Infogrames Phil Harrison Believes Single Player Only Games No Longer of Interest To Consumers [We Strongly Disagree, How About You?]

According to Infogrames president and former Sony Computer Entertainment America’s front man, Phil Harrison, games developers will soon be looking to move away from developing purely single player games, such as Bioshock or the up and coming latest version of Alone in the Dark, on account of consumers no longer being interested solitary gaming experiences, perfering instead to opt for games offering network connectivity.
Specifically naming Alone in the Dark by way of an example, Phil Harrison states in an interview with Eurogamer, ‘Alone in the Dark is a beautifully crafted single-player adventure game. I don’t think the industry is going to make many more of those… I just don’t think consumers want to be playing games that don’t have some kind of network connectivity to them, or some kind of community embedded in them, or some kind of extension available through downloadable content.” He whent on to say ‘The industry is changing, and the role we play as creators and publishers has to reflect those changes. I don’t think I’m alone in having those views, either.’
So, games like Bioshock, Alone in the Dark, et al, are, apparently, not of interest to us gamers – though the fact that Bioshock alone sold over 400,000 copies in just its first week of release would seem to indicate otherwise.
What do you think? Is the age of the single player only game over? Do you simply refuse to purchase a gaming title if it lacks network play? Please let us know, we would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
[via]
- JK
- http://stephendann.com Dr Stephen Dann

