Multiplayer games are still dominating the industry

Despite certain flops like Concord and Star Wars: Hunters, it seems the gaming industry is still dominated by multiplayer titles. This concerns both what people are playing and what developers are working on.

In Unity's report, we see that 90% of respondents describe their most recent games as either a multiplayer title (58%) or a single player game with networked features (32%). Only 6% described their most recent game as couch co-op, and 4% were playing a single player title without networking.

64% of developers are working on projects with multiplayer features, which includes local co-op, and another 32% are working on games that are single player with networked features. While multiplayer's complexity might make you think it needs a larger team, according to Unity teams of all sizes are working on multiplayer games. Something that has stood out is the need for co-op, even in games that might not at first appear to need them.

"The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of both couch co-op and online cooperative games, as they became one of the few ways people could connect and spend time together," said Daniel Carmichael of Fika Productions. With the recent success of Split Fiction, it's clear people still enjoy sitting together with a friend or partner and playing games.