The rationale for a blog focused only on playing games solo

Does anybody need a blog focused solely on single-player? Some of the best experiences in gaming are multiplayer – why wouldn’t you want to include that?

For a handful of reasons:

1. Every gaming outlet already focuses on both. I don’t have the bandwidth or interest to do that, and I think that perspective is fully covered elsewhere.

2. There are film sites, and television sites. But these are often distinct, because the mediums are distinct. Should we really compare Monday Night Football to Succession? We have been raised to talk about multiplayer and single player as the same medium our whole lives, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best way to parse the hobby.

3. There are no whales in the world of single player games. I dislike whaling in video games deeply, but that craven activity only pops up in multiplayer experiences. Nobody is going to spend $10K+ in a finite game without onlookers, whether it is 10 or 100 hours long. Sure, there may be some MTX sold, which is a bummer, but the extreme, truly predatory side of things will always be contained in the world of MP, because the potential returns are vastly greater when a game is social.

4. Single-player gaming is my true love. It’s what I know best. I recently massively upgraded expanded my PS5 storage to include 184 PS5 and PS4 games. Less than 10 even featured a multiplayer mode. And that’s not deliberate; it just reflects what I play, and what I love. I have never even tried Grand Theft Auto Online, Valorant, Genshin Impact, or Roblox. I know people love them. But it’s not what moves me, and it’s not what I want to concentrate on.

5. I no longer need to monetize what I love. For 24 years, I’ve been making my money directly or indirectly through video games. I’ve been a games journalist, a creative director, a director of marketing and publishing, and more. It’s been a great ride. But now, I can focus only on what moves me. And that is always going to be single-player games.