Sony video game consultant declares single-player games ‘gone in 3 years’


Eurogamer posted an article back in 2011 with quotes from Mark Cerny, video game consultant, stating that single-player games would be gone by the end of 2014. Cerny, who worked with Sony on popular games such as Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and Jak & Daxter,  discussed this at a private panel organized by Sony.

I believe the traditional single-player game experience will be gone in three years.” – Mark Cerny

He continued to discuss his prediction, and used Demon’s Souls as an example of what the future of single-player campaigns would be like. Even though Demon’s Souls is a single-player game, it’s still an RPG that allows you to have interactions with other players over the Internet, such as seeing the souls of characters that have died in the world you are in.

“Right now you sit in your living room and you’re playing a game by yourself – we call it the sp mission or the single-player campaign. In a world with Facebook I just don’t think that’s going to last.” – Mark Cerny

image via kotaku
Demon’s Souls, image via kotaku

It’s one thing to make assumptions regarding what video games will be like in the future, but it’s another thing to make predictions about something so prominent in the gaming world, especially when many single-player games have selling very well over the past few years.

“We’re talking five, 10 years out. I believe three years from now, if you aren’t doing that, you are being criticised in your reviews for your lack of innovation.” – Mark Cerny

Skyrim, image via primesix.wordpress.com
Skyrim, image via primesix.wordpress.com

The article discussing Cerny’s thoughts about the future of single-player games has resurfaced now in 2016 on Reddit. And of course, people have a lot to say about the topic.

“The funny thing is, he went on to make Knack, exactly the sort of game he said wouldn’t exist by the time the ps4 came out.” – ironneko

“3 months later, skyrim was released and ended that drivel” – erythro

“So silly to make absolute predictions like this. Gaming is too huge for it to exclude any type of experience. Anything goes and will continue to go pretty much forever.” – Torchiest

Even though the world of gaming is constantly evolving, the idea of a video game world deprived of single-player games is something most of us cannot imagine. Though multiplayer modes are becoming more and more frequent in most games in various forms, there’s still nothing quite like turning on your PC or console and engaging in hours of gameplay, by yourself.