Striking Distance’s chief development officer and former EA Visceral general manager, Steve Papoutsis, has said that single-player games are the best forms of storytelling and narrative-driven experiences.
In an interview with VG247 following the reveal of The Callisto Protocol, Papoutsis noted that there’s a lot of debate surrounding the presumed death of single-player games, but he believes that “there will always be a place” for them.
I’ve read a lot of articles on this, but from my perspective, there will always be a place for storytelling and narrative-driven games. One of the best forms of doing that is in the single-player type of experience that you can have. I’d say that while there’s a propensity for a lot of wonderful kinds of multiplayer-based games, there’s always going to be a spot for story-focused titles. That goes back all the way back to the genesis of storytelling; it’s been around for so long and I think it is going to persist. I’m very hopeful about that because I enjoy a great story.
Papoutsis added that such conversations do not pressurize Striking Distance. However, he realizes that The Callisto Protocol is the studio’s only chance to make a good first impression.
“Coming together as a new studio as Striking Distance and trying to put out our very first game, while we’re having a fun time doing it, everyone understands that the stakes are pretty high,” Papoutsis continued. “There’s always going to be a level of pressure, but I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s the result of the decline in single-player games.”
The Callisto Protocol will launch in 2022.
[Source: VG247]
