If there is an obvious distinction between users of Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s Playstation, judging by the original titles that the two companies release, it is the type of game that their users play.
Sony’s highest profile original titles and series, from “Uncharted” to “The Last of Us”, “God of War”, “Ghost of Tsushima”, “Infamous”, “Spider-Man”, “Bloodborne”, ” Horizon: Zero Dawn, ”etc. are mostly (or just) single player games.
They are AAA titles with award-winning narratives, rich characters and a very cinematic approach that emphasizes exploration and storytelling at the cost of worrying less about the gameplay itself.
Microsoft’s biggest original work, on the other hand, is much more inclined towards cooperative and multiplayer mode. From “Halo” to “Gears of War” to “Forza”, the game is a social activity – competition and / or cooperation with friends or strangers.
They are celebrated titles in which good frame rates are more important than graphics or history, and an online element is often the key. Of course, some of these games have single-player campaigns (though usually only short ones), the real meat is in multiplayer.
A few weeks ago, Vice discovered an internal presentation that leaked at Sony last year, which not only confirms this division, but indicates that the company is flourishing in the single player market, as others like EA or Rockstar avoid this arena in favor multiplayer titles or live services with their continuous streams of revenue generation.
According to the company, single-player games are thriving with PlayStation users spending more time playing offline than online. As a result of their discoveries and a survey of more than 3,000 of its user base, they continue to reshape the way the company makes games.
It turns out that the ‘Activities’ feature on PS5, a feature that allows players to switch between game missions, was a direct response to that. The feature was specifically designed to address some of the challenges that users face with single-player games – simplifying it and making it more friendly and easy to engage for those who have little time.
The result is that Sony’s single-player games for the PS5 will offer more drop-in and drop-out gameplay – something multiplayer is best known for.
A look ahead at Sony’s PS5 original list and things like “God of War: Ragnarok”, “Horizon: Forbidden West” and “Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart” definitely indicate that they intend to stick with single-player mode for years to come.