Single vs Multi player trends

[thewood1]

I found this interesting...

Keep in mind this is all video games: PC, console, mobile

74% of regular players play single (I am assuming they don't mean only single)

About 50% of frequent players play once a week with a friend in some kind of MP

A few caveats about that last one...

That's 50%, including console, which I am guessing is higher than on a PC.
It includes MMPOG like warcraft and such
Some of the multiplayer is done face to face (My sons do that a lot with games like COD.

http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/upload ... igital.pdf


And here is a shallower study done by Forbes that highlights PC vs console and single vs multi.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/abigailtra ... 1c0d611928

So I keep going back to wargames and something BFC stated 7-8 years ago. They said around 10% play Combat Mission online or with email. So its probably increased some since then. But, based on the above studies, not a lot more.

So it comes back to how much of a business case there is for the devs to invest in multiplayer above other major features. I think its not as obvious as some would have thought. Obviously, that doesn't take into consideration of defense contracts that might fund MP development.