A speech given jointly by Riot Games' Narrative Lead Tom Abernathy and Microsoft Games Studios' Design Lead Richard Rouse III included figures which clearly show (via IGN) that most gamers don't actually finish even the most hotly anticipated or compelling plot-driven game campaigns. The pair also put forward the idea that what might be considered a good game storyline doesn't propel a gamer towards completing a game. Caring about the characters in a game is more important for that purpose.
I must save my character from Zombie death
The game completion statistics provided below are based entirely upon Valve's Steam Achievements, so it does not represent the whole story but should still provide a good representation of the 'state of play'. The percentages below represent how many gamers actually completed the games listed. You can see the graphic adventure The Walking Dead: Season 1, Episode 1 game at the top fares much better than Borderlands 2 which many people may play for multi-player fun rather than single player campaign completion.
- The Walking Dead: Season 1, Episode 1 - 66%
- Mass Effect 2 - 56%
- BioShock Infinite - 53%
- Batman: Arkham City - 47%
- Portal - 47%
- Mass Effect 3 - 42%
- The Walking Dead: Season 1, Episode 5 - 39%
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - 32%
- Borderlands 2 - 30%
"Statistically, most players don’t finish games. We've all seen numbers that say something like a third [do finish games], on average," Rouse stated in his presentation. Presenting partner Abernathy believes that the main drive for gamers to continue in a game is actually the characters and not the story line. "Users don't remember plot; what they do remember is they remember characters," he suggested. "Focus on the things that they will retain, that are going to be most important to them in the long-run, focus on character," Abernathy advised his fellow developers.
Shoot 'em & loot 'em
There could be many reasons why one would give up on a game before finishing it, whether it is boredom from a repetitive gaming experience, you mainly play the multi-player game, the game being too time consuming or a game simply losing its attraction. Let us know in the comments below what has lead you to giving up on completing a 'top tier' gaming title.
