PixlBit

Makers of Left 4 Dead, Rage, and Halo 4 multiplayer discuss what makes playing with friends so engaging.

Marty Stratton from id, Chet Faliszek of Valve, and Max Hoberman of Certain Affinity sat down for an intimate conversation in front of a hundred person audience for a panel all about multiplayer games at QuakeCon.  The panel started by discussing why they find multiplayer gaming to be so engaging, and all agreed that it was the openness of it, and that their experiences in multiplayer were much more memorable than any single player experiences they had had. 

Stratton expressed that he wished they had more time to develop better multiplayer in both Doom 3 and Rage.  Hoberman added that most dev teams shouldn’t waste time on getting into the competitive multiplayer space because of the cost of it all, but should instead focus on adding co-op – a more affordable multiplayer experience.

The panel also agreed that it is going to be less and less possible to play multiplayer games completely offline.  Connectivity is becoming more and more prevalent, so having an entirely offline LAN party will be impossible soon, much to the disappointment of some in the audience.