Oh no, another argument is about to rear its ugly head back into the industry limelight: do single player stories matter?
Tweeting last Friday to his followers, Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios founder Christofer Sundberg posed a very important, yet delicate question: "Why should a game have an end? Why bother about story when all data proves that players don't care?"
Sundberg added to this question by boldly stating, “6-12hrs story-driven AAA games makes no sense commercially any more.”
As most gamers are likely aware, the staggering number of players who finish single player stories is ominously disheartening and dwindling with each and every release. However, Sundberg did note that some games experience wide success with their single player adventure, including The Last of Us, which the founder noted.
Nevertheless, Sundberg continued to pound the issue saying, "Story missions are not important,” and then used their studio’s latest game, Just Cause 2, as an example. He exclaimed how their team spent 3-5 months creating the game's story missions, but just 18% of players completed the open-world story.
After received much backlash from his followers, Sunderg ended his tangent by noting that he’s for these adventures in games, but that they’re just not the future of the industry:
"For the record: I love a good game story. I just don't believe in it for the future.”
It’s interesting that Sundberg failed to touch on BioShock Infinite’s recent success through its marvelous story, but he’s certainly right that a majority of gamers do not care about these lengthy campaigns. However, to say that it’s not for the future? That’s definitely a bold claim.
So we ask you, our readers: do you believe that single player stories will continue to play a vital role in the future of gaming? Or does Christofer Sundberg make an unfortunate point with his Twitter comments? Let us know by commenting below.
Source: [Twitter]
