The creator of Left 4 Dead believes there “just aren’t enough” co-op games “yet”.
In an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Mike Booth, one of the founders of Turtle Rock and the creator of Left 4 Dead, shared his thoughts.
Asked if he thinks expectations of co-op games have changed, he explained “my gut reaction to that is no!”. Instead, he thinks the problem relates to quality as “there just haven’t been enough good examples for them to play”. The reason? “It’s hard to make a good co-op game”.
Booth explained how it’s difficult to “design a game assuming that you have to work together to win” without being “punitive” so players are still keen.
In the interview, Booth explains that he’s a fan of Deep Rock Galactic. He believes it “hit the Left 4 Dead sweet spot”. He also wishes he’d worked on Minecraft. “Someday I really want to make a game that is so procedural that when I play it I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he notes. “Minecraft is not that game, but it’s like… in that direction”, reckons Booth.
Booth currently works as chief creative officer at Bad Robot Games, the gaming offshoot of J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot films and TV production company. He also works at Resolution Games on the VR tabletop RPG, Demeo, which aims to capture the authentic “standing around a table” feel in VR.
“Really, it comes down to your friends,” explains Booth. He appreciates that in “current times…it’s a little bit difficult to get together in person” so Demeo is the VR equivalent. It’s due for release on Steam early access on April 7.
In other gaming news, Age of Empires 3 now also has a cooperative mode that allows two players to complete historical battles.