MIDiA Research has published its latest gaming report, and with it comes the news that 53% of gamers prefer single-player rather than multi-player games, including those in the PVE, couch co-op, and online PVP categories.
They can overlap but usually don't. Single player games are story driven games like the Mass Effect series or Jedi Fallen Order / Survivor games where there is no multiplayer component. (Mass Effect 3's MP not withstanding.) Online PVE would be Destiny 2's non-PvP modes or something like Helldivers which is an extraction shooter. An example of a game with overlap would be Ghost Recon Breakpoint which has a PvP mode, a raid and Co-Op gameplay. The latter allowing you to play through all of the game's single-player missions and story with friends.
Something like Helldivers or Warhammer: Darktide has no single-player story and requires you to play with other humans via matchmaking or you can form groups with your friends to do the content.
I think single-player games are better experiences typically. However, the industry embraced multiplayer games because they are much easier to monetize and the live service model allows you to keep adding super shallow content and entice players to invest additional money in the game through microtransactions.
Single-player games usually don't vary enough between playthroughs to have the kind of player retention that a multiplayer game usually does. The only real way to extend the life of these games is via mods but the publisher / developer usually doesn't make any money off that and it makes the games even harder to monetize as the developers literally have to do better than modders and somehow justify their paid content over the free stuff on Nexus Mods. Plus, the latter often involves free ways of unlocking stuff that was locked behind a pay-wall.
Players also very often push back hard against paid DLC's for single-player games. Very few franchises pull it off very well. At the very best it creates some ill-will between players and developers.
