single-player video game

{{Video game history}}

The earliest video games, such as Tennis for Two (1958), Spacewar! (1962), and Pong (1972), were symmetrical games designed to be played by two players. Single-player games gained popularity only after this, with early titles such as Speed Race (1974)"Speed Race." (Game). N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013. and Space Invaders (1978).

The reason for this, according to Raph Koster, is down to a combination of several factors: increasingly sophisticated computers and interfaces that enabled asymmetric gameplay, cooperative gameplay and story delivery within a gaming framework, coupled with the fact that the majority of early games players had introverted personality types (according to the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator).{{cite web | url = http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/02/10/are-single-player-games-doomed | title = Are single-player games doomed? | access-date = 2013-02-25 | last = Koster | first = Raph | author-link = Raph Koster | date = 10 Feb 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130208222638/http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/02/10/are-single-player-games-doomed | archive-date = 8 February 2013}}

Although most modern games incorporate a single-player element either as the core or as one of several game modes, single-player gaming had been viewed by the video game industry as peripheral to the future of gaming, with Electronic Arts vice president Frank Gibeau stating in 2012 that he had not approved one game to be developed as a single-player experience.{{cite news | title = Is single-player gaming under-threat? | date = 28 Oct 2012 | publisher = Future plc | url = http://www.computerandvideogames.com/374796/features/is-single-player-gaming-under-threat/ | work = Computer and Video Games | access-date = 2013-02-25}}

The question of the financial viability of single-player AAA games was raised following the closure of Visceral Games by Electronic Arts (EA) in October 2017. Visceral had been a studio that established itself on a strong narrative single-player focus with Dead Space, and had been working on a single-player, linear narrative Star Wars game at the time of the closure; EA announced following this that they would be taking the game in a different direction, specifically "a broader experience that allows for more variety and player agency".{{cite web | url = http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-10-17-ea-has-shut-down-visceral-games | title = EA has shut down Visceral Games | first = Matt | last= Wales | date = October 17, 2017 | access-date = October 17, 2017 | work = Eurogamer }} Many commentators felt that EA made the change as they did not have confidence that a studio with an AAA-scale budget could produce a viable single-player game based on the popular Star Wars franchise. Alongside this, as well as relatively poor sales of games in the year prior that were principally AAA single-player games (Resident Evil 7, Prey, Dishonored 2, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided) against financially successful multiplayer games and those offer a games-as-a-service model (Overwatch, Destiny 2, and Star Wars Battlefront 2), were indicators to many that the single-player model for AAA was waning.{{cite web | url = https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/18/16491188/ea-star-wars-visceral-games-single-player |title = EA's Star Wars 'pivot' is a vote of no confidence in single-player games | first =Samit | last = Sarkar | date = October 18, 2017 | access-date = October 20, 2017 | work = Polygon }}{{cite web | url = https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/does-visceral-s-closure-prove-aaa-single-player-games-are-dying- | title = Does Visceral's closure prove AAA single-player games are dying? | author = Staff | date = October 19, 2017 | access-date = October 20, 2017 | work = Gamasutra }}{{cite web | url = https://www.vice.com/en/article/todays-star-wars-news-makes-the-future-of-single-player-look-very-messy/ | title = Today's Star Wars News Makes the Future of Single-Player Look Very Messy | first= Patrick |last= Klepek |date = October 17, 2017 | access-date = October 20, 2017 | work = Vice }}{{cite web | url = http://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-rise-and-fall-of-visceral-games| title = The Rise and Fall of Visceral Games | first = Caty | last = McCarthy | date = October 19, 2017 | access-date = October 20, 2017 | work = US Gamer }} Manveer Heir, who had left EA after finishing his gameplay design work for Mass Effect Andromeda, acknowledged that the culture within EA was against the development of single-player games, and with Visceral's closure, "that the linear single-player triple-A game at EA is dead for the time being".{{cite web | url = http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-10-23-manveer-heir-bioware-mass-effect-ea-monetisation | title = I've seen people literally spend $15,000 on Mass Effect multiplayer cards | first = Robert | last = Purchase | date = October 23, 2017 | access-date = October 23, 2017 | work = Eurogamer }} Bethesda on December 7, 2017, decided to collaborate with Lynda Carter to launch a Public Safety Announcement to save single-player gaming.{{cite web | url = http://www.pcgamer.com/bethesda-kicks-off-a-save-player-1-sale-for-its-single-player-games/ | title = Bethesda kicks off a 'Save Player 1' sale for its single-player games | first = Andy | last = Chalk | date = December 7, 2017 | access-date = December 14, 2017 | work = PC Gamer }}

A few years later in 2021, EA was reported to have revived interest in single-player games, following the successful launch of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in 2020. The company still planned on releasing live service games with multiplayer components, but began evaluating its IP catalog for more single-player titles to revive, such as a remake of the Dead Space franchise.{{cite web | url = https://venturebeat.com/2021/07/01/dead-space-remake-is-in-the-works-at-motive/ | title = Dead Space remake is in the works at Motive | first =Jeff | last= Grubb | date = July 1, 2021 | accessdate = July 1, 2021 | work = Venture Beat }} Around the same time, head of Xbox Game Studios Phil Spencer said that they still see a place for narrative-driven single-player games even though the financial drivers of the market tended to be live service games. Spencer said that developing such games with AAA-scale budgets can be risky, but with availability of services like cloud gaming and subscription services, they can gauge audience reaction to these games early on and reduce the risk involved before releases.{{cite web | url = https://www.theguardian.com/games/2021/jul/13/phil-spencer-future-of-microsoft-xbox-risks-narrative-games | title = Phil Spencer on the future of Xbox: we still want to take risks with games | first = Keith | last = Stuart | date = July 13, 2021 | accessdate = July 13, 2021 | work = The Guardian }}

As the narrative and conflict in single-player gameplay is created by a computer rather than a human opponent, single-player games are able to deliver certain gaming experiences that are typically absent—or de-emphasised—in multiplayer games."ThomasDaPsycho." : Video Game Story Elements. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.

{{See also|Narrative of video games}}

Single-player games rely more heavily on compelling stories to draw the player into the experience and to create a sense of investment. Humans are unpredictable, so human players - allies or enemies - cannot be relied upon to carry a narrative in a particular direction, and so multiplayer games tend not to focus heavily on a linear narrative. By contrast, many single-player games are built around a compelling story."Tales of the Rampant Coyote: What Makes a Great RPG - Mechanics." Tales of the Rampant Coyote. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.

While a multiplayer game relies upon human-human interaction for its conflict, and often for its sense of camaraderie, a single-player game must build these things artificially. As such, single-player games require deeper characterisation of their non-player characters in order to create connections between the player and the sympathetic characters and to develop deeper antipathy towards the game's antagonists. This is typically true of role-playing games (RPGs), such as Dragon Quest and the Final Fantasy, which are primarily character-driven and have a different setting.

These game elements are not firm, fixed rules; single-player puzzle games such as Tetris or racing games focus squarely on gameplay.

• Massively multiplayer online game

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last1=Fullerton|first1=Tracy|author-link1=Tracy Fullerton|title=Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games|date=2014|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1498785877|edition=3|url={{GBurl|id=7xjYCwAAQBAJ}}|access-date=30 January 2018}}
• {{cite book|last1=Mitra|first1=Ananda|title=Digital Games: Computers at Play|date=2010|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0816067862|pages=24–39|url={{GBurl|id=CZrCdZE1WLQC|p=24}}|access-date=30 January 2018}}
• {{cite book|last1=Perron|first1=Bernard|last2=Wolf|first2=Mark J.P.|title=The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1136290503|pages=253–256|url={{GBurl|id=P43HBQAAQBAJ|pg=PT253}}|access-date=30 January 2018}}

{{video game gameplay}}

Category:Video game terminology