Igarashi: "I don't think single-player is in danger"

The Bloodstained dev doesn't think single-player is going anywhere.

Koji Igarashi is beavering away on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, a Castlevania spiritual successor that promises an intense action-adventure experience when it eventually sees the light of day.

It's also an unashamedly single-player game and with the ongoing discussion around the viability of big budget solo adventures (a myth somewhat disproved by the recent success of Spider-Man - the fast-selling game of the year so far) Igarashi had a few things to say on the matter in a recent interview with GI.biz.

"I think things won't change, because there is a difference between people who play single-player games and people who play multiplayer games, as much as there are differences between people who are introverts and extroverts," he told the industry-focused website. "There isn't anything we need to do [to ensure single-player games can sustain themselves]. There will always be people who enjoy playing single-player games more than multiplayer games."

Igarashi also discussed the continued prominence of multiplayer games, although he doesn't feel like they should get in the way of good single-player gaming, with the indie space an excellent breeding ground for creative solo experiences.

"It's very difficult that multiplayer games are so profitable, but single-player games are where a lot of indie games come in. With single-player, you can create the game you want to create. We leave multiplayer games up to the larger publishers looking into the market, but it's very adventurous to create a single-player game with larger publishers. We started out as a Kickstarter project, and before we started the project, a lot of larger publishers said there wasn't much of a market for sidescroller games [like Bloodstained]. But we proved them wrong by having a successful campaign.

"With the rise of multiplayer games, I don't think single-player is in danger," he added. "A game doesn't have to be profitable, it just has to break even."

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is heading to PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One, probably next year.