Bethesda Softworks vice president of marketing Pete Hines is critzing publishers and developers who shoehorn multiplayer into their games that doing such a thing is “a waste of time” and advises, “Just drop it, don’t bother…it’ll make for a worse game.”
In an interview with Next Gen BIZ, Hines states that using online multiplayer as a tool to prevent used game trade-ins and rental simply doesn’t work, and robs developers of valuable man-hours.
Hines stated:
“(People ask us) for a game like Skyrim or Prey 2, why doesn’t it have multiplayer? Well, our question is always the opposite when we talk to a developer. If you’re doing multiplayer, why are you doing multiplayer? What are you trying to accomplish?
“If you’re doing it just to check a box or because every other publisher says you’ve got to have multiplayer, then just drop it, don’t bother, it’s a waste of time, a giant distraction and it’ll make for a worse overall game.
“We want the best game possible. If that’s a singleplayer game that’s 15 to 20 hours, then make that! Don’t waste your time on features that don’t make the game better.”
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Prey 2 are two Bethesda properties that will lack multiplayer, but one of the tools to encourage games to keep both games will be downlodable content and, even more important, good communications with the game communities and nurturing the fandom for both games.
@Avellone: Kickstarter still in its infancy
Not sure if backers will become more wary when a high profile project doesn’t make it. When somebody wants something really bad, they’re willing to ignore any kind of risks.
Now I’m not going to quote Michio Kaku however, since that would imply that most projects are trying to just rip people off, and I don’t think that’s true.
@CD Projekt RED’s new licensed sci-fi RPG officially titled Cyberpunk 2077
… really? No better title than that?
But again, the Witcher games were well received, so who knows …
@Zombie Nation – well, it was a severed flying giant head, so I guess you can count the character as a zombie.
@QOTW: dunno, really. I’m not into conferences that much, never been to one, so meh …
I’m very sorry, but I won’t be able to donate to your Kickstarter because I don’t have a credit card, and I don’t think my parents will accept “giving strangers money” as a valid reason for using theirs.
@QOTW: Being in such a small country, I could never attend such conventions.
Dynamic Jul: Try GamesCom in Germany.
I dont have much to contribute this week, i’ve been studying a f*cking lot
@QOTW:
yeah… Brasil doesn’t have many gaming conventions, and those we have are in Sao Paulo, wich is far far away from my house. it looks fun see people getting toys, shirts and exclusive stuff for free. i’d like to go to a big one in US some year… when i win the lottery :3