'Horizon: Zero Dawn' Proves There Is Still a Future for Single-Player Games
After an Xbox boss stressed that single-player games are not yet dead last week, a game developer also echoed the same sentiments, noting that such games will still be here to stay.
In an interview with Gamespot, Tim Stobo, principal game designer for Guerilla Games said that single-player games will still be part of the future of the gaming industry. Stobo noted that there are a few titles that carry the banner as the gaming world continues to change and evolve.
Stobo said that games like "Horizon: Zero Dawn," as well as "Middle-Earth: Shadow of War" and "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" prove that single-player games can still dominate in the charts.
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"I think Horizon proves that there is a future for a really high-quality single-player experience. [The upcoming story expansion Frozen Wilds] proves that again," said Stobo. "It does seem like maybe there is a business shift in other parts of the industry. But at Guerrilla, we're just focused on telling amazing stories," he added.
Moreover, Stobo also believes that the rise of online-only titles like "Destiny" will not endanger the survival of single-player games. "I think we'll see more games like Destiny and I think there is a place for those. There are a lot of amazing single-player experiences. If we also get more always online experiences, I think that's great for the diversity of games," Stobo explained.
Last week, Xbox Publishing head Shannon Loftis also told Gamespot that single-player games are still alive. She noted, however, that there are real challenges in terms of their economic viability. Loftis noted that storytelling is still key to game development today, the same way it had been in the past.
The downside, however, is that for developers to come up with compelling single-player games, they would need a much bigger budget. She said that gamers who are inclined to playing single-player games "want higher fidelity and they want higher resolution graphics."
