“Single-player games are the phoenix.”
By Alex Osborn
As multiplayer games continue to rise in popularity, there’s been speculation in recent years that single-player games are dying. God of War director Cory Barlog recently weighed in with his thoughts on the matter and discussed why he believes there’s still very much a place for story-driven single-player experiences in gaming.
“Single-player games are the phoenix at this point,” Barlog said on the latest episode of IGN Expert Mode. “We go through the ebb and flow. Games change by the different creatives that get involved and say, ‘I have this crazy idea.'”
**Video below contains God of War spoilers**
Barlog elaborated, noting that while the current craze is battle royale, with games like PUBG and Fortnite stealing much of the spotlight, there’s still room for other types of experiences. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that anything else goes away, it simply says that’s the thing we’re paying attention to,” he said in regard to the increased popularity of battle royale games.
While competitive games are the hot thing right now, Barlog noted that they aren’t for everyone, himself included. “I don’t want to work on any games that don’t have some kind of story component because that is the draw for me,” he said. “Competition doesn’t drive me. It’s not to say that competition is bad, it’s not to say that competitive games are bad because I love that those that exist, but it’s not my thing.”
Barlog believes there will always be a place for both single-player and multiplayer games; the popularity of different types of experiences will just rise and fall as time goes on.
“It’s not about a competition between multiplayer and single-player,” he said. “It’s not about any of them being alive or dead, right? It is Schrödinger’s cat. We are alive and we are dead at the same time, right? And we will always be that way. And it will be an ebb and flow throughout time.”
Be sure to check out IGN Expert Mode for our full chat with Barlog about Santa Monica Studio’s PS4 exclusive, which according to our review, “is nothing short of a masterpiece.”
Alex Osborn is IGN’s Weekend Web Producer. Find him on Twitter at @alexcosborn.
