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.
Great show guys, enjoyed the topics greatly.
@Joystiq no longer scoring: I agree I never liked the scoring of any game it never told me what I really needed to know about the game. Saying 3/5 stars or 90% is like saying Banana or starfish! Completely arbitrary and meaningless, I need and want to know how the person felt about the game they played. Take Dragon Age Inquisition, I have heard many detailed reviews from people I know about the game what they liked and didn’t; and I value that over some random score some review site gives. As you guys pointed out someone who doesn’t like a genre of games may be biased against it and will hate it no matter what. I had argued with someone the other day who felt that since Dark Souls had no story it was a bad game, when they were clearly missing the point of that game all together. So I am glad they have decided to drop scoring a game and entice people to actually read the review.
@Jonah joining NC: Speaking of reviewing Wow that is awesome, have you made videos for them already?
@Hatred AO rating; My first impulse to hearing this was good, I don’t think little children should be playing this violent a game, and before Paul says it yes the parents should be paying attention to what their kids play. I guess I can’t deny they have the right to make whatever game they want and make it available but stores do have the right to refuse to sell something if they don’t want to sell it. I’m fine with the rating to make it clear just how violent it is, course there are plenty of violent games but do have much more context as to why the violence is happening. I remember being bothered when my daughter was playing Fable 2 and she wiped out the starting village, for some reason the game didn’t summon any guards for that action.
There is a double standard with the violence being more acceptable for kids to witness. I’ve asked myself this, why is it ok to have a movie or game that kids kill people or see violent acts yet you get some nudity and then suddenly everyone losses their mind. I think at least for me it’s because violence is wrong and sex is not. It’s easy to say “well this is fantasy and we’re just having fun make believe” but sex there’s nothing wrong or bad about it, it’s a natural thing and can be difficult to discuss with someone who isn’t mature enough to handle it yet and I mean the real intimate details and not just “when two people love each other”. It is a difficult subject and it’s up to each parent to decide when to talk to their children about these things.
@Pose able toys: I think this idea really Is brilliant to have movable figures that would respond or give signals to in game actions. That would greatly increase interactive ness. I am also tempted to get some amboii’s if for no other reason than to display them, this is a DLC I can get behind.
A side note next time someone has a very noisy background that even the co-host can’t hear you maybe they should mute their mic or find a quieter place to record.