For the most of the history of games, they have been social experiences. Games like Solitaire were anomalous for their single-player game play. Writer Chuck Wendig was curious why so many videogame protagonists are afforded the luxury of solitude. Why don’t these digital wanderers have any friends?
What makes it okay in a videogame? Are characters supposed to be solipsistic (or perhaps even sociopathic) ciphers? Is that what lets us imprint upon them better? If we as players care less about the world and its inhabitants, is it then easier to watch other characters die – or to be the ones that kill them?