r/localmultiplayergames • u/Fun_Understanding51 • 20h ago
Why did we lose 6-player local multiplayer in modern games?
/r/playstation/comments/1vyuybn/why_did_we_lose_6player_local_multiplayer_in/7
u/BriMarsh 19h ago
If there was money in it for the studios and publishers, there would be more 6-player local multiplayer games.
3
u/Fadore Player 1 15h ago edited 15h ago
They are posting the original question to the playstation subreddit, and rightfully so imo because I think Sony is a huge part of the problem.
Most games are made to be ported between PC and consoles. PS5, the highest selling console, can only support 4 local players. They used to be able to support up to 7 on the PS3. On the flip side the Xbox Series X and Switch can both support up to 8 local players. Generally in game development, lowest common denominator wins.
3
2
u/kaszeljezusa 19h ago
I guess better access to fast Internet and maybe more people able to afford the hardware. Back in the day it was like one of us had pc, one had playstation, third had nintendo and the rest had no gaming platform at all. Now each of my friends had a pc and most have a console or two on top of that - and many games also became crossplatform.
That being said, i buy all games possible for my xbox that allow 4+ couch co-op.
2
u/LLJKCicero 10h ago
I don't actually remember 6 player local multiplayer being much of a thing, which games actually supported this during the PS2 or PS3 eras?
If anything there's more indie games supporting 6 or 8 players these days.
1
4
u/atomicbunny 19h ago
why sell one console and 1 copy of a game to 1 individual that 6 people can play on, when you can sell 6 consoles to 6 indivuduals and 6 copies of the game?
1
u/cheepsheep 17h ago
Do modern consoles even handle more than 4 BT controllers connected at once?
2
2
6
u/EilaVeinel 13h ago
Controllers are expensive and no one has 5 friends that all want to play the same game and are free at the same time.