The Nintendo Switch Has Continued to Prove Online Multiplayer Isn’t the Key to Success

If you’ve been keeping up with the gaming world for the past few years, you might have noticed a trend of online-focused or online-only games outperforming single-player games. Games like Overwatch and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, which are multiplayer games, have been selling way more copies than single-player games like Resident Evil 7 and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Online multiplayer-focused games have been dominating the industry, which has spurred companies to add multiplayer components to their single-player games in an attempt to attract a multiplayer audience. But there’s one company that hasn’t given in to the temptation multiplayer gaming’s broad appeal: Nintendo.

The Switch doesn’t have many multiplayer-focused titles on the system — sure, you have Splatoon 2 or even Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but most Switch-exclusive games are single-player, and this has in no way hindered the success of either the system or its games. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which released alongside the console back in March 2017, was universally praised and won plenty of Game of the Year awards, all of which it deserved. Yet, Breath of the Wild didn’t have any multiplayer component, online or local, and it still sold like hot cakes, clocking in at nearly 8 million copies sold according to nintendoeverything.com.

Nintendo has also shipped plenty of Switch consoles as well, selling a little over 4 million units, making it the fastest selling console in the US. The reason behind the Switch’s success despite its focus on single-player games is the consistent, unparalleled quality of their exclusive titles. They aren’t rushed games with sloppy development — you can count on Nintendo to provide high-quality gameplay that’s packed with content, and you can always tell that the companies making these games have put their heart and soul into bringing amazing, single-player experiences to their audiences. All you have to do is play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey for a few hours to realize how much attention and care the devs have given every little detail in their games, and to see the massive amount of content for you to experience in each of their worlds. It could take you dozens of hours to get through these games, but it’ll never feel like a chore.

Everybody in the gaming world is familiar with The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario — and they also know that games that come from these franchises tend to be great. Their names alone are enough to sell games, and Nintendo’s legendary pedigree of single-player franchises is proof that people will always be looking for amazing single-player games.