EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson recently said that today’s gamers seem to prefer shared-world games with more ways to stay engaged, making single-player games less exciting.
But then, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 dropped and proved him wrong—over a million copies sold in just 24 hours. That’s a huge win for single-player fans.
So, do people really prefer multiplayer, or is there still a big demand for solo adventures? Let’s dive in and find out.
EA CEO’s Advocacy for Live Service Models
EA’s CEO, Andrew Wilson, recently talked about why Dragon Age: The Veilguard didn’t do as well as they’d hoped. Even though people liked the game, it just didn’t click with enough players in such a tough market.
Wilson thinks games need to keep up with what players want—more ways to play together and deeper experiences, not just a good story. This could mean EA will start adding more live service features, like shared-worlds and ongoing updates, to get more people interested.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s Remarkable Launch
Challenging Wilson’s take, “Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2” had an insane launch, selling over a million copies in just 24 hours. Warhorse Studios, the team behind the game, was blown away by the support and made sure to thank the fans.
Selling that many copies so fast didn’t just pay for the game’s development—it actually made a profit on day one. Daniel Vávra, the co-founder, shared how thrilled the team was and said they’re feeling really good about the game’s future.
Compared to the first game, this is a huge jump. The original “Kingdom Come: Deliverance” sold 500,000 copies in two days and hit a million in two weeks.
This time, the sequel crushed those numbers in half the time, proving that more and more people are loving the series.
Industry Reactions and Perspectives
Lately, gamers have been arguing a lot about how games are changing. Instead of the usual single-player adventures, more and more games are turning into multiplayer, live-service types.
Mike Laidlaw, the former lead designer of Dragon Age, isn’t a fan of turning single-player games into multiplayer-focused experiences. When asked about adding live-service features to Dragon Age: The Veilguard, he didn’t hold back. “but if someone said to me, ‘the key to this successful single-player IP’s success is to make it purely a multiplayer game. No, not a spin-off: fundamentally change the DNA of what people loved about the core game’ to me, I’d probably, like, quit that job or something.” he said.
His words reflect a big concern among game developers—messing with what makes a game special just to follow trends.
Overall, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 blew up, selling over a million copies in just one day. That’s a huge win for single-player RPGs and proves that people still love deep, story-driven games. It also shuts down the idea that everyone only wants online live-service stuff. If anything, developers should take note—there’s still a big audience for well-made single-player adventures.
