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Giving Nightingale an offline mode is a top priority, says Inflexion Games

Inflexion plans to conjure up a way for Nightingale players to play the Early Access game offline in the near future.

Justin Carter, Contributing Editor

February 23, 2024

1 Min Read
Player characters in Inflexion Games' Nightingale.
Image via Inflexion Games

At a Glance

  • Now more than ever, developers of online games may have to rethink offline modes for their projects.

Inflexion Games said it's heard players, and plans to make a playable offline version of Nightingale.

On Steam, the developer said it hadn't anticipated the demand for offline prior to the game's recent Early Access launch. It's now prioritized the mode's development, though it stressed the effort will take time.

With the state of online games more precarious than ever, players have asked for offline as an insurance policy. Rocksteady similarly said it'd release an offline mode for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League sometime after its initial launch.

Nightingale's co-op was prioritized over offline because it was always conceived as a multiplayer title. While co-op was more "technically challenging," the studio admitted it "misjudged" the demand for the latter.

What offline means for Nightingale and Inflexion

Studios used to say their multiplayer games could be played solo and not really speak of an offline mode. With this, Inflexion is quietly admitting how risky live-service games are nowadays.

MultiVersus, for example, was in beta and had in-game purchases for almost a whole year. When it went offline last April, it put those players in a bind until its eventual full release.

Further complicating Nightingale is its publisher, Tencent. The tech giant acquired Inflexion in 2022, and president Pony Ma recently said it's felt listless with its recent game endeavors.

That kind of mindset, and a reportedly scrapped mobile spinoff for Nier, adds some tension to Inflexion Games and the performance of its debut title.

About the Author

Justin Carter

Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com

A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.

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