Asymmetric Multiplayer: A Discussion

I was recently watching The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (great horror movie by the way) and decided to look up the character of Sally Hardesty. On her Wikipedia page, it mentions that she is referenced in a game called “Dead by Daylight”. I was familiar with this game from a few years ago but seeing it again reminded me of the topic of asymmetric multiplayer and, given the recent release of Resident Evil: Resistance as part of Resident Evil 3, I thought it worth a discussion.

Let’s start with what an asymmetric multiplayer game is. In contrast to normal multiplayer games where team sizes are typically the same (think of Overwatch and how each team is typically 6v6), asymmetric multiplayer games (usually) feature imbalanced teams where each side is mechanically distinct. Taking Dead by Daylight as an example, a team of 4 survivors attempt to activate generators and escape the premises while the other team consists of a killer who attempts to hunt them down.

I can immediately understand the appeal of asymmetric multiplayer. The idea of either being overpowered and outnumbered or weak but able to triumph through teamwork is very appealing and is a very unique experience. I still fondly remember when I played Versus mode in Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 where players play as the Infected and attempt to stop the other team of survivors.

The downside of these games is game balance. Having two wildly different gameplay experiences makes it difficult to design the game so that one team doesn’t have an advantage. One of the more infamous examples of this was the Wraith in Evolve who was often too powerful for even the best of teams to overcome.

Asymmetric multiplayer games remain pretty niche (and hard to define) as a genre and I confess to having limited experience with them. Besides the Left 4 Dead games, I have played a little of Dead by Daylight as part of a free weekend on Steam as well as an Overwatch game mode during their Winter Wonderland event called Yeti Hunt where a team of 5 Mei players face off against a Winston with 5000 health.

Still though, I would like to see more asymmetric multiplayer games refined and released in the future (preferably not as part of a single player game like in the case of Resident Evil 3) as I think the concept is wonderful. Creating an asymmetric multiplayer game is definitely more difficult than making a standard multiplayer game but, as has been seen with Dead by Daylight’s sales figures, there is a very real demand for this type of game.

Let me know what you think of asymmetric multiplayer games, which ones you have played and how you think they can be improved in the future.

Thanks for reading and if you wish to seek any of the titles I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs! Also feel free to follow my curator page on Steam “JRPG Reviews” for thoughts and opinions on any JRPGs that I play and my YouTube channel “Victory Achieved Gaming” where I guide my friend through challenging games.