counterstrike.gifMultiplayer (non MMO) games are a difficult beast to tame.

A bit over eleven years ago, Quake was unleashed onto the game world. It was really without peers for a while. Other games came out that offered similar internet playability. Even then, games could get away with just the fact they HAD internet multiplayer and expect to be fairly popular.

Competitive Difficulties

Now however, there are a multitude of games released every year that offer multiplayer or even have multiplayer as their only game element. On top of that, there are new services showing up that otherwise segregates a player from one another. Where before gamers had to play on PCs to play online, the current and previous generations of consoles have their own special networks that draw these gamers there to play their favorite console games (or console version of PC games). Sure, there are plenty of comments that can be made over the value and quality of these services; but that doesn’t lessen their impact.

There are more and more pieces of the multiplayer pie that is getting cut up into smaller and smaller slices. The pie is getting larger with the technology allowing new players to get online, but the number of slices is increasing faster than the pie growing.

Graphics use to be the driving force behind getting the new hardware or the new game. Now it seems that graphics are more of a hindrance than as a bonus. Software gets more and more complicated, more and more polygons are being pushed onto the screen and in the end it gets in the way of the actual gameplay.

Successes

The games that have proven successful in attracting and retaining communities of players tend to strike a balance between flashy graphics and great gameplay. According to http://archive.gamespy.com/stats/, Half-Life 1 is still the most played traditional multiplayer game out there. The game was originally released in 1998, and it has received numerous updates, including new netcode (making lag much less of a concern) as well as very widespread mod successes like Counter-Strike (the majority of the reason people are still playing HL).

To produce a game with successful multiplayer now, it appears you need to have several things in place to make it stand out.

First, you need to have a centralized server matching system that players can interact with to find games. Long gone are the days of just throwing a game out and letting the players fend for themselves. Players need to be assisted and encouraged to easily get into playing your game.

Second, make the learning curve shallow easy to learn, hard to master. You need to let the player get involved in the game and learn it before you throw them into the pit with the jackals. As the player learns the game and how to play, you can remove the training wheels and let them into a more difficult environment with like minded and similarly skilled players.

Third, polish the hell out of your game. There should not be bugs that pop up on occasion; maps and code need to be well tuned for the game. Don’t let the player quit in disgust because of technical issues, because he/she will not be back to play again.

Finally, don’t abandon your game as soon as it’s released (different from central server listing). Provide a website that players can find out about any announcements related to the game, possible free content releases or sequels to the game. Provide that important link to make the player feel like he or she has access to you, the developer. They will be much more likely to keep playing your game and being interested in what you’re working on next.

Summary

There are so many games that vie for the attention of the gamer. The competition is as fierce as ever. Technology can be both a benefit and a hindrance. In order to succeed you must cultivate a community and support it. The balance between pretty graphics and performance has to be met. Above all, the multiplayer has to be fun, and allow for both the novice as well as expert players to enjoy themselves.