We’re often led to believe that few people actually complete the games they play.
And I’m not talking about 100% completion, I’m talking about just reaching the credits.
That’s why I’m taken aback by the discovery that just over 50%, 50.7% in fact, of those who have played the excellent God of War on PS4 have completed it. That’s truly impressive, especially considering that it takes at least 20 hours just to reach the end of its story.
Perhaps I shouldn’t be so surprised that one of the best game of recent years has kept those who have played it compelled to finish what they’ve started. With its deep character development and thrilling set-pieces, it stands to reason that players would want to see it through to its end.
But let’s just look at some other stats from single-player story-driven PS4 games to put that 50.7% stat into perspective.
30.4% of those who have played Yakuza 0 have completed its final chapter
37% of those who have played Assassin’s Creed Origins have completed its last main quest
34.6% of those who have played Persona 5 have seen its ending
38.1% of those who have played Yakuza Kiwami have completed its story
39.4% of those who have played Resident Evil 7 have completed it on at least easy
39.4% of those who have played Final Fantasy XV have completed it
48.4% of those who have played Rise of the Tomb Raider have completed it
38.2% of those who have played Yakuza 6: Song of Life have completed its story
42.5% of those who have played Uncharted 4 have completed it at least Explorer difficulty
43.6% of those who have played The Order 1886 have completed it
Looking at those stats, a completion rate of 50.7% is still impressive, but it no longer seems out of the ordinary. Considering that God of War is much newer than a great deal of those games, I’d say it’s probably about right.
A lot of those other games, like Yakuza 0 and The Order 1886, have been heavily discounted since launch and are now available at bargain prices. With that, I’d expect people to buy them and perhaps not feel quite as obliged to complete them as they didn’t cost upwards of £40/$50. In fact, on that basis, I’m more impressed that 48.4% of those who played Rise of the Tomb Raider have completed it. Eat your heart out Nathan Drake.
You know what my take away from all this is? Single-player games are still very much alive. Most of the games above are rather sizeable, and the fact that a third or more of those who have played them have done so to completion astounds me.
Factor in that some people might have just rented them for a short while, played them at friends’ houses or are currently working their way through them, I feel it’s safe to say that upwards of half of those who buy quality single-player games actually complete them. Keep up the good work.
