Multi-player Components in Games Attract More People

Multi-player; one of the greatest components ever implemented in video games. At least in my own opinion. Aside from a few single-player oriented franchises I like to play every few years a new game is released, a video game, specifically a first person shooter has probably a ninety-five percent chance of not being bought by me due to a lack of solid multiplayer. That's just me. I view large amounts of solitary gaming where I am playing pre-fabricated opponents with algorithms for brains, as a waste of my time. I love nothing more than hoping on Teamspeak with a bunch of people, splitting into teams, coming up with a strategy and then going at it with the other team. I am sure you well know that not all gamers are like that. But according to Ars Technica, games that do offer the opportunity to play with and against other human players does to a large degree, affect the maximum potential revenue that can be generated.

"Developing and publishing video games is a competitive business, but based on research from Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, there are a few things that can seemingly lead to guaranteed higher sales. That's not to say that there aren't interesting trends to spot, however, such as the critical role online support plays in a game's success.

The study found that by adding online functionality into a game—more specifically the ability to play against or with others—developers can generally double the amount of money your game makes. The finding in the study is more intuitive: high quality games (defined as having a Metacritic score of 90+) can sell up to 531 percent more than the average. So now, the job is clear: make high-quality games, and don't forget the online component. "

I hope reports such as these send a strong message to the industry about the subject. Which is actually ridiculous because this should, and probably is to some extent, a well known fact. Gamers don't want just multiplayer. They want good multiplayer -- fun multiplayer! Not something just added on for the sake of it.

Easier said than done, right? Of course! In many cases, adding multiplayer functionality can decrease the overall quality of a game. This is all constituted by how hard the studio, company, publisher works at it and markets it. People want to make money and the financial aspect that makes these companies run smoothly do tend to get in the way many times. Receiving twice as much revenue is worth the extra time and resources required, but sometimes dilemmas appear and decisions have to be made. That's understandable. In many cases, great multiplayer requires a lot of work. Sometimes developers have to take many steps backwards from their original design to make something that runs smoothly from a technical perspective which may interfere with the gameplay.

As the article said, the online component shouldn't be neglected. Games with a great single-player experience and multi-player aspect are essentially a double threat. It appeals to both types of gamers. I'm sure game developers realize this already, I just hope they take seriously.

[Source: Ars Technica]