"The Days of Single-Player Games Are Numbered" - David Perry

Hey world,

I hope 2009 is off to a great start for all of you. 2009 has been busy busy here. We are gearing up for our Game Developer Conference booth debut, March 23-27 in San Francisco and we announced a new partnership with The Game Creators featuring a Dark Basic Professional integrated Green-Ear SDK. Learn more about that here.

But what really got my mind going today was an article I read about a David Perry speech. David Perry, video game industry veteran, Shiny Entertainment founder and all around gaming guru, spoke yesterday at this year's D.I.C.E Summit. D.I.C.E is a summit for interactive entertainment movers and shakers (not official D.I.C.E tagline- although one could argue that it should be). In a session titled, Embracing the Future and Finding Success, Perry said, "I personally think the days of single-player games are numbered. Without question, our focus is entirely on multiplayer." Full article here.

This sparked my interest for two reasons. One, the future of gaming leaning toward multiplayer is nothing but good news for us here at Green-Ear. More and more we are hearing reports of the increase in social gaming. There is no easier way to socialize a game than to add communication. Players communicating instantly creates a community around the game, which is reported to lead to longer play time and a longer shelf-life for the title. It stands to reason that a community of people is less likely to abandon a game than an individual in a single player game. The socialization adds to the experience and takes on its own meaning above and beyond traditional game play. In-game communication prevents fracturing the community by not relying on the end user to find a way to interact. Not everyone will choose the same one. Green-Ear allows for deeply integrated centralized communication.

The other reason this story jumped out at me is something David Perry said awhile back about Green-Ear, "Today's games are becoming more and more about the social experience. Green-Ear's voice integration allows developers to capitalize on that and monetize their game easily and more affordably." And who am I to argue with that?

Best,
Leba