EA: Single-player games are 'finished'

Games publishing giant EAapparently believesthat single-player, offline games are dead. With online play becoming more prevalent and every mediumgoing more and more 'social,'the publisher no longer wants to focus on one-person experiences.

Above: Just imagine how boring this picture would be if there was only one person, right?

EA Games chief Frank Gibeau confirmed the move in a recent interview withDevelop, saying thatall of the company's studio heads are on the same page. "They're very comfortable moving the discussion towards how we make connected gameplay – be it co-operative or multiplayer or online services – as opposed to fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours – and you're out. I think that model is finished."

It's a radical move, as anyone could go to the game store and pick upa lengthy RPG or adventure game that offers the exact 25-hour experience Gibeau is talking about. Such as Mass Effect 2. Which EA published.

Nevertheless, Gibeau says online is "where the innovation, and the action is at."

Above: Do you see any action here? Huh, do ya? Didn't think so

Boo! If you ask us, multiplayer doesn't need to be stuffed into every single game. But hey, EA is a business, and if it thinks the money is all in 'connected' games, that's the direction it'll go in unless it's proven otherwise.But we won't necessarily be happy about it.Though Mirror's Edge did include anonline leaderboard feature, which we assume counts as one of the "online services" Gibeau mentioned,the chances of a sequel seem todiminish every day.

This also suggests thatBioWare's new game, which will be announced this Saturday during Spike's VGAs, will include an online component, unlike Mass Effect.

[Source:Develop]

Dec 9, 2010