EA’s Frank Gibeau Has No Interest in Releasing Single Player-Only Games

With comments made in a preview document for the upcoming CloudGamingUSA conference, EA Labels’ President Frank Gibeau has stated that he hasn’t green-lit a single game that doesn’t have an online component. He further states, “Today, all of our games include online applications and digital services that make them live 24/7/365.“

Alright, I like multi-player games as much as the next guy, but I love single-player games even more. In fact, a couple of my favorite games released in the past couple of years have been single-player only. Deus Ex: Human Revolution, The Witcher, Sleeping Dogs, Darksiders II, Mafia II and Max Payne 3, just to mention a few. What’s so wrong with a single player-only game that makes it unattractive to Mr. Gibeau?

The answer to that has to be left up to Gibeau to explain, but it’s a decision I can’t agree with. I appreciate single player-only games because that’s the experience the developers focused on. How many times have we played a game with both an online and offline component where the single-player portion felt seriously weak? Then you look at games like those mentioned aboved which offer amazing SP experiences. I think there’s room in the market for both sorts of titles, and it’s in my mind that as long as EA focuses on online so much, single player experiences are going to suffer. Do I even need to mention Battlefield 3?

If EA doesn’t publish quality single-player games, then it’s just going to be a market that will be served by its competitors. If you take a look at a developer like CD Projekt Red, it’s clear that some do “get it” – single player games can offer experiences like no other. Just how much immersion would Deus Ex: HR have lost if it had a co-op campaign? Probably quite a bit, given most co-op games involve a mic and that tends to drown out any sort of atmosphere the game may offer.

What are your thoughts on things? Is EA foolish to think this way?