Valve not giving up on single player

By Fred Dutton Published 9 May, 2011

Gabe Newell promises "single player plus".

Valve boss Gabe Newell has clarified recent reports that Portal 2 would be the developer's final "isolated single-player title", insisting that just isn't the case.

Speaking in an interview with a Reddit user, Newell explained that Valve had no plans to turn its back on the single-player experience but it is looking to add in new social elements.

"What we're trying to talk about is the fact that, not that we're not doing single-player games... It's more that we think we have to work harder in the future," he said.

"Entertainment is inherently increased in value by having it be social, by letting you play with your friends and recognising that you're connected with other people. That's the thing we're trying to say."

Newell went on to suggest that Facebook could play a role in this new strategy.

"Single-player is great, but we also have to recognise that you have friends and want to have that connected as well.

"So it's not about giving up on single-player at all, we actually think that there are a bunch of features and capabilities that we need to add into our single-player games to recognise the socially-connected gamer.

"Every gamer is instant messaging, every gamer has a Facebook account. If you pretend this doesn't exist you're ignoring the problems you ought to be taking on, so it's 'single-player plus,' not 'no more single-player.'"

Following the launch of Portal 2 last month, Valve's next offering is multiplayer-focussed RTS sequel DoTA2, due out on PC later this year.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (55) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Architect_z #1 1 year ago

    Bring back Ricochet!!!!

  • ChuckNorris #2 1 year ago

    What is happening with half-life? How about you clarify that instead.

  • fafaf #3 1 year ago

    Aargh, damn you Gabe Newell for making me register for EG again after swearing off the forums!

    Entertainment is not "inherently increased in value by having it be social". I couldn't give a fuck what my friends are playing and being connected to them all the time.
    Edited by fafaf at 09/05/11 @ 18:36

  • CaptainQuint #4 1 year ago

    Oh great, so he wants peoples Facebook updates to say things like "Dave has just blown a headcrab to bits" and "Sandra has just acquired the Gravity Gun Mk 3."

    Just stick to making great games, Valve. Don't invade and irritate our non-gaming pastimes, cheers.

  • Fightclubber #5 1 year ago

    Oh just make half life 3 ffs.

  • Scopeh #6 1 year ago

    Is everyone is general Agreement that Half Life Episode 3 is dead and Valve are planning Half life 3 instead?

  • Jmog #7 1 year ago

    Every gamer is instant messaging and on Facebook? Damn. Apparently I am not a gamer then.

  • Shinetop #8 1 year ago

    No thanks Gabe. How about promising Episode 3 instead?

  • UkHardcore23 #9 1 year ago

    Sorry but i dont want anything to do with facebook in my games!!

  • FortysixterUK #10 1 year ago

    Episode 3 please.
    That's single player.
    Do it. NOW !

  • penniegrim #11 1 year ago

    "Every gamer is instant messaging, every gamer has a Facebook account..." I do?

  • Lemming81 #12 1 year ago

    I never thought I'd see the day. Gabe you couldn't be more wrong.

    Not only have you, yourself created ENOUGH dedicated multiplayer titles (TF2, LFD series, CS:Source), but we are saturated with games that fit the very criteria you seem to think you should stick to. And you know what? Bring back the lonely, immersive, but above all impressive, single-player.

    A HUGE percentage of us play games to detach, unwind and immerse ourselves in something. What you are talking about is akin to someone jabbering away at us while we are watching a movie or reading a book.

    All that facebook/IM shit with games is just white-noise. A distraction for the reason we part with our £30-£40 - which is the game itself.

    I still play Half-Life 2 and its Episodes every now and then. I can't say the same for most games, and it has fuck all to do with being 'social'
    Edited by Lemming81 at 09/05/11 @ 19:31

  • peterfll #13 1 year ago

    "Entertainment is inherently increased in value by having it be social"

    Oh. So it's just me then that enjoys getting pissed by themselves.

  • Goodfella #14 1 year ago

    @Lemming

    Agreed, I dread the thought of a future where every game involves having to play or talk with others, sometimes it's great (Portal 2 co-op is brilliant) but I don't want it all the time. Games like the forthcoming The Last Guardian are what keeps me interested in this hobby as well as stuff like Left 4 Dead.

    Also, like others have said just tell us you're making Half Life 3 and put us out of our misery.

  • Jay-ITFC #15 1 year ago

    There's a difference between the fantastic 'Autolog' that NFS Hot Pursuit pioneered and the likes of Facebook & Twitter. A system like Autolog can dramatically improve a single player experience. Hell there should be more stat comparisions with friends in EVERY game. However the last thing I want when engrossed in a fantastic story like Portal 2 is updates from friends interrupting or breaking the flow of my experience, or even worse auto-tweets on my each & every move to annoy followers. Devs please find a balance!

  • Machetazo #16 1 year ago

    @12: Deus Ex: Human Revolution is probably the next big one in that kind of space.

  • lucky_jim #17 1 year ago

    Valve seem to get a lot of hatred considering how awesome their games are, and how much more effort they make than anyone else to listen to their customers. I think people are missing the point by jumping up and down and shouting "teh Facebook SPAMZ!!!", let's see what Valve do with this.

    Look at how Criterion and EA implemented such a compelling social element to the single-player portion of something like NFS Most Wanted: as much as I respect Criterion (and grudgingly, EA) Valve are a different thing entirely. I think the likes of Valve could come up with something awesome. They usually do.

  • DozyKipper #18 1 year ago

    Stroll on, Gabe! I ain't got a Facebook account nor do I bloody well want one!

  • coolbritannia #19 1 year ago

    So Gabe is not the god of gaming after all? Well I never...

  • StooMonster #20 1 year ago

    +1 DozyKipper

    Me neither.

    Moreover, I like my gaming anti-social thank you very much.

  • Aradiel #21 1 year ago

    Didn't Gabe criticize British gamers a year or two ago for one talking enough when playing games (i.e. through team chat)?

    Has it not occurred to him that maybe that's because that's how we want to play our games, not to be forced into some garbage social networking bullshit?

  • GooseUK #22 1 year ago

    Half-life 2 would not have been half as fun if I hadn't discovered and explored it in detail myself. Alone. Just me exploring that wolrd, it was brilliant. The whole reason i play single player games is so I dont have to talk to other people and work together etc; it is far more stressful. Multi-player is awesome, co-op is awesome but they are far more actively involved, where as single player is a more passive experience. I cannot 'chill out' playing left4dead, or counterstirke because it requires constant focus and concentration. I can however play assassins creed, or portal 2 quite happily for a whole day and be cool as a cucumber

  • Iain815 #23 1 year ago

    @Scopeh

    If they haven't I will be DEEPLY disappointed.

  • ubergine #24 1 year ago

    I hate co-op and humans and games with co-op and humans and Steam and Gabe Newell for hacking PSN with Steam what a cunt.

  • dirtysteve #25 1 year ago

    Single player plus,

    the idea of paying real money for in-game hats.

  • oceanmotion #26 1 year ago

    Slippery slope Valve.

    Hats were just the start...

  • Shinetop #27 1 year ago

    "how much more effort they make than anyone else to listen to their customers."

    Pretty sure they've been turning a deaf ear to all their customers asking for more info on Episode 3 for the past couple of years.

  • Inmediasress #28 1 year ago

    Yeah I never understood why I have to be pressured into using f***book or any other social shit site just because everyone has one gues what that makes me an exception, and why do I need to update it with pictures of me siting on the toilet or walking nude on the beach.
    It is enoguh that the government knows everything about me I don't need to broadcast it to everyone on the planet.
    Tough it's a billion dollar business so naturally everyone wants in on the action, but still I get chills when I think about the future of gaming

  • GiarcYekrub #29 1 year ago

    I don't give a shit about multiplayer or co-op

  • romelpotter #30 1 year ago

    If I want to be sociable, I will get my mates round to mine, get the beers in and play something like Sensible World of Soccer (for example!).

    I don't need Facebook for that thanks.

  • SniperZoz #31 1 year ago

    no facebook in my games thank you ... thank you for portal2 ... how about you tell us something on that little game called half life now??

  • Daeltaja #32 1 year ago

    Guess we'll never see Half Life 3 then.

  • BlinkeredAxis #33 1 year ago

    L4D 1& 2 were brilliant, Half-life series brilliant. Don't care if there is a OPTION for social networking in games, so long as I don't have to use it. I want to be part of an interactive story, well told. Valve have never let me down in that respect, either single, or multiplayer. and I don't expect them to. They're too smart.



  • Nephirion #34 1 year ago

    I mis-read this as Valve give up on Episode 3 ...

  • GamesConnoisseur #35 1 year ago

    Portal 2 NOT even a pure dedicated single player game, there is a large component that intergral to the game and the story....

    Online co op or spilt screen!!!

  • ReapingAngel #36 1 year ago

    SP with social feed like Facebook, bad idea. It works for games like Hot Pursuit but can't imagine games for games like Half Life. Sorry Valve.

  • Mr.DNA #37 1 year ago

    What if, like me, all of your friends are the sort of casual gamers who are into FIFA, Grand Theft Auto, Tiger Woods and fuck all else? Who am I going to play Valve's future "social" games with?

  • darkmorgado #38 1 year ago

    "Entertainment is inherently increased in value by having it be social, by letting you play with your friends and recognising that you're connected with other people. That's the thing we're trying to say."

    Nonsense statement is nonsense.

    I think Newell has been spending too much time speaking with the marketing department.

  • darkmorgado #39 1 year ago

    /logs into facebook
    /looks at notifications
    /"pippi longstocking opened a portal for you! say thank you by opening a portal for her too!"
    /clicks ignore app
    /logs off of facebook

  • Stratix #40 1 year ago

    Sometimes, I want to play multiplayer games with my friends and have a blast. I do this lots. Other times, I want to zone out, forget everyone, and just sink into a singleplayer experience, without any other distractions.

    I don't want to compete with others on these single player games. I don't want them to know what I've done. I just want to enjoy the game. By my self.

  • Geowolf #41 1 year ago

    You lost me at Facebook.

  • JensonJet #42 1 year ago

    'single-player plus' ONE is co-op campaign!

  • rottingyoda #43 1 year ago

    I'll have you know i dont have a facebook and very few of my friends are gamers.

    It is valve so i trust you but dont push it. Im sure half life 3 will be "single player plus". How bout you go work on that and ill deal with how social i am.

  • Lemming81 #44 1 year ago

    The thing that boggles my mind is that he must be seeing the great sales of Portal 2. So what makes him think 'yeah, lets not do that anymore'? o_O

  • Caimbeul #45 1 year ago

    "Every gamer is instant messaging, every gamer has a Facebook account. If you pretend this doesn't exist you're ignoring..."

    Sorry Gabe, you are categorically wrong on this one. I dont IM and although i have a foolsbook account i am on it maybe 2-3 times a year! oh and i am a gamer, have been for 26 years in fact.

  • Aiten #46 1 year ago

    I am already connected to my friends who play games through steam...the ones who are on Facebook don't play games so why would I want to connect to them through one.

  • Vin #47 1 year ago

    This 'social' thing in gaming needs a fucking kicking.

  • UncleLou #48 1 year ago

    @Lemming81

    Well said, could not agree more.

  • HenryFitz #49 1 year ago

    It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that every single gamer in possession of an income, must be in want of Facebook integration.

    /Austen

  • vtl #50 1 year ago

    No, no no ffs. All this bullshit just hinders the gameplay.

  • octavedoctor #51 1 year ago

    HL3 would be nice.

    /me misses HL1 multiplayer.... Stalkyard, Bounce, Crossfire...

  • TackyCheeba #52 1 year ago

    *sigh* this all sounds very disheartening.
    I really couldn't give a monkeys about Multiplayer, if i did, i would play on a (dare i say it) ...console. (actually, no i wouldn't).

  • Murton #53 1 year ago

    "Entertainment is inherently increased in value by having it be social"

    If by that you mean every single player game made by Valve will now include full online and local co-op that I can enjoy with my friends, then you have my complete support. If however you mean adding facebook and twitter integration to further spam the internet and cause my friends to continue their insistence that I join these "networks" then not only could I not care less but would actually be put off. I'd much rather whatever effort goes into bringing these social elements to my gaming experience be put towards something that I and other gamers would actually benefit from, such as a good co-op mode or bugfixing/platform optimisation. You're supposed to be in the business of making games, not furthering the proliferation of unrelated "social networking" companies/technologies, so just make your game and if you want to include this stuff then by all means, but don't talk about it as if it's as important as the game itself because it just isn't.

  • brod #54 1 year ago

    "every gamer has a Facebook account"

    Incorrect.

  • Corben_Dallas #55 1 year ago

    Corben Dallas doesnt have a FacePage/Bookpalm account.

    I am Gamer.

    ?
    Edited by Corben_Dallas at 10/05/11 @ 16:38