Square Enix, Eidos Montreal, and Crystal Dynamics officially announced Shadow of the Tomb Raider last month, with a release date that’s only a few months away. The upcoming latest installment in the Tomb Raider franchise is one of the most anticipated single-player games of 2018, alongside Spider-Man and Red Dead Redemption 2. The developer of what could possibly be the next huge single-player experience after God of War speaks about whether the single-player genre is dying or thriving.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider Single-Player: Are Single-Player Games Dying?
Eidos Montreal Head of Studio David Anfossi recently spoke with GamesIndustry.biz about his opinion regarding the current state of single-player games. He says: “It’s a question of maybe trends, or moment, or timing. Every year there is a new trend. At the moment it’s Fortnite – which is a great game – and all the attention is around these kinds of games.”
There’s also the fact that gamers are older now and have less time for single-player games that take too long to complete. “That being said, I believe that the story-driven experience is going through a generational change. Especially for people like me, the old guys… people who are 25 or older. Looking at God of War, that’s a pretty good example of a great single-player experience. I like it a lot, but I might not get the time to complete it. For me, that’s a frustration. Because when you start a story-driven experience you want to see the conclusion.”
Shadow of the Tomb Raider Single-Player: Why Online Multiplayer Isn’t Killing Single-Player
Anfossi also says that the single-player genre is just as strong as it has always been and that it should continue. However, in order to ensure that single-player games survive, he believes that developers have to “adapt and try new models.” He explains: “We want to build strong online technology. We are doing tests, we are learning, and we are working out how to apply that to our games, but we have to be careful about the fans. Online does not have to mean multiplayer. It could, but it could also be something different. It can be a single-player experience but online. Online, for me, does not mean we forget the single-player experience. It could be part of that experience. Or it might mean we try multiplayer things at the same time.”
Shadow of the Tomb Raider Single-Player: New Game Coming From Eidos Montreal?
If more developers have the same mindset as David Anfossi and his studio, single-player games will surely continue to thrive alongside online multiplayer games like Fortnite and PUBG. Another interesting piece of info from Anfossi’s interview is that he said: “We are adding 100 stations and developers because at the moment we have three big productions going on at the same time.” We know that two of those are Shadow of the Tomb Raider and The Avengers Project. However, we have yet to receive any details or information about the third unannounced game.
In other related news, God of War director Cory Barlog also recently spoke about whether single-player games are truly dying. He has somewhat similar opinions as David Anfossi, as he believes that the death of single-player games has been severely exaggerated and that they can co-exist with online multiplayer games.
