Arena Games Rule, But Elden Ring Proves There Is Still Room For Single-Player Games In Connected World

The existence of simple games like Candy Crush Saga and current craze Wordle prove that no matter how much we like playing with others, there is room for solo gaming sessions as well. 

Elden Ring was launched in late February

By Akriti Rana and Nimish Dubey

Mention the word "gaming", and it is a fair chance that many people today will think you are talking about something like PUBG, Fortnite, Call of Duty or Among Us.

That's not surprising.

With more people having access to quick internet connections than ever before, online multiplayer games have become extremely popular. If you cast a look at the most popular game titles of the day, it is a fair chance that you will find tit dominated by multiplayer games. Even the most popular channels on Twitch (the live streaming network that focuses on gaming) feature a lot of multiplayer gaming. Small wonder then that gaming for most people today is about multiplayer and arena contests where players play with or against each other. 

Games Get Social

All of the aspects stated above is a far cry from the stereotyped image of a gamer from not too long ago. Gamers were supposed to be these anti-social elements who would sit alone in a dark room, lit only by the mayhem happening on the display of the PC or console on which they played games for hours and hours. That was an era dominated by single player games like The Elder Scrolls series, Sim City and Myst which revolved around playing only against the computer. In fact, for a long time, even games like Call of Duty were mainly single player games with a very basic multiplayer option. 

Today, gaming seems to be a more connected world, with literally millions of gamers logging in to tackle each other in online sessions of FFA, race against each other in Asphalt,  or gunning (pun intended) for that Chicken Dinner in PUBG. While in the past, most PC games were mainly single player with a basic multiplayer, now many are mainly multiplayer titles, with short single player chapters. There are many who believe that multiplayer games are more in sync in the connected world of today, with players co-operating, facing off and sharing scores on online networks.

Losing That Story Telling Charm 

While it is not our place to say whether multiplayer games are better than single player ones or vice versa, what cannot be denied is that the popularity of multiplayer games has cut down on a very important element of gaming — storytelling. With multiplayer games, the story element has largely been removed, with the focus being more on action elements and accessories. 

Yes, there is some token storytelling in titles like Fortnite and PUBG, but the accent is on the action and graphic elements. A new version or an update of the game often is more about new theatres of action, weapons, vehicles, uniforms and avatars, rather than about a whole new chapter in the story. Even gameplay innovation is limited as the tendency is to broadly retain the same set of controls. Changing too many controls or bringing in new gameplay elements could disrupt the comfort level of existing players, and these titles depend on online player numbers.   

There is also a belief that game developers prefer working on multiplayer titles as they pose fewer challenges as compared to open world adventure or role playing games, which literally have multiple endings and character development options. They are also easier to publicise and get sponsorships for, thanks to the "contest" element they carry. Advertisers have the opportunity to reach out to a "live" audience of gamers, something which is often not possible in a game that is mainly single player in nature. 

The Elden Ring phenomenon 

Those who believe that there is no gaming but multiplayer gaming were given a reminder of the power of the single player game with the release of Elden Ring in late February. Yes, the game had a multiplayer aspect as well, but it was at its soul, really about the single player campaign, which spanned dozens of hours across a mythical world. At the time of writing, the game had notched up sales of 12 million across PC and consoles, making it one of the highest selling games of the year, and the highest selling new IP since 2016. 

Interestingly, Elden Ring scored on the one element that had made single player gaming such a rage in the past — story telling. It had a wonderful, vast world with stunning graphics, but what really made it different was the fact that it came with a storyline (written by George RR  "Game of Thrones" Martin)  that kept you enthralled and with characters who went well beyond the "teammates who help me kill" and "opponents whom I need to kill" template of most multiplayer titles. There was plenty of combat, but there was also adventure with a lot of roaming around, character development decisions and conversations. Crucially, you could play through the entire game without needing an online companion or avdersary.

Multiplayer Is The Present, But Single Player Is Not The Past!

All of this just reinforces what titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, The Last of Us, God of War and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild have proved in the not too distant past: that while multiplayer and arena games might be dominating the gaming scene at present, there is definitely room for games with good single player campaigns.

Yes, there are many of us who crave the adrenaline rush of battling it out with some unknown person in a battered online landscape. But there are perhaps just as many who want to  explore a land on their own, depend on their own devices to win a battle and maybe just revel in the joy of seeing a story unfold in front of their eyes. The existence of simple games like Candy Crush Saga and current craze Wordle prove that no matter how much we like playing with others, there is room for solo gaming sessions as well. 

The success of The Elden Ring of course, is not going to be easy to replicate. Not every game developer can call upon the kind of resources that a Namco Bandai has. But it should definitely make game developers realise that there is still room for story-centric, mainly single player titles. It would in fact be wonderful if Tencent Games could come out with a detailed, single player campaign for PUBG, one in which one does not need companions and in which the aim is perhaps not to kill the competition, but maybe figure out some complex puzzle to defuse a bomb. Similarly, Call of Duty Mobile could let a player go back and experience the siege of Stalingrad just as they could in the single player of the game released for the PC more than a decade ago. 

Gaming can be social as well as individual. It is, after all, individuals that make up society.