With the pre-release of Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown began, Ubisoft has chosen this week to rebrand its Ubisoft+ subscription providers, and introduce a PC model of the “Classics” tier at a lower cost. And an enormous a part of this, says the writer’s director of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, is getting gamers “comfy” with not proudly owning their video games.
It’s onerous to maintain up with how typically Ubisoft has rebranded its on-line portals for its video games, with Uplay, Ubisoft Sport Launcher, Ubisoft Join, Uplay+, Uplay Passport, Ubisoft Membership, and now Ubisoft+ Premium and Ubisoft+ Classics, all names used over the past decade or so. It’s additionally appeared faintly bewildering why there’s a requirement for any of them, given Ubisoft launched solely 5 non-mobile video games final yr.
Nevertheless, a requirement there apparently is, says Tremblay in an interview with GI.biz. He claims the corporate’s subscription service had its greatest ever month October 2023, and that the service has had “thousands and thousands” of subscribers, and “over half a billion hours” performed. In fact, quite a lot of this may very well be a results of Ubisoft’s numerous moments of refusing to launch video games to Steam, forcing PC gamers to make use of its providers, and sure choosing a month’s subscription somewhat than the total value of the sport they have been seeking to purchase. However nonetheless, clearly persons are opting to make use of it.
But it surely stays unusual why sufficient individuals would wish to subscribe—and at $17.99 a month it’s not low cost—to a single writer’s output. That’s not a diss of Ubisoft’s video games—though you would possibly wish to apply your individual—however one thing that may be as true have been it Activision Blizzard or EA.
You’ll be able to subscribe to Sport Go, or PlayStation Plus, and get a broad vary of a whole bunch of video games from dozens of publishers, or you possibly can pay considerably extra to solely get the video games made by one single writer, and certainly a writer with a really distinct type of recreation. TV networks and film corporations tried this, and people numbers are scaling down quick, with many already compromising by returning their exhibits to the bigger streamers.
What’s extra chilling about all this, nonetheless, is when Tremblay strikes on to how Ubisoft needs to see a “client shift,” just like that of the marketplace for CDs and DVDs, the place individuals have moved over to Spotify and Netflix, as an alternative of shopping for bodily media to maintain on their very own cabinets. Provided that most individuals, whereas being part of the issue (good day), additionally consider this as an issue, it’s so bizarre to see it phrased as if some defective considering within the firm’s viewers.
One of many issues we noticed is that players are used to, a bit of bit like DVD, having and proudly owning their video games. That’s the buyer shift that should occur. They acquired comfy not proudly owning their CD assortment or DVD assortment. That’s a metamorphosis that’s been a bit slower to occur [in games]. As players develop comfy in that side… you don’t lose your progress. When you resume your recreation at one other time, your progress file remains to be there. That’s not been deleted. You don’t lose what you’ve constructed within the recreation or your engagement with the sport. So it’s about feeling comfy with not proudly owning your recreation.
Tremblay goes on to say to GI.biz, “However as individuals embrace that mannequin, they may see that these video games will exist, the service will proceed, and also you’ll be capable to entry them while you really feel like.” However…we all know that isn’t true! We all know how typically providers don’t proceed, what number of video games are now not accessible.
One in every of my all-time favourite video games was revealed by Ubisoft in 2003, known as In Memorium (Lacking: Since January within the U.S.), and that’s definitely not on its Classics vary, I’m positive as a result of the corporate way back misplaced any rights to it. Fortunately for me, I personal a bodily copy of it. However any variety of different Ubisoft video games from the early ‘00s I stick in its Classics website haven’t any outcomes. There’s no purpose on Earth to assume the identical received’t be true of Ubisoft’s present video games in 20 years.
There are nonetheless plans for Ubisoft so as to add streaming entry to Activision Blizzard’s video games to Ubisoft+, as weird as that will appear given the writer’s current acquisition by Microsoft. It’ll additionally appear pretty redundant, given all of the video games will come to the much more ubiquitous Sport Go, the place they received’t be behind the technical hurdle of streaming. And certainly Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown is already accessible to play through the Epic Video games Retailer in case you pre-ordered it there.
If, for no matter purpose, you simply adore Ubisoft’s output, then sure—for $17.99 a month you possibly can play Cranium & Bones, Avatar, Murderer’s Creed Mirage, Anno 1800, and The Crew: Motorfest proper now, which is quite a bit cheaper than shopping for all of them individually. However you received’t personal any of them, and also you’ll have to hold paying that 18 bucks a month in perpetuity if you wish to hold them, proper up till you possibly can’t any extra.
