SlicedBread3
Member
97% of games are just controlling avatars in interesting worlds, right? The best ones attempt to lay out compelling rewards + dangers in those worlds.
If that's the case, why is there such a wide divide amongst gamers who strongly prefer single player over multiplayer, and vice versa?
Because despite the fact that they look similar ("just controlling an avatar in a world") and we continue to lazily label them all as "games". They vary a lot in what need they are trying to fulfill.
For example if you put TLOU2, Animal Crossing and Call of Duty next to each other. While they may seem like similar products, what you're actually looking at are digital versions of the film, toy and sport industry respectively. And as you would expect there isn't a total overlap (if much at all) between their audiences. If it wasn't for the fact that the tools and skills needed to develop them were largely transferrable, they'd probably be considered entirely different industries.
And while yes it is possible to incorporate multiplayer elements into all of them if you want to. It's inherently more essential to a "sport" like experience than a "film" like one.