They all want Internet required, we knew this since Xbox one launch
They all want Internet required, we knew this since Xbox one launch
I strongly disagree. There is nothing to stop publishers from doing always online and for the most part, they haven't done it. All you have to do to make a single player game always online is move most of the game's logic to a server. The portion which runs on the PC/console is just a 3D graphics engine which sends input (key presses, mouse movement, and controller state) to the server and gets a response which tells it what to render (i.e. monster A is in state B at coordinate (x, y, z)).
So why haven't publishers jumped onto always online en mass? I do not know but I have some guesses:
1) It's expensive. Here is why it's expensive:
1.A) You have to hire more software developers.
1.B) You have to hire expensive services software developers.
1.C) It's harder to write a networked application. This means that the chance of project failure goes up.
1.D) You have to pay for an operations staff to monitor the game's server's once it launches.
1.E) You have to pay people to secure the game's service. Service security is hard and most people screw it up (most software developers just don't care about security).
2) Your customers get very mad if your game doesn't work because the servers are down or overloaded.
3) Your customers get mad if they die because of network lag.
4) Customers are not dumb and many will avoid games which are always online because they know it may be a very bad deal for them. It can be a bad deal because the game has a higher chance of not working (it's more complex and networks are not reliable). It can also be a bad deal if the game stops working because the servers are shut down.
5) Piracy is lower on consoles. On the PC, always online appears to be a very good idea if you have a hit game. A good example is Diablo 3. It sold very well (over 6 million copies around launch) and it was an always online title. I believe I remember Blizard having problems because they didn't expect so many people to buy it (they probably based their sales estimates on the numbers from Diablo and Diablo 2 which could both be easily pirated). Another good example, is the Sims 4 which sold well and was always online at launch.