Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus And How Multiplayer Lessens Its Story

In an interview by gameindustry.biz, they go into detail with the Wolfenstein II’s Narrative Designer on why they chose to keep multiplayer out of the game.
As weird as it might seem, AAA games has multiplayer present one way or another. Standard matchmaking in Halo to full on multiplayer-only integration like Overwatch, it feels almost an necessity to have online features present in these game. And it works; for some better or worse. But to Tommy Tordsson Björk of Machine Games, it feels to “dilute” the story of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.
Quoted from the interview, Björk states:

The only way we can create these super immersive narrative experiences is if we can solely focus on the single-player,” he says. “Having a multiplayer component in this work process would just dilute it all. That’s the danger if you try to do two things at once.

Unlike the recent interview with Rockstar Games’ Design Director Imran Sarwar on how Grand Theft Auto V’s focus was more on multiplayer and story expansion was not needed, which you can view here, Björk feels that multiplayer for the game would take value away from the game. “We just keep our heads together, and focus on making a really good single-player game… Doing our thing is what makes the game great.” Seeing how multiplayer added to games draws the player’s attention more to violence like in similar games, it takes away from a more treasured element, story.
Then following up saying that Machine Games sees their titles more than just a first-person shooter. “We feel there’s so much more to them than just shooting”.
And after clearing up on the bad attention that the sequel has brought up recently. Along with violence in the game, there’s an abundance of humor as you progress in the story as well just like in the first game. Creating a fictional setting like this is not what they intended when first starting on the game. “It’s horrible seeing Nazis in America, but we started writing this story back in 2014,” he said. “We couldn’t possibly know what was going to happen by 2017” In the attempt to create a more timeless world, resulted in a more controversial subject.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus will be available October 27, 2017 for Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC. Then later available for Nintendo Switch in 2018.
Source: gameindustry.biz