Single-Player Games Lose to PVP in Younger Audiences Despite Recent Hits

[cvaldes]

Remember that enjoyment of any activity is pretty subjective and I'm not just talking about videogames or games. If someone can't explain why they prefer Valorant over Apex Legends, that's fine by me. Hell, I don't get all flustered if someone can't explain why they like cricket over baseball or snowboarding over rock climbing.

But if someone can’t articulate why they like a particular activity, that doesn’t make the activity dismissible. It just means that person isn’t particularly eloquent.

But it's important to note that videogames are games. Most people play them to have fun. Just like youth football, pickup games at the neighborhood basketball court, mixed doubles tennis, a round of golf, skateboarding, whatever.

I still maintain that videogames are relatively inexpensive entertainment when you look at the cost over time. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was $60 at launch (1998). That's like $130 in today's dollars adjusted for inflation. Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is $70 full retail (goes on sale from time to time). How long is a Legend of Zelda playthrough?

What's the price of a movie ticket? Even if the movie is very long, very few go beyond 160 minutes.

What are the costs to send a kid to a youth football league? Swim team?

In the end, I'm not sure if most young people care that CoD costs money up front where another game is free-to-play. If they want to play with their friends, they'll pony up the money. Criticize the sports videogame franchises all you want but I'm pretty sure buying one of those sports videogames is cheaper than buying a couple of tickets to a Premier League match.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Remember that enjoyment of any activity is pretty subjective and I'm not just talking about videogames or games. If someone can't explain why they prefer Valorant over Apex Legends, that's fine by me. Hell, I don't get all flustered if someone can't explain why they like cricket over baseball or snowboarding over rock climbing.

But it's important to note that videogames are games. Most people play them to have fun. Just like youth football, pickup games at the neighborhood basketball court, mixed doubles tennis, a round of golf, skateboarding, whatever.

I still maintain that videogames are relatively inexpensive entertainment when you look at the cost over time. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was $60 at launch (1998). That's like $130 in today's dollars adjusted for inflation. Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is $70 full retail (goes on sale from time to time). How long is a Legend of Zelda playthrough?

What's the price of a movie ticket? Even if the movie is very long, very few go beyond 160 minutes.

What are the costs to send a kid to a youth football league? Swim team?

I agree, what others spend on entertainment is none of my business we all have different taste in movies, music, food, entertainment doesn't make any of it good or bad it just comes down to what one chooses to do with their time/money.

I almost get the impression that people are upset others enjoy stuff they do not like which makes no sense to me.

 

[sepheronx]

Only up to a certain age. I’m 57. We grew up with crude single player games on PC’s and that’s where many of us GenX still are.

That's where I'm at. I barely touch multi-player at all.

 

[kapone32]

It probably comes down to how much one values 60-70 bucks.... A couple hours of work to play a game for 6-8 months with my buddies isn't a large investment 1-2 times a year assuming we get multiple new MP games that year ofc. I can't even go out to eat with my wife for that and going to the movies cost about half that or more these days so it's pretty insignificant. I would imagine a lot of people only buy cod and that is it or whatever their MP or sports game of choice is every year.

For me it is awareness. I absolutely love Humble Choice. For $14 a month I get Games that I actually enjoy playing. As an example Destroy all Humans 1 and 2. Just pure arcade like PC Gaming fun. Yes you get Multiplayer Games like

 

[lexluthermiester]

Nothing really wrong with any of this

I disagree but that would just be personal perspective. PVP/PVE games are just vapid junk. Kinda says a lot about the sad state of things in the world.

Only up to a certain age. I’m 57. We grew up with crude single player games on PC’s and that’s where many of us GenX still are.

That's where I'm at. I barely touch multi-player at all.

Same here..

 

[cvaldes]

I agree, what others spend on entertainment is none of my business we all have different taste in movies, music, food, entertainment doesn't make any of it good or bad it just comes down to what one chooses to do with their time/money.

I almost get the impression that people are upset others enjoy stuff they do not like which makes no sense to me.

It is weird. It would be like Wagner fans getting pissed off because someone else prefers Verdi or Händel. Or someone likes ocean spear fishing over fly fishing.

Tech nerds are really, really strange sometimes. I’ve never had this type of conversation with any of my classical music acquaintances but this sort of discussion comes up frequently in tech forums.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

For me it is awareness. I absolutely love Humble Choice. For $14 a month I get Games that I actually enjoy playing. As an example Destroy all Humans 1 and 2. Just pure arcade like PC Gaming fun. Yes you get Multiplayer Games like

I can't remember the last humble bundle I purchased but they do typically have awesome value. The current one has interesting games.

It is weird. It would be like Wagner fans getting pissed off because someone else prefers Verdi or Händel. Or someone likes ocean spear fishing over fly fishing.

Tech nerds are really, really strange sometimes. I’ve never had this type of conversation with any of my classical music acquaintances but this sort of discussion comes up frequently in tech forums.

Yeah, I can understand being on the outside looking in for someone who doesn't actually buy the games thinking they are pointless or too similar or whatever but those games aren't made for them just like not every game is made for me and that's ok I'm glad there s still a decent variety of games. Now I can agree with anyone that the current state of AAA gaming is troubling with studios wanting to take 0 chance due to ballooning development cost but that's a completely different topic. I'd also be on board with Microsoft giving the CoD developers longer maybe switching to a biannual release but my guess is I'm in the minority in that sentiment.

 

[evernessince]

Can someone explain the appeal of CoD to me? I don't mean the first one or second one, I mean the 7435784th one. It seems to me like the same game over and over again.

The multi-player FPS market is in a horrid state and has been for a long time. Overwatch was the only decent FPS until they nuked it from orbit with OW2 and forcing the game to be kill focused instead of teamwork focused. But yeah that might have been intentional given activision owns blizzard and picks up these FPS gamers regardless of where they go. Halo pretty much offed itself with how poorly they executed on infinite. Plus the auto-aim advantage on guns like the battle rifle is just insane for controller players. "Pro" console players get some 70% perfect kill rate, the best M&K players get a 35% rate. Even if the game didn't have other issues, this would be hurting the game just like the over-tuned auto-aim in games like Apex did. M&K players where switching to controllers and with only a month of practice were able to get to their M&K level of performance with the help of auto-aim. Auto-aim in general just doesn't belong in any cross-play game period.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

The problem I have with SP games now is there's almost always room for co-op and it just isn't there. If there's no co-op I don't even look at it unless it's 90% off.
Also, almost every single sp game is capable of a death match mode or a basic capture the flag. Asking $60 and having budgets of $200m+ is kinda inexcusable not having a basic mode.

I would love to see a Car Mechanic Simulator capture the flag mode.

 

[AusWolf]

You'd actually have to play them to know but Vanguard, Black ops CW, and MW 2/3 are all different enough with completely different settings to justify a purchase if you have a group of friends to play them.

Now if they are good or bad games is completely subjective.

Sure, I never said they're not good games. Just that I don't see much, if any difference between them, and as such, any reason to spend money on them every year, personally.

I still understand your point of view I feel most indie games are a waste of money and time and most SP stuff these days regardless of how much alike or different they are pretty crappy.

There are many poorly made indie games out there, but there's quite a few rare gems, too. Stray was one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had, and I don't even think it cost me 20 quid.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

There are many poorly made indie games out there, but there's quite a few rare gems, too. Stray was one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had, and I don't even think it cost me 20 quid.

Have heard good things about that game, unfortunately it sounds like the entire development team resign due to management.

 

[LabRat 891]

Can't really speak against this; I would have been a part of those statistics.
Q3A, Halo PC, FEAR, CS:S, CoD4, etc. were 'my jam', back then.

Only with age and experience have I found (clear) preference for Co-Op/'PvE MP' and SP games.

 

[kapone32]

Can't really speak against this; I would have been a part of those statistics.
Q3A, Halo PC, FEAR, CS:S, CoD4, etc. were 'my jam', back then.

Only with age and experience have I found (clear) preference for Co-Op/'PvE MP' and SP games.

One of my faves is Aliens Fire Team. The missions are nice and long and requires absolute teamwork.

 

[scottslayer]

I was a server admin/server owner for TF2 and CSGO for 5 years, that soured me on playing PvP first games and interacting with the sorts of people that play them.

 

[nguyen]

Sad reality is the older we get the fewer friends we have, my gaming circle just got smaller and smaller so I play more single player games these days

Gone were the days I play DOTA2 all night with friends .

 

[R0H1T]

Timmy knows his audience, day care centers & retirement homes

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Sad reality is the older we get the fewer friends we have, my gaming circle just got smaller and smaller so I play more single player games these days

Gone were the days I play DOTA2 all night with friends .

I miss the "the suns not up yet, you can't get off" days lol.

To be young again lol.

 

[kapone32]

Timmy knows his audience, day care centers & retirement homes

Can you imagine Old Age homes in 15 to 25 years? Handhelds will be the rage lol.

 

[R0H1T]

Can you imagine Old Age homes in 15 to 25 years? Handhelds will be the rage lol.

I can imagine a lot of things from the future; in general, the world is getting more isolationist and lonely ~ just an observation. Video games, among other things, are replacing humans for some many

 

[Solaris17]

I think this makes sense, the developmental years, are generally about the social experiences in every culture. As you get older those interactions are less important and less needed.

I dont need to be able to play 4 hours of unreal tournament with you to create a way to relate.

imo and as the graph shows, SP games are better for the majority of the gaming age brackets. generally more thought provoking, and I can escape and put myselves as that character if I so choose.

Things I definitely valued less when I was younger.

 

[LabRat 891]

One of my faves is Aliens Fire Team. The missions are nice and long and requires absolute teamwork.

Will look into and share w/ usual teammate.

I was a server admin/server owner for TF2 and CSGO for 5 years, that soured me on playing PvP first games and interacting with the sorts of people that play them.

*very* understandable. Still, disturbing and saddening.

I have a friend(same as mentioned above) admin'ing a couple smaller Discord servers. Some of the things he's dealt with are a new-to-me level of disturbing. -mind you, I'm of the LiveLeak, etc. era of Internet Denizenry, so that's saying something.

Sad reality is the older we get the fewer friends we have, my gaming circle just got smaller and smaller so I play more single player games these days

Gone were the days I play DOTA2 all night with friends .

That may not be my genre but, I can relate.
Family, GFs/wives/SOs, children, etc. end up (mostly-understandably) taking priority; people move away, leave school/college/job, and we lose touch.
NtM, the consequences of all-night gaming sessions are a bit heavier, when you're older and have responsibilities and bills .

I miss the "the suns not up yet, you can't get off" days lol.

To be young again lol.

yup. Better times...

I can imagine a lot of things from the future; in general, the world is getting more isolationist and lonely ~ just an observation. Video games are replacing humans for some many

My money's still on a AAA Games Industry crash. Unless something else intervenes, I think we're on the verge of AI/MI prompt-based game creation.
(You think the market's saturated now? )

 

[R0H1T]

My money's still on a AAA Games Industry crash. Unless something else intervenes, I think we're on the verge of AI/MI prompt-based game creation.

I doubt that, unless you meant something related to coding?

One of the biggest issues with mankind is, of course, the God complex

 

[Solaris17]

The low popularity of couch co-op games in audiences 35-years old and older is also peculiar, since those are exactly the types of gamers who likely grew up playing couch co-op games with friends and family on consoles.

lol idk about peculiar. you must not have spent a lot of time playing monopoly with extended family. co-op games with people next to me when I was younger is the same rage energy as having someone play reverse uno.

 

[LabRat 891]

I doubt that, unless you meant something related to coding?

One of the biggest issues with mankind is, of course, the God complex

The coding-automation is the start, yes. -Which, lowers hands-on quality, etc.
All, incentivized over these monstrously huge dev. budgets and subsequent flops.

 

[londiste]

Co-op requires friends who play so that's out. That's a me thing to be clear.
PVP is fun even when I suck at it but Fortnite is fun every time I play, I just don't choose to very often.
I may have logged in more total time in Single Player games than any other genre and as some have said: Pause is a golden feature.
But I keep coming back to PVE, where I have the most time in individual games. Minecraft, Arks, others. The mix of challenge and chill in early to mid game for these is unmatched.

I will piggyback on this post but from a slightly different angle. As has been commented repeatedly - money is one factor. MP/PVP games today are largely free-to-play (microtransactions and actual spent money aside). Getting older usually gives you a wider budget.

But I think the distinction is not of age but more around life situation or stage. Once you get a (steady) job, a significant other, maybe home ownership, some kids - each step in there takes away time from hobbies where gaming might not be the only one. And when you do find or allocate time for gaming with friends in similar situations the times may not and often enough will not match up.

There is precious little time to git gud, it is challenging to get together - virtually or IRL - to play coop, or PVP for that matter. And there is a wide selection of single player games to choose from. Plus, if you have distractions, being able to pause a game is a godsend.

But maybe that is just me