Newell: “It’s single-player plus, not no more single-player”

Last month, Geoff Keighley’s Final Hours of Portal 2 iPad article app brought to light the ‘fact’ that Portal 2 is Valve‘s last ‘isolated single-player experience.’ A new interview with Valve CEO Gabe Newell reveals that the company is not doing away with single-player, but are instead adding elements to make it more connected.

“I think what we’re trying to talk about is the fact that, not that we’re not doing single-player games,” said Newell in an audio interview with a high school senior. “Portal 2 is a pretty good example of what we’ve learned over the years and how to create those experiences. It’s more that we think we have to work harder in the future, that entertainment is inherently increased in value by having it be social — by letting you play with your friends, by recognizing that you’re connected with other people — that’s the thing that we’re trying to do, saying that single-player is great, but we also have to recognize that you have friends and want to have that connected, as well.

“It’s not about giving up on single-player, at all. It’s saying we actually think that they’re are a bunch of features and capabilities that we need to add into our single-player games to recognize the socially-connected gamer. Every gamer is instant messaging — every gamer has all of these different things — so if you pretend that doesn’t exist, you’re ignoring the problems that you ought to be taking on.

“It’s single-player plus, not no more single-player.”

For the full, forty minute interview, check out the clip below.