Single-player video game
A video game designed for one player throughout gameplay.
A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the gameplay. Most modern console games, PC games, and arcade games are designed so that they can be played by a single player, though many also include multiplayer modes. Single-player games rely heavily on compelling stories and deeper characterization of non-player characters to create investment and connections, as the narrative and conflict are generated by a computer rather than a human opponent.
- earliest_examples
- Tennis for Two (1958), Spacewar! (1962), Pong (1972)
- early_single_player_titles
- Speed Race (1974), Space Invaders (1978)
- key_industry_figure
- Raph Koster (cited for reasons of popularity)
- notable_AAA_single_player_games_mentione
- Dead Space, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Resident Evil 7, Prey, Dishonored 2, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
- major_publisher_shift
- Electronic Arts (EA) closed Visceral Games in October 2017, citing a move away from linear single-player AAA games
Lore & Background
The earliest video games, such as Tennis for Two (1958), Spacewar! (1962), and Pong (1972), were symmetrical games designed for two players. Single-player games gained popularity only after this, with early titles like Speed Race (1974) and Space Invaders (1978). According to Raph Koster, this shift was due to increasingly sophisticated computers and interfaces enabling asymmetric gameplay, cooperative gameplay, and story delivery, combined with the fact that most early players had introverted personality types according to the Myers-Briggs indicator.
Reader's Guide
Single-player gaming has been a core element of video games since the 1970s, but its financial viability for AAA-scale development has been debated. In 2012, Electronic Arts vice president Frank Gibeau stated he had not approved a single-player-only game. The closure of Visceral Games by EA in October 2017, while it was developing a linear single-player Star Wars title, was seen by many commentators as evidence that EA lacked confidence in the model. Poor sales of several AAA single-player games that year, alongside the success of multiplayer and games-as-a-service titles like Overwatch and Destiny 2, reinforced this perception. However, by 2021, EA revived interest in single-player games after the successful launch of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in 2020, and head of Xbox Game Studios Phil Spencer noted that narrative-driven single-player games still have a place, with cloud gaming and subscription services helping to reduce financial risk.
Did You Know?
- The Unreal Tournament series includes single-player modes against AI bots and does not require more than one player.
- Lynda Carter voiced a character in The Elder Scrolls Online, but there is no widely-known PSA campaign on December 7, 2017, to save single-player gaming.
- Manveer Heir, who left EA after Mass Effect Andromeda, acknowledged that the culture within EA was against single-player game development.
- Single-player puzzle games such as Tetris and racing games focus squarely on gameplay rather than story or characters.
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