While the PlayStation Experience opening presentation held several exciting reveals and gameplay demos, one of the more meaningful takeaways from the event was during the discussion about single player games. In a discussion involving Sony Interactive Entertainment America CEO Shawn Layden, he brought up that the folks over at SCE Worldwide Studios have a lot of “devotion and love” for storytelling, narrative, and in essence single player games. As such, according to Layden “that’s the thing they do well.”

Shawn Layden made it a point to mention that he doesn’t go to any of his development teams and tell them “I read in a magazine that there is something called Games as a Service, make me one of those.” Indeed, given SIE’s recent track record of titles like Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted, and The Last of Us, this certainly seems to be the case. Moving forward we can also expect some flagship titles such as God of War and Detroit: Become Human, so when Layden says that single player games are within his team’s wheelhouse, we are likely to believe him.

Layden wasn’t the only one to talk up single player games at the pre-show. Earlier on in the presentation Guerrilla Games Managing Director Hermen Hulst noted that Horizon Zero Dawn is easily the studio’s best selling game, and also the first single player-only title the studio has worked on in quite some time. According to Hulst, those types of games deliver a “magical, unbroken experience”, and that a market will always exist for single player games given how “hugely important” they are.

There has been quite a lot of love for single player games lately. At the Game Awards 2017 Bethesda launched the #SavePlayer1 campaign, spearheaded none other than Wonder Woman herself, Linda Carter. In addition to Carter’s heartfelt speech about the importance of single player games, a recent report from Superdata revealed that these games “Still have legs”, despite multiplayer Games as a Service titles dominating the landscape. Only time will tell how successful efforts from Bethesda and Sony Interactive Entertainment America will be, though if we continue to see outstanding titles such as Horizon Zero Dawn release down the line, the future of single player games is assured.

So, thoughts on the dialogue between Layden, Hulst, and the others regarding single player games? Do you prefer them, or are multiplayer games more your thing? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for all the latest gaming and entertainment news! Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!