GTA Online Bets on Solo Experience Despite the Uber-popular Multi
Rockstar Games has changed its approach to GTA Online - at least that's according to an interview with one of the developers. The new content is being created primarily with the single player in mind.
GTA Online is among the most popular multiplayer games of recent years. This year, Rockstar Games' work will celebrate its tenth anniversary; despite the passage of time, the game does not complain about a lack of interest from fans, who continue to eagerly return to the gangster multiplayer.
That's right, multiplayer. The source of the success of GTA Online was certainly the desire to experience the world of Grand Theft Auto in the company of fellow players. This may make it all the more surprising that, according to the developers, Rockstar is now betting on single-player experience in GTA Online.
In multi, but alone
In a recently published interview given by Scott Butchard, design manager at Rockstar North (via GamesRadar), he admitted that the new content coming to GTA Online are geared primarily toward solo play:
"Looking back, at the start we were pushing GTA Online primarily as a multiplayer experience – whether it was cooperative or competitive, we felt we needed to get players in and have fun playing together in a shared space
As time went on, we realized so much of the experience works better when we provide more potential to enjoy the game on an individual level, and that the core experience can then be changed and improved upon by playing with others.
[...]
We started to really hit our stride when we began designing Heists to be playable with just one or two players, then building on the original experience with social spaces like the Nightclubs, or the Casino – spaces that could act as connective tissue for our players jumping from experience to experience, either with a Crew or solo."
Rockstar targets single-player experienceSource: Rockstar Games
Of course, this doesn't mean that the multiplayer aspects were shunned by Rockstar. However, it seems that at a point when players are bored of the constant fighting with lobbies full of people just wanting to wreak havoc on the map, single-player mission-style experiences could be a nice break from the chaos of multiplayer.
