Valve May Shift Focus Away From Single-Player Centric Games

UPDATE:

Gabe Newell clarified Valve's position on the matter in a recent interview, saying the following:

I think what we’re trying to talk about is the fact that, not that we’re not doing single player games. Portal 2 was a pretty good example of what we’ve learned over the years in terms of how to create those experiences. It’s more that we think we have to work harder in the future, that entertainment is inherently increased in value by having it be social, by letting you play with your friends, by recognizing that you’re connected with other people.

That’s the thing that we’re trying to say, is that, single player is great but we also have to recognize that you have friends, and we wanna have that connected as well. So, it’s not about giving up on single player at all, it’s like saying, we actually think that there’s a bunch of features and capabilities that we need to add into our single player games to recognize the socially connected gamer.

Sounds like you don't have to worry about games like Half-Life or Portal being multiplayer-only titles anytime soon. There's a big difference between losing single-player support and adding social features and multiplayer components.

In related news, the company has recently stated that they're doing away with the episodic content model they tried with Half-Life 2.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The rumblings of such a shift originated from Geoff Keighley’s The Final Hours of Portal 2, and were further clarified by Kotaku at a later date.

“Portal 2 will probably be Valve's last game with an isolated single-player experience,” said Keighley via The Final Hours, “What this all means is something Newell is still trying to figure out.”

Considering Valve’s admirable craftsmanship when it comes to solo experiences, we doubt the statement means that the developer intends to do away with single-player games. Rather, it seems to imply that cooperative and multiplayer integration will be a staple for the company moving forward.

No complaints there, as accommodating different play styles tends to usher in larger audiences.

We’ve contacted Valve for comment.

[via Kotaku]