IGN recently got a chance to interview Brian Allgeier, the creative director on the upcoming PS3 game Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. While they couldn't squeeze a release date out of him, they did manage to dig up this nugget: no multiplayer.

When asked about multiplayer modes in R&C PS3 Allgeier offered the following:

We've decided that for Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction it was best to focus solely on creating a massive single-player adventure. This decision is based on what we believe our fans would want (the vast majority who play single-player) and where our time would best be spent. After stepping back and looking at the franchise as a whole, we felt that crafting a massive single-player adventure would be more in line with the true essence of the series.

While he may be right, that R&C is perceived as a singleplayer outing, one has to wonder why not throw in something? Co-op or death match really don't require much more in terms of level design and asset creation.

When asked why they just didn't import some of the (excellent) multiplayer tech from Resistance Allgeier responded:

While we do have a lot of great MP tech from Resistance, it was more of a question on where to focus our energy. The R&C franchise began as a big exploration-themed adventure and over time evolved into a game with a more shooter-focused direction on the PS2 featuring many new modes. In starting out fresh on the PS3, we wanted to go back to our exploration and adventure roots and develop an intriguing story that would span multiple games. To provide the level of variety and scope that people would expect of such a massive story-driven game, we decided to put our energy solely in that single-player direction.

Given the popularity of add-on content who knows if we'll see some sort of free or premium Ratchet and Clank update that would add multiplayer modes to the game. Either way, it seems like an awfully important franchise not to include multiplayer in. I find it odd that companies so close to Sony are making such drastic decisions. First Warhawk goes exclusively multiplayer, then Ratchet and Clank goes singleplayer. Hmmm... I wonder how much of this is actually being decided by the developers and how much by the publisher.

[Source: IGN]