Swen Vincke Dismissed Claims of the Death of Single-Player Games as a Skill Issue

Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke has pushed back against claims that single-player games are losing relevance, arguing that the industry’s focus should be on making better games rather than chasing trends. In a recent post on Twitter/X, Vincke responded to what he called an annual cycle of declaring single-player games dead, stating, “Use your imagination. They’re not. They just have to be good.”

Vincke’s comments come months after his speech at The Game Awards 2024, where he criticized publishers for prioritizing market share and sales targets over game quality. Larian’s own success with Baldur’s Gate 3, a critically acclaimed RPG, has positioned him as a leading advocate for traditional single-player experiences.

His remarks appear to be directed at industry executives who continue to favor live-service models and multiplayer-focused titles. “The why of this tweet is hearing chatter about important industry figures stating there is no future for (big) single-player games. Which means discouraging investment in (big) single-player games. Which bothers me. Because I don’t think they have it right,” he wrote in a follow-up post.

Vincke’s stance — that not every game needs to be a live service or multiplayer experience to succeed — is backed by recent sales figures. Balatro sold 3,5 million copies in a year, Silent Hill 2 sold 2 million copies in 3 months, Black Myth: Wukong sold over 25 million copies in 8 months, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 sold over a million copies in 24 hours, while S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 reached six million players within months (it is available for free to Xbox Game Pass subscribers). Though not purely single-player, co-op-driven games like Split Fiction and Baldur’s Gate 3 have also demonstrated strong demand for immersive, narrative-driven experiences.

Other industry figures share Vincke’s perspective. Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley recently echoed a similar sentiment in an interview, saying, “We try to make it that we can make a really good game, and it has a very decent chance of making a profit. And that’s really what it comes down to.”

Baldur’s Gate 3, developed by Larian Studios, launched in full on August 3, 2023, after an early access period that began in 2020. The RPG, based on Dungeons & Dragons’ 5th Edition ruleset, became a massive commercial and critical success, selling over 15 million copies within its first year. It earned widespread acclaim for its deep narrative, player freedom, and extensive character interactions, securing Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2023 and multiple other industry accolades. The game also broke records on Steam, reaching over 870,000 concurrent players, making it one of the biggest PC game launches in history.