Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has spoken about the future of Microsoft games, confirming that single-player stories still have a place within the company's strategies for the future. Microsoft completed its acquisition of Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media earlier this year, with many single-player adventures like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim coming to Xbox Game Pass.
Multiplayer and live-service games are becoming more prevalent within gaming, causing some concern over whether or not single-player games will be overshadowed in the future. While online games can be huge moneymakers for developers and publishers, they often come with criticism from gamers, especially those with a heavy reliance on microtransactions. Unlike single-player adventures, online games often include purchasable add-ons with seasonal updates and new content, meaning players can end up paying more than the price of a single-player game if they want to keep ahead of the curve in online titles. Some companies are now reassessing their approach to multiplayer game development, with Dragon Age 4 swapping from online to single-player gameplay in a move that is thought to be related to EA's failed multiplayer shooter, Anthem.
Speaking with The Guardian, Spencer confirmed the future of Xbox has more than enough room for single-player stories and narrative-driven adventures. “I think we’re probably building more of those now than we’ve been in the history of Xbox," he told the publication, confirming a renewed interest in single-player titles. The Xbox head also admitted that while single-player games can be "risky" in terms of investment, the pay-off can be worth it:
“Platform holders, whether that platform is subscription or a hardware device or a store, are actively investing in new and probably more risky things, because, if it works, we get value out of bringing players into the ecosystem.”
Xbox is currently working on several exclusive games that pivot away from the rising trend of online-only titles. While unconfirmed, the upcoming Fable reboot is likely to be a single-player adventure, while the Bethesda RPG Starfield has been confirmed as single-player. Meanwhile, the first Xbox Series X/S exclusive game of 2021 was Bloober Team's The Medium, a single-player horror that showcases the capacity of the new-gen consoles without the need for an online element, DLC, or microtransactions.
As Xbox expands into single-player, PlayStation has arguably been dominating the market for some years. PlayStation exclusives including God of War, Marvel's Spider-Man, Uncharted, and The Last of Us have all proven to not only be incredibly popular with players but also very lucrative despite being single-player focused. A leaked report from the Epic Games versus Apple lawsuit earlier this year revealed Xbox was impressed with TLOU2, noting how well the narrative matched the overall vision of the game. Whether or not Xbox's single-player ventures will be as popular as PlayStation's remains to be seen, but the future of Xbox is looking more single-player focused than ever.
Xbox Series X/S consoles are available now.
Source: The Guardian