools

 

[Imitatio]

I don't blame them. They're producing great sp games and they flop commercially because... Well, I don't know why. But people moan at the loss of more sp games and in the end noone buys them.

The casual and broader market moved over to mp since the PS360 days and to coop stuff with the Wii. It's not what I'd like to see game's becoming but on the other hand that's what a growing market brings with it. Same for the implementation of the whole microtransaction shit.

 

[elyetis]

Please no co-op. I'll accept almost anything else. Like the MP in doom was fine and had no effect on the single player portion and it was easily ignored.

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Every time I read those comment it makes no sense to me at all, the existence of coop has no obligation to negatively impact the singleplayer experience in any way.

 

[Deranged Hermit]

Lol you do remember horse armor right??

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Basically. Bethesda started the DLC/GaaS era, this is nothing new. They're always trying different ways of wringing extra money out of their games. Let's just hope their next experiment is better than charging for mods.

 

[Remember]

"We have to change the way we approach single player games"

I am nearly 99% sure I have heard this exact word for word phrase from EA last gen...right before they started screwing things up.

 

[Kerozinn]

The actually good singleplayer games they made people actually bought like crazy (TES.FALLOUT). I liked Prey but the second half of the game is disaster and it was a buggy mess on launch. I remember there was a door to a new level where i lost my upgraded golden shotgun and it had something todo with the placement in the inventory so in the end i had to sacrifice a weapon of mine that i could actually recreate with materials just to save my golden shotgun. I should not have to deal with this.

Well Wolfenstein 2..im sorry that game was straight dumpster fire to me. Not surprised it didnt sell.

Im a 90% singleplayer 10% multiplayer kind of guy and if you games focus now more on coop while before they were 100% singleplayer then i wont bother buying em at launch or ever cause im not paying for features i dont want.

 

[Sargerus]

Not surprising at all. Wolfenstein is getting a co-op standalone expansion. Prey got a rogue-like expansion and a multiplayer mode coming in this summer. Fallout 76 is online only.

I fully expect TES6 to have some time of online component, DOOM 2 to have more focus on multiplayer and TEW3 to have co-op from the get go.