EA Consigns Offline Gaming to the History Books

[Logan Westbrook]

EA Consigns Offline Gaming to the History Books

Online elements help to balance the creative and commercial sides of game making, says EA executive.

You'll be hard pressed to find an EA game that doesn't have some form of online functionality in the future. EA Games label president, Frank Gibeau, said that the model of "fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you're out" was finished, and that all the innovation was taking place online.

Gibeau stressed that adding online functionality to a game didn't mean that every game had to have a multiplayer. Rather, it meant that all games would have some level of connectivity, of which multiplayer was just one type. Gibeau described the process as a collaboration between his team and the studio, as they tried to find the perfect balance between creative and commercial concerns.

"It's one of my core cultural studio values to allow developers to decide more on what they want to build," he said. "And a studio's creative call needs to be balanced against a commercial imperative, and if you look at online these days - that's the place to be."

"Game makers," he added. "The really good ones, they want to make great games but they also want to make blockbusters. One of the things they need to do is balance that out - I have the right team to help them."

There's so many ways to add online functionality to a game - from the obvious multiplayer options, to smaller things, like being able post high scores or times to social networking sites, or even something super-simple like leaderboards - that even single-player games with absolutely no scope for multiplayer or co-op can have at least some online elements added. It seems pretty likely that if it comes down to a fight between the creative and commercial, money will win out, but at least there's room for studios to maneuver.

Source: Develop [http://www.develop-online.net/features/1067/EAs-leap-of-faith]





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[Dogstile]

As long as they don't force achievements where you have to be online to get them into single player games, i'm good for it.

 

[Ldude893]

I don't want to be forced to have a permanent internet connection all the time when I play my games. What if there's a case where I don't have an internet connection? What games can I play if all my games are internet dependent and I suddenly lost my connection for a month?

 

[malestrithe]

As long as it is just me playing the game without being forced to interact with other people, I am all for it.

 

[AndyRock]

Am I the only one who disconnects themselves from the internet so they can play a single player game without anyone bothering them? I don't believe this should be the future for all games (but probably will be). I dislike the whole leaderboard idea as it seems like a bit of a cop-out by the developer to keep people playing, rather than adding unlockable content (not the DLC type).

 

[Nimbus]

You know what? Screw them. All the classics are single player only, and I can think of dozens of great games in the past few years that had no online elements. Think about half-life, Portal, Mass Effect, ALL the best games in recent times have had single player as the focus. Just because everyone is suddenly trying to be the new COD dosen't mean that the single-player model is defunct.

 

[sharpshooter188]

Im not for it. I live somewhere where internet is not available and the places I visit have limited internet. I sold my Black Ops already because the bots were online only along with the game customization. Does that make any friggen sense? Im actually starting to get out of video games now because the majority are so reliant upon online. I do not approve.

 

[Sean0925]

I don't want to be forced to have a permanent internet connection all the time when I play my games. What if there's a case where I don't have an internet connection? What games can I play if all my games are internet dependent and I suddenly lost my connection for a month?

Hasn't another company done this with negative feedback?

While I do think online is the future I don't want a good single player experience to be taken away from me.

 

[sharpshooter188]

Im not for it. I live somewhere where internet is not available and the places I visit have limited internet. I sold my Black Ops already because the bots were online only along with the game customization. Does that make any friggen sense? Im actually starting to get out of video games now because the majority are so reliant upon online. I do not approve.

 

[WrongSprite]

EA Games label president, Frank Gibeau, said that the model of "fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you're out" was finished, and that all the innovation was taking place online.
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I'm sorry, but the guy's a moron. Tell that to the 400 or so hours I've probably spent in Morrowind, or the 150 in Oblivion. If the single player game has quality, or good lifespan, it can destroy multiplayer length.

 

[Hungry Donner]

There was some industry hotshot who said something similar a year or so back, along with some really ridiculous comparisons. I don't agree with Gibeau that single-player games are on the way out but his argument at least has some merit and I do think that we'll see fewer "fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you're out."

However Gibeau doesn't seem to realize that a game can be exclusively single player and not be short one-off game. Also, just because large single-player games are riskier and have potentially less of a profit margin than more casual multiplayer games doesn't mean that they're money sinks. Both Bethesda Game Studios and Bioware have had a number of successful single-player exclusive RPGs and both companies are doing very well.

 

[mParadox]

Noooo!!! EA... you disappoint. At least you will if you don't give us a good single player of Dead Space 2!

*crosses fingers*

OW!! That hurt now didn't it? =3

 

[Suraht]

And yet, Tetris, Solitaire, and Minesweeper continue to be played. Funny, that.

 

[Sixcess]

This does sound rather like "Online is the future, because we can sell 75% of the game at full price, then sell the other 25% as DLC later on."

 

[Gunner 51]

Am I the only one who disconnects themselves from the internet so they can play a single player game without anyone bothering them? I don't believe this should be the future for all games (but probably will be). I dislike the whole leaderboard idea as it seems like a bit of a cop-out by the developer to keep people playing, rather than adding unlockable content (not the DLC type).

I do something quite similar to this on the X-box. If you purchased a new game, you generally want to be left alone with it for a few hours - but being in a clan means you will inevitably get saddled with the "XX wants to play Call of Duty: Black Ops." I like the game as much as the next man, but sometimes - a guy just wants a little "me time."

I think EA are wrong to consign Offline Gaming to the history books, and I think this sentiment will ultimately bite a lot of gamers on the bum to some level.

Why should connect to the internet in order to play a game if they have already purchased it?

If I purchased an X-box Live Arcade game and saved it to my hard drive - I don't want to sign in to play it properly. (XBLA games only give you trial mode if you're not connected to Live.)

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Oh good. This'll do well with the fact I don't have wi-fi and am still looking for a VERY long ethernet cable(in stores)

 

[craddoke]

Translation: Here's our plan to lose less money (DRM) and make more money (DLC).

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Bull shit. I'll take straight single player over multiplayer anyday.

 

[The Cheezy One]

I still prefer single player orientated games. How can I put this? I. Don't. Like. People.
Apart from Cliff Bleszinki. Meiow.

 

[DaxStrife]

EA Games label president, Frank Gibeau, said that the model of "fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you're out" was finished, and that all the innovation was taking place online.

Yeah, no. He's forgetting that single-player usually contains a more powerful personal experience and dramatic story arc than a multiplayer game could provide, because multiplayer games have to rely on people and in general people are dicks. There's also nothing wrong with the "25 hours and you're out" thing unless you only play the game once; there's replay value to be considered. Heck, I wish most games lasted 25 hours.