Titanfall Team Decides Against Single-Player Campaign

[Cognimancer]

Titanfall Team Decides Against Single-Player Campaign

The developers at Respawn Entertainment don't think single-player is popular enough to justify the costs.

Titanfall is a game with jetpacks, parkour, and giant mechs, and the internet is consequently abuzz with excitement. The footage we've seen thus far has shown some intense multiplayer action, but talk of a single-player story mode has been notably absent. The simple explanation for that fact is that there is no single-player; Titanfall will be online only.

"We make these single-player missions that take up all the focus of the studio, that take a huge team six months to make, and players run through it in eight minutes," says Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella. "And how many people finish the single-player game? It's a small percentage. It's like, everyone players through the first level, but five percent of people finish the game."

For Respawn's crew of 60-something heads, those numbers just don't add up. "You split the team," Zampella says. "They're two different games ... but people spend hundreds of hours in the multiplayer experience versus as little time as possible rushing to the end [of the single-player]."

Zampella's pragmatic use of development resources may upset solitary gamers who wanted a slice of the action, but it's probably wise not to overspend when dealing with a relatively small studio. Titanfall will have some story elements, but it will unfold over the course of the "multiplayer experience." And let's be honest, the appeal here is the mechs and jetpacks - a sweeping narrative probably isn't necessary.

Titanfall is due to launch in spring 2014 on Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC.

Source: Games Industry [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-06-18-zampella-titanfall-not-gunning-for-call-of-duty]

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[Harker067]

Ok that saves me the trouble of buying it, poor wallet is light enough as it is.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Considering how shit most FPS single player campaigns are, we probably didn't lost much here.

 

[RogueportJack]

I actually respect them for this. If you're going for a quality multiplayer experience, you may as well focus on that. If they don't want to shoehorn a campaign in then they shouldn't, especially when the reverse happens so often.

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

Well I won't lie, that is disappointing. Seems like such an interesting world to tell a story in.

But I can't say it's a big surprise. And since Halo has kinda fallen out of favor with me, I've been wanting a new shooter for the occasions when I feel like some online multiplayer. I'll still keep an eye on Titanfall.

 

[kael013]

An asspull for statistics to prove their reasoning with no sources, a general assumption that people most of the time play MP and don't spend that long in SP (and if they do it's just to rush to the end)... Look guys, just [i/]say[/i] you want to make a MP only game. People will respect that; this kind of explanation just paints you as douches to those of us who [i/]do[/i] enjoy SP experiences.

 

[unstabLized]

Hey, at least the MP will be polished.. Hopefully.. I do like Single over Multi, but if it's really good Multi, then the game will hold on its own.

 

[STENDEC1]

And in a related story, Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella was admitted to hospital today after revelations that he had his head jammed up his arse. Details at 11.

 

[Tradjus]

This is shocking, I never expected too see multiplayer focused titles too just drop the pretensions and come right out with the fact that they don't give a single shit about single player, but wow, just wow.
Now I'm just waiting for this too happen in the next COD and Battlefield and for these types of games too diverge into their own very specific genre.
That'll only happen if this gambit is successful though.

 

[Deu Sex]

Excellent news. Nothing more painful than when a clearly multiplayer-focused game like Battlefield 3 has too shove in a single player campaign simply because its considered customary. Most gamers don't honestly give a damn about single player when its just acting as a sideshow.

 

[LysanderNemoinis]

This from the same people that gave us Call of Duty, the series that's not only dragging down the entire industry with its banal gameplay and brainless plots? If you're wondering why people zip through the single player campaigns, Mr. Zampella, perhaps you should make campaigns that don't suck. I mean, just look at BioShock 2. It's multiplayer is the spitting image (if not more interesting and more important from a narrative standpoint) of CoD's, and nobody gave a crap about it because BS2 was an awesome game. Same goes for Tomb Raider, and while The Last Of Us' multiplayer is nifty, that sure as hell isn't the reason people are buying that game.

 

[Kiya]

Honestly, if they were going to do single player then I would rather see it developed separately than tacked on as an afterthought.

I guess I'll just have to keep hoping that one day somebody will make that Shogo: Mobile Armor Division sequel that I've been waiting to play for the last fifteen years.

 

[RaNDM G]

There's a substantial amount of gamers out there who would buy a game for the single-player, and only muck around in multiplayer after finishing the campaign. I happen to be one of them. If I wanted multiplayer only, I'm fine with Team Fortress 2.

Still looks cool, but it's not for me.

 

[MrWunderful]

I actually respect them for this. If you're going for a quality multiplayer experience, you may as well focus on that. If they don't want to shoehorn a campaign in then they shouldn't, especially when the reverse happens so often.

I agree. How many multiplayer "focused" games have lackluster single player campaigns that just serve as achievement/trophy fodder? I gave up on the first player campaigns for things like COD a while ago. Halo still sparks my interest, but only because I was invested in the universe.

The largest problem with a MP only game, is they will loose out on the sales of people who DO enjoy the FPS campaign and skip the multiplayer aspect.

 

[DugMachine]

Good. Tacked on single player is usually crap anyways. See BF3 for an example. I can't even remember what it was about nor the side co-op missions. But I sure did put 200 hours into multiplayer.

Nothing of value was lost. Polish the multiplayer and I'm sure this game will be fairly successful. Interesting concept and I'm most likely going to buy it to satisfy my robot and shooting cravings.

 

[blizzaradragon]

While I can respect wanting to focus entirely on multiplayer and make it the best that it can be, this news pretty much killed any interest I had in the game. Shooters and me don't get along well, so during the rare times I play them it's either single-player or co-op affairs such as Firefight in Halo. Sad too, because the game looked to be doing some really cool things that I would've liked to experience, but if I can't experience them without the pressure and griefing that comes with multiplayer then I'll choose my sanity instead.

 

[Dreadman75]

Well now here's an interesting bit of hypocrisy...

When a studio tries to release a game with no multiplayer elements publishers throw a shit fit and demand some sort of online experience. Mostly for monetization purposes.

But when the reverse happens, in this particular case, people are calling it a good move.

I understand their sentiment with this. If the single player is going to be tacked on, then they shouldn't include it. But the opposite should be upheld as well. If a game doesn't need multiplayer, then it shouldn't be forced to include it.

 

[Xukog]

Better no single-player then tacked on garbage single-player I suppose. *shrug*

 

[Baresark]

Meh, few developers can make a single player campaign that is worth anything at all in an FPS. I'm guessing they don't have what it takes to make one, but also it is very resource intensive, so I simultaneously don't blame them for skipping it. The thing is... they kind of lost me. It's not F2P, and it's not worth shelling out $60 for a multiplayer only experience, usually. That is why I don't buy COD games, and I skipped the last Battlefield game. Though, I did really enjoy Brink because of the movement mechanics and it wasn't always just team death match (which can be very boring). We'll see what happens. The play videos do seem pretty cool. But the odds are against me being interested in shelling out money for this.