- Primary Subject: Multiplayer-only Storytelling (General Genre Analysis)
- Key Update: The article argues that top-tier multiplayer titles like Fortnite, Valorant, and League of Legends successfully build deep lore through environmental cues and transmedia rather than traditional campaigns.
- Status: Confirmed (Editorial Analysis)
- Last Verified: March 20, 2026
- Quick Answer: Multiplayer games prove campaigns are optional; deep lore thrives through environmental cues, character interactions, and cross-media expansions like comics and animated series. (24 words)
The industry loves multiplayer games, and understandably so. It’s much easier to make a financially successful video game if you just have the one gameplay loop that players can invest in for years to come! Just a glance at the Steam player charts and you can already see that the top 3 most-played games are games that are solely reliant on multiplayer. Games like Fortnite, Counter-Strike 2, and DOTA 2 have perfected their core gameplay loop to the point where players can just keep coming back for more of the same. But something I think isn’t praised enough is each of these games’ ability to tell stories without any reliance on a single dedicated story mode.
Stories That Stick
One of the arguments that I keep seeing on the internet is the constant demand for more single-player video games! Games that have a more focused story that everyone can play through and experience without the need to squad up. Games like Resident Evil Requiem and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are known for their amazing story and gameplay, but I want to distill them a little more. While the call for more single-player games is valid, I think what players really want is the story and presentation at the level of single-player games. And I believe that’s what separates the good from the legendary multiplayer-only games.
Multiplayer games that have stood the test of time, such as Team Fortress 2 and Fortnite, have existed as long as they have because they’re built on amazing story elements. It’s this longevity that proves that players aren’t just looking for single-player experiences; they’re looking for worthwhile stories that they can connect to. League of Legends is a game where you look at your characters from a bird ’s-eye view, yet it birthed one of the greatest animated series to date (at least as far as season 1 is concerned). So now the question is, how do you tell a game’s story without relying on in-game cinematics and notes?
Unique Storytelling
As with every product, presentation is key. Single-player games have an easier time of presenting their stories to players because they have the liberty of pacing and story beats. Playing through Call of Duty: Warzone is not the same experience as playing any other Call of Duty game that’s been filled to the brim with action setpieces that serve to push the story forward. Multiplayer games instead have to work with what they have, which is a repetitive gameplay loop that offers no room for pacing, story set pieces, or cutscenes. But oh boy, the best ones really work with what they have.
Multiplayer games like Valorant, Overwatch, League of Legends, and Team Fortress 2 have done a great job of conveying character personalities through simple voice lines. The small interactions that the characters have after every kill, respawn, and spawn room conversations have done a great job at conveying character relationships without having to pause for a cutscene. These same games have also done a great job of leaving small story clues on their maps that hint at the story progressing. One of the best examples of this has to be Fortnite, with its multiple server-wide events that turned a simple battle-royale shooter into a multiversal-spanning story of epic proportions. But that’s not all there is to it.
Branching Out
While this does sound like cheating, one of my favorite ways a multiplayer-only game conveys its story is by branching out into other media. Marketing is one of the easiest ways you can sell your game’s story to your players. I remember watching all of the promotional material for Marathon before its release and just itching to throw my money at the game purely for the story. All while knowing full well that I’d be going through the same gameplay loop over and over again. Even the Team Fortress 2 comics and other event promotions have done a great job of fleshing out each mercenary’s personality to the point where each one is distinct and beloved by the player base.
But perhaps the biggest player in cross-media storytelling has to be Riot. League of Legends and Valorant are games that don’t really have the space to tell a story aside from a few voice lines here and there. Their solution? Introduce storylines that span further than the game itself. The Ruined King storyline is some of the best story work I have seen in multiplayer games, spanning across different comics, promotional art, and even video game genres. It’s one of the reasons why I believe Riot’s branding remains strong to this day, and why a few failures here and there won’t be tanking the games any time soon.
So it’s time to stop this illusion that multiplayer games are story-less gameplay loops. These games can have soul; they just need a bit of extra work to bring it out.
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