EA's Gibeau: Single-player game model is 'finished,' online is the future

by Griffin McElroy on Dec 8th 2010 10:30PM

EA Games president Frank Gibeau's philosophy about the future of the games industry will probably come as a disappointment to everyone waiting on bated breath for Mirror's Edge 2: Even Edgier. Gibeau recently explained to Develop that EA is "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." He added, "I think that model is finished."

This philosophy is reflected in the multiplayer-equipped Dead Space 2, which still looks great, but ... it's still kind of a bummer, isn't it? Like, that EA-published, big-budget adventure game about tax auditors we've always dreamed about? It feels like we missed our window on that one.

Source: Develop

Tags: dead-space-2, ea, ea-games, Frank-Gibeau, microsoft, pc, playstation, ps3, xbox

Reader Comments (80)

So Dragon Age, Mass effect, fallout 3.. games like that.. not worth it anymore?

...EA was doing so well too

@BrianH

The only reason he says this is because that way they can charge us for playing online, that´s the only reason they want this multiplayer thing. I have played multiplayer maybe 3 times in my life and i don´t miss it at all. One player games are like a novel, it´s a story were you get involved, multiplayer is more like playing basketball with your friends, sure you enjoy it. But you can´t have a nice travel to a different world if you don´t have the single player experience.

@BrianH
Seriously. The only games I care to play are basically "single player, 25-hour and I'm out". Why? Because I can finish them and MOVE ON. A concept that will become increasingly important when the alternative, multiplayer games, start actually nickel and diming me to keep playing.

I can't grudge CounterStrike players for their passion. Heck, they've spent a lot less money than me on games over the years. I may have played a variety of titles, but I had to buy each one. They fixated on a single game, but at least it was free. Soon that won't be free. At which point I would say you're just wasting your life, spending it all on one narrow, equally expensive thing. (unless you compete at the pro level)

So, basically, yeah, I guess if 25 hour single-player games are out, I'm out. Sayonara, EA. I'm sure some other company will help me out.

@(Unverified)
Actually Steam is the answer to EA. And I don't mean that in a good way. Companies want us to play games on their terms, and Steam allows that (no piracy, forced updates, kill-switch support). I don't particularly like Steam (or similar DRM platform) because of that, but at least Steam isn't using technology to dictate what game types exist. If my only choice is between Steam and EA's multiplayer-only catalog, I'll probably spend my money with Steam (or Impulse, or whatever else offers the games I want).

@BrianH
For all the people out there crying foul saying that Gibeau is trying to force multiplayer down your throat for every game, you need to stop freaking out and read the actual interview.

The very first question he responds:
"Well, it’s not only about multiplayer, it’s about being connected. I firmly believe that the way the products we have are going they, need to be connected online. Multiplayer is one form of that. "

He doesn't say the single player only model is dying. The model he says is finished is for games that are complete in the box with no further expansion. To this extent games like ME2 and Fallout 3 already follow what he is talking about through the support from DLC.

I'm all for adding multiplayer to games as long as its not something thats tacked on just for the hell of it like in the case BioShock. They didn't do anything innovative it was just more of the same but in a different setting. Instead, look at Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood as an example of doing it right. No one asked for it, but they added a fresh and innovative take on multiplayer. It may not become the most popular multiplayer game, but it definitely adds something positive to the franchise.

I agree with EA

@Extinction

cool!!!! send me your address and your credit card number so i can give them to EA to charge you for my "online experience"

guess my gaming days are done then...

@BLunted thats funny, is EA your only source of games, and without them gaming might as well not exist? also do you not have in internet connection to play MP games? i assume you would, in order to write this message

@tekboy

those hearts above BLunted's comment tell me that his point went way over your head.

@tekboy
I think he made that comment because the EA guy was claiming this was an industry-wide trend, and probably not just specific to EA.

Companies frequently do crap like this to make their undesirable actions sound more acceptable. To make it sound like stuff they just gotta do because "hey, that's the way things are going", even though it's customer demand that ultimately drives the market, and customers generally don't like spending more money on less crap that they want.

Thats bullshit, Mass effect does not need multiplayer, fallout doesnt need multiplayer and etc.

assassins creed brotherhood and dead space 2 doesnt need it neither. its not going to make me stop buying the game because it doesnt have multiplayer.

@Miami Prodigy
A good example is bioshock 2, was MP really needed for that?
I don't recall people complaining about the lack of mp in the first game.

@Miami Prodigy
I predict there will be a reckoning with multiplayer.

Adding MP to a game is not free. There has to be a good reason to do it. Traditionally, the ROI has simply been as a sales driver: MP was simply a juicy bullet point on the list of reasons to buy a game. There was no solid way to tell if people kept playing the MP in significant numbers. Tron 2.0 had MP. Who cares? Nobody ever played it.

MP has never generated post-sale revenue. Now they expect it to. They want to charge for it. Good luck with that. Many people who buy these games just tinker around with MP and never get into it. If you are spending $$$ on your MP component expecting a return--it's won't happen for most games.

Another point: look at the MMORPG market. Since there are recurring costs involved with that--as well as huge time demands, the market can only support a couple big games at a time. If people have to pay for MP, it will be the same way. If all companies make a land grab for this, only a few will get anything out of it. The rest will crash and burn. Also, your own games will compete with each other. Notice how Blizz doesn't host two MMORPG's at once.

@sigma8
unlike stupid sony. WTF. SWG, EQ1, EQ2, Planetside.. And you're shocked you have small marketshare with each game? Focus on one.

@Miami Prodigy I don;t know about MAss Effect, but everybody keeps saying Fallout, and that's a great example of a game that would pretty much do nothing but benefit from going online. Seriously, take the same game and just allow your friends to co-op, throw in a trade system. It would only get better.

I do see what you mean, not arguing, just saying that I think Fallout is a bad example.

Does he mean games without multiplayer are finished or single-player altogether? Because that definitely will never happen. if a game doesn't have single-player, I'm not buying, and i know many others reflect this thought.

Yeah Screw you SP is here to stay.
Not everyone likes playing a MP game everyday.
I enjoy you know being able to experience new stories and settings.

I don't want anything that'll take away from that, coop is fine but if you're trying to make games based off the MP now whats left/

New titles like assassin creed brotherhood show a good idea of what to do.
It has a very strong SP and a very strong MP.
It isnt one over the other, they both compliment each other very well.

(Also is your idea is MP is the future you need to put some work into dead space, thankfully you had a beta. A lot need to be fixed there gameplay wise)

@Jawmuncher You know, the only reason they are being this way is because the DLC cards from FIFA are a serious source of constant revenue...more than their recent actual game sales.

"Not everyone likes playing a MP game everyday."

Very true. For me at least, the multiplayer is probably the least important aspect in enjoying a game. Some of my favorite games -- Portal, Mass Effect, Oblivion, Halo: CE, and Assassin's Creed -- either didn't have multiplayer, or I didn't partake in it (though Brotherhood's implementation looks, at the very least, interesting). I'm far more enticed by a strong story, with interesting characterization, and at least some emotional investment, which I feel is lacking in multiplayer. Granted, some of those are lacking even in the games I just mentioned, but I feel the point still stands.

If by 'finished' they mean "actually doing better this year than the couple of years past" then I can see what they are saying.

Honestly, didn't they get the memo that SP mode games skyrocketed this year?

If multi-player is going to be all that exists in games, I see myself getting out of the gaming world.

This is such a tired argument. It's the same thing that was said about 2D gaming when 3D was taking over and 2D is still around and looking as amazing as ever. 2D, just like 3D, has grown with the technology and hasn't become obsolete and neither will the single player experience. Gamers still want a solo experience in addition to a multiplayer one. This idea that solo gaming is going the way of the do do bird is ridiculous.

@FrenchFryGuy : I dunno, their doing a damn good job of killing it off, and not just because their lazy - eliminating single player is the first step to killing PC gaming. First they came for my PC co-op, and I said nothing. Then they came for my PC single-player, and I said nothing. Then they came for my CONSOLE single-player..

EA should be rewarded with lost sales. Nobody should pay for anything that lacks single player. Oh, and post tons of complaints on their forums (which they'll promptly delete and usually ban you for, but new accounts ain't hard to make).

I know whos games I'm not going buy. In my opinion multi-player is just an excuse to not have any meaningful story telling or interaction with the player. How many times can you play protect/capture the dingus, or fight the opposing force, or hold the base? Sorry but you have to try harder to get my money. i don't want another shooter ver +1 with +random more characters and weapons with incriment*X better graphics. If i wanted this i would go to Activision. Ea was doing so well, what happened?

@Einlander : They got greedy and stupid, like every big design house that becomes a publisher. And their all in bed with or copycatting each other, so you're assured that the laziest, most profit-milking ideas will be the ones that proliferate.

people need to calm down, hes not saying that we wont see sp in games in multiplayer, hes saying that there will be fwere multiplayer ONLY titles, and opt out for co-op or mp in other games

@tekboy oops i spelled fewer wrong

Um, no, he's saying single player games are done, and that multiplayer only games are the only thing they are doing.

He's wrong, and an idiot, but you read it completely backwards.

@tekboy

Read:

"[EA Studio Heads are] 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___."

Boo this man! Boo!

@mmxzer0
indeed good sir indeed
*fixes monocle*

This guy is as accurate as Pachter...go away Frank Gibreau...and take your thoughts with you...

I guess I'm part of the minority that doesn't like online MP all that much (with the exception of co-op). Guess I'll be buying my single player games from publishers that don't hate money.

@fohf

Is it a minority? If so, sad days.

Single player makes up 90% of my gaming.

Alan Wake, FAllout, Mirrors Edge, Mass Effect and list continues.

These are of the best games I've ever played.

Such bullshit coming out of EA's mouth, I expected Activision to do this!

MP often ruins immersion for me. I think Frank should play a few MP games and see how he feels after listening to someone play obnoxiously loud music, or getting yelled at for being up too late on a school night, lame... MP can be fun and often times it is. I just don't agree with this, make better NPC's. i enjoy my 25 hours and if the game sucks i am out and so is the game.

@thejigisup

But you need your rest before school!

Man, seeing so many people misunderstand this comment on every gaming site is almost infuriating.

He's not saying "Every game will have multiplayer", he's saying "EVery game will have an online component to it". This could be anything from multiplayer to downloadable single-player only levels. Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect 2 are examples of how this online component works for SP games: Both of them had huge amounts of DLC in the form of new levels/quests and armor. The games/model that he says are dead are ones that live in a purely offline environment, which last generation was dominated by.

Note that this isn't a forward-looking statement, but one on the current state of affairs: Almost every game made in the last, like, 3 or 4 years that is worth a damn has some form of online component to it.

@CypherSignal : um, no, that's clearly NOT what he's saying, because that's not what his words say. At all.

@CypherSignal eh it's all still garbage to me. I want devs to use all those gigglebytes i've got on my blu-ray disc. I see a ton of online passes that i'm just not going to bother with in my future.

@psycros

Well, except it's not just about online connections and additional content, they are looking for ways to extend the experience of the game beyond just the disc (but that doesn't necessarily mean DLC).

Take Dragon Age for example. A single player game, but they did touch very loosely one some social aspects with it (some rather limited ability to share your progress with friends, kind of like a status update or Tweet, but just for DA). I'm willing to be that DA2 is going to have additional social tools built into it, and more used to support/encourage the community.

"It's a lot easier to force an online pass for online games"

-Fixed

Yeah, uh, NO.

It seems all these company's think they can all make a game like COD. dead space 2 is not the answer for sure. I would like to see more co-op in game.

Even if as some other commenters have pointed out, that it just means that everyting will have something that will be online co-op, dlc, updates, whatever ; It just means another reason to ship an incomplete game for full price, then nickel and dime me to buy dlc that should already be in the game and patches to problems that should never have been there. Also EA is that company that LOVES to pull the plug on thier multiplayer servers forcing you to have to get the newest version of the same game as they did with the madden series.

Make your single player solid and stand-alone then give me online components so it will actually be a value add that i will spend money on.

I swear... I think EA's collective IQ drops daily.

I don't mind co-op in a single player game, and occasionally popping online for some competitive multiplayer, given its a genre I enjoy, can be fun. But I still enjoy a single player game, here and there.

As another said, EA... if you're droppin' the single player set-up, that's cool. I'm sure there's at least a half dozen other companies I can name off the top of my head that are not only better, but can still hook me up in this bleak "future" of yours.

Boourns!

I think he's saying that the Single-Player-ONLY game model is dying. People are looking for a co-op component and, to a lesser degree, multiplayer option. Not that Single player will go away, but co-op and multiplayer will start to crop up as an extension to the main game more and more.

If that's what he means then I'm all for it! I'd love co-op in Fallout or Mass Effect personally. Think how much fun Borderlands is with a friend!

On the downside, I can see this move increasing the cost of new games since development of co-op seems to be costly.

Well this makes sense, why spend money to create actual experiences when you can just throw random people together and let THEM create the experience for themselves. It doesn't sound so bad until you realize they are just creating glorified chat servers where everyone can play the same game. Just like pogo.com except with voice chat! And you will pay $60 per different game instead of nothing.

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EA's Gibeau: Single-player game model is 'finished,' online is the future

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