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1UP examines the future of single-player RPGs

November 10, 2009 in News comments 7

1UP has published a great feature examining what's to happen with single player RPGs. The landscape sure has changed since the 90s -- should fans of the classics be worried? Head to the source to check their interviews with some folks behind famed titles like Fallout and Baldur's Gate.

Dragon Age: Origins is the biggest singleplayer role-playing game release of the season. It's also the only big-budget singleplayer RPG coming out this season. The RPG is one of the oldest genres in gaming, but big releases are becoming rarer each year.

We examine the state of the big-budget single-player RPG with a group of RPG developers. Each comes from a different facet of the market. Is it dying? Are the tastes of RPG gamers changing? What role do MMOs, consoles, and handhelds play? Is there hope in the indie scene? And how do the differences in American, European, and Japanese RPGs affect the overall market.
chautemoc via 1up.com »
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  • 1
    Shinobi_razor Nov 11, 09
    DAO is the biggest singleplayer role-playing game release of the season year. and it will stay that way until Mass Effect 2.

    single player RPGs dying? not if Bioware has anything to say about it. if anything i think MMO's are starting to die. WOW has the market cornered so much that no dev is gonna even bother trying anymore to compete with it, and WOW is slowly becoming a joke.
    • 0
      chautemoc Nov 11, 09
      In all fairness, BioWare's PR rep called ME2 an "FPS" and said people are scared of RPGs. So it appears at least some of them don't think of ME2 as an RPG, which is possibly a decent indication of where they're headed.
    • 0
      Seproth* Nov 11, 09
      Bioware, Atlus, and Bethesda are all doing their part. Square-Enix always has about a half dozen or so single player RPGs a year. Counting stuff hand helds.

      Going strong still, and there's always a few surprises each year. Like Demon's Souls although it's not purely single player, it's largely single player.

      There is room for both MMO and single player RPGs. So they'll continue to have both.
      • 0
        chautemoc Nov 11, 09
        quote Seproth
        Bioware, Atlus, and Bethesda are all doing their part.
        Don't forget Piranha Bytes. Nobody knows about them, and they really, really should.
    • 3
      Shinobi_razor Nov 11, 09
      doesnt matter if they call it an FPS, its still an RPG. though i can see how they think ppl are scared of the term RPG.

      Bioware is arguably leading the way on the western RPG front. Atlus only does JRPGs, they are good at that though. Bethesda...im losing faith in. Fallout 3 while still good wasnt overall as good as Oblivion. and it should have been better. Squeenix on the other hand hasnt had anything good in a long time, and thats not just my opinion but the opinion of a ton of gamers.
      • 0
        Seproth* Nov 11, 09
        Yeah, especially since most people consider Zelda RPGish.

        It's as mild as you can get, true. But still.
        • 0
          SebKus Nov 11, 09
          You take on the role of Link and play through the game. An action adventure role playing game, but an RPG nonetheless.

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