Three-quarters of gamers play multiplayer, according to Unity report

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Unity has released its latest report, this one on the popularity of multiplayer games. According to the report, of those who game, 77% of them play multiplayer titles. This is partly due to the social aspects of multiplayer gaming, as several players report that they decide what to play based on what their friends are already playing.

Unity released this report in sync with an update to its UGS Multiplayer solutions. The new update includes several tools, including the ability to scale to millions of players. It also includes improved matchmaking and the official launch of Netcode for Game Objects.

According to the report, multiplayer titles have seen a spike in engagement this year. Jeff Collins, senior vice president of engineering at Unity, told GamesBeat in an interview, “I think during the pandemic there were more people playing games, which was the motivation for studios to create new, more exciting content, and that continued into this year. New games and consistent content seem to have kept the engagement going even as we return to normal post-pandemic life."

Collins added: "Multiplayer gaming will continue to grow in popularity. I think we'll see cross-play become tabletop gaming and more walled gardens will crumble, removing barriers that prevent people from playing each other. with others on any device. I predict that we will see growing interest in user-generated content and potentially see new models for the creator economy.”

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Unity created the report from online surveys of gamers in the US, UK, Korea and Japan. He collected responses from around 1500 players. Of these, around 50% were "casual" gamers (defined as those who spent "at least two hours of gameplay per week, including at least 30 minutes in multiplayer mode") and "core" gamers (defined as those who spend "at least four hours a week playing multiplayer games" in traditional battle royale, MMO, FPS, etc. genres).

As expected, not all multiplayer genres are equally popular. Battle royale and FPS are the most popular genres of multiplayer titles, according to the report, followed closely by sports and racing games. Several other genres have more specific audiences. For example, MOBA and RTS perform much better in Korea than FPS and racing games.

The popularity of a game in a specific location can also be linked to the social aspects of multiplayer. According to the report, almost half of gamers said the deciding factor for playing a game is whether it belongs to a genre they already enjoy. However, 34% also said that an important factor was whether their friends also played it. 31% also liked the ability to talk or chat with their friends in-game.

In response to these preferences, Collins said, "I think cultural/social norms play a big role in how popular a game is. If everyone in your circle of influence talks about a specific game , you'll probably want to, at a minimum, give it a try, even if it's not a typical genre you have an affinity with. , it's at least fun to participate in what your friends are doing together."

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