GTA Publisher Never Thought Story Games Were Dead, Unlike Competitors
Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive, contends that despite what other publishers once thought, his company never believed in the supposed death of single-player games. The likes of Electronic Arts spent a good chunk of the eighth console generation pontificating on the viability of story-driven, single-player titles. Interestingly, it was Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order's unexpected success that seemed to change EA's perspective, since it managed to shift approximately eight million units after a mere two months of availability.
EA's apparent disinterest in exclusively narrative-driven adventures appeared most obvious in its output and internal decision-making. Dead Space morphed from single-player survival horror to co-op and microtransactions, then quickly took to the sidelines. Not too long thereafter, several Star Wars titles were axed, including the Amy Hennig-helmed Project Ragtag at Dead Space developer Visceral. Activision seemed to believe single-player games were a thing of the past as well, given that some of its most creative teams, such as Singularity's Raven Software and Deadpool's High Moon Studios, joined the Call of Duty development team machine. A similar fate later befell THPS remake studio Vicarious Visions, which assumed the role of Blizzard support just months after shipping the fastest-selling Tony Hawk-branded game to date. The publisher behind Grand Theft Auto evidently watched it all take shape in silence.
Related: RDR2 Single-Player DLC: Rockstar Puts Final Nail In the Coffin
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick recently acknowledged the supposed death of single-player games in a financial earnings call relayed by Seeking Alpha (via MP1st). According to
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