It’s pretty easy to see why developers want to put multiplayer components in their games. Multiplayer keeps people engaged and inspires fans to play a game long after the single player experience has become boring. It’s an understandable decision, from a profit perspective, to jam multiplayer into a game that doesn’t really need it.

However, there is no arguing that developing multiplayer components takes time. And the time you spend creating your “online horde” mode is time you can’t spend refining single player. Not to mention the fact that some franchises simply don’t lend themselves to multiplayer play—Assassin’s Creed’s online mode is interesting, but completely unnecessary. The same can be said for Mass Effect 3.

Games that are designed as multiplayer experiences function well in the online sphere. Games that are designed as single player games with a multiplayer component almost always suffer, and the multiplayer fandom never lasts long. How many people do you think will still be playing Mass Effect 3’s online mode in six months? Do you know anyone that still plays Uncharted or Assassin’s Creed online?

Sure, you can argue that there’s room for both in a game. Bioware had a separate studio working on multiplayer, so you could also argue they didn’t lose any dev time adding multiplayer to Mass Effect 3. But perhaps if that studio had been dedicated to refining the single player content instead, the game wouldn’t be so rife with bugs. And the ending might have been a little more thought out.

We, as gamers, love multiplayer. But we simply don’t need it in every game, and we certainly don’t need it if its implementation is going to harm the single player content. Developers need to choose a focus from the start, and keep it at the forefront of their design.

Otherwise, you end up with games that are half-finished and marred with stupid problems you should have noticed along the way.

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