God of War Is a “Very Good Thing for the Industry” According to 11-11 Creative Director

God of War Is a “Very Good Thing for the Industry” According to 11-11 Creative Director

Giuseppe Nelva September 3, 2018 3:04 PM EST

11-11: Memories Retold Creative Director Yoan Fanise feels that God of War has been good for the industry, as it helped highlight the value of single-player games.

There has been a lot of debate lately, both within the industry and among gamers, about the viability of single-player story-driven games. One definitely interesting single-player game coming soon is 11-11: Memories Retold.

At Gamescom 2018, I had an interesting chat with Creative Director Yoan Fanise and Aardman Animation Studio Producer George Rowes about the value of single-player games and a possible shift among publishers, some of which appear to be starting to realize that multiplayer isn’t necessarily a must.

Rowes started by talking about the value of the story to push the format of games forward, mentioning that if we want games to mature as an art form we need this kind of games. Even film started to be really interesting when it dug into storytelling, romance, and similar topics. He also feels that people are simply genuinely interested in storytelling. Even if games aren’t necessarily triple-A productions, they spread by word of mouth.

That being said, Fanise explained that things may be changing, with publishers realizing the value of single-player storytelling at all levels.

“I think things are changing. God of War was a very good thing for the industry because you can see that despite the fact that there is no multiplayer, it sold well. It’s good because it’s just about whether it’s interesting, and whether the story is compelling.”

At that, I suggested that even Microsoft, which is often more known for a focus on multiplayer, is realizing the value of single-player games as shown by the acquisition of studios like Ninja Theory. Fanise agreed, mentioning that they probably realized that they need diversity in their lineup.

11-11: Memories Retold will release for PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 9th. If you want to know more about the game, you should check out the latest trailer.