Video gaming has gone through a raft of changes over the last decade and a half. Now, depending on the person you ask, you’ll get a different response about whether these changes have been for the good of the industry.  

The most systemic of these changes has been to the foundations of console gaming, which have moved beyond the design of a physical game and now allow people to download copies digitally, integrating updates, changes, and in-game transactions along the way.  

Twenty years ago, a game would be judged primarily on what the story mode offered, but as hundreds of millions of people play games online every day, this dynamic has shifted, which is why, for many, story modes aren’t enough in modern gaming. Can games still get by without having an online mode? 

Understanding The Market Shift 

Toward the end of the 2000s, game designers realized there was an enormous, yet untapped, demand for online gaming. The first genre that magnified this was casino gaming. Within a few years of the first online casino launch, we watched millions of people enter this new realm.  

Table games like roulette became just as popular as console games, but, crucially from a design perspective, they handled continuous forms of payment, which then bled into the mobile gaming world, where microtransactions soon became an integral part of free-to-play mobile games.  

Game designers then shifted their focus, understanding that instead of receiving a one-off payment for their game, they could turn it into continuous payments, as many of these mobile games did, and as casinos had already perfected by the beginning of the 2010s.  

Those who play roulette table games online using cryptocurrency understand how this market has transformed beyond recognition. In the earliest days, the most primitive concept of roulette was to get people online, playing from home, understanding that playing from home was more convenient, and that sites could guarantee a high level of security.  

Adding Layers To A Game 

We’re not saying there’s no market for games that focus only on their story mode; it can depend on the genre and the game’s recognition within the industry.  

We’ve seen recent games like Silent Hill F, still able to deliver titles driven entirely by the quality of the story mode. However, Silent Hill is a globally renowned franchise that first hit shelves over a quarter of a century ago. More modern games, especially those released for the latest generation of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, often must include an online element, even if they are looking to champion their story mode.  

A game can be a big hit and a best seller, but if the only transaction gamers have with it is at the point of purchase, then this narrows the potential profit yield to a much smaller window. So, from a design perspective, the dial shifted from creating gaming ideas that focused entirely on story modes to concepts that drove consistent transactions.  

We have seen how GTA 6 is set to break a mountain of gaming records, with even pre-orders garnering global media attention. But GTA is also perhaps the best example of this.  

The PS2 generation games like Vice City and San Andreas did not have online features, but GTA 6 has taken so long to follow GTA V because of the revenue it has driven through consistent microtransactions in its online mode. 

Mapping The Power Of Online Gaming 

It’s not just the fabric of many gaming genres that have changed; online platforms are now the main springboard for marketing strategies. It has resulted in a market where promotions, reviews, and vloggers drive much of the traction games get, and they do so via their social media channels, as you can see in the link below. 

The success of online gaming has enabled streamers to turn their passion into their profession. Some of the most prominent streamers make hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, and with the gaming industry now consisting of this dynamic, having a story mode, at least in a form that many of us were familiar with in the early 21st century, simply doesn’t yield the sort of return that will keep many big gaming developers afloat.

It’s all about adapting to the new dynamic, and online gaming now plays a pivotal role in every facet of the gaming market. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s no market for games that put all their attention and focus into their story mode. 

Can Traditional Story Modes Still Gain Traction? 

Of course, we’ve seen how games like Hades II and Resident Evil Requiem remain among the highest-rated conventional titles, and they champion the story mode while having little to no engagement with their online features.  

Yes, they have in-game updates that require an internet connection, and streamers will stream their escapades via their social media channels, but story modes are still going to have an integral role, especially for classic games and games that don’t rely as heavily on direct competition.