Bethesda’s Redfall needs to be online for single-player mode
Enlarge / Artist's conception of a single player (foreground) trying to access Redfall without an Internet connection.
Bethesda's upcoming supernatural shooter Redfall will require "a persistent online connection," even for the single-player experience. That's according to an FAQ posted by Bethesda last week, which also confirms that players will need an active Bethesda.net account to play the game.
Many modern single-player games require an online check-in (or even a text message confirmation) the first time they're launched, and some require periodic online anti-piracy checks. Games that require a persistent online connection for solo play are rarer, though significant exceptions do exist.
While Bethesda has not responded to a request for comment on the decision, game publishers often cite piracy or cheating concerns as reasons to require players to connect to the Internet for solo play. In 2013, for instance, Blizzard's Mike Morhaime said an online connection was "critical to the long-term integrity of the game experience" for Diablo III and its controversial (and later removed) real-money auction house.