Ubisoft has *once again* chosen to rebrand its subscription services, introducing a PC version of the “Classics” tier with a lower price tag. In addition to the pre-release of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Ubisoft+ subscriptions director Phillipe Tremblay says this move is to get players “comfortable” with not owning their games.
Endless Rebranding
Over and over again, the French publisher and game developer has rebranded its online portals to access games for more than 10 years. We had Uplay, Ubisoft Game Launcher, Ubisoft Connect, Uplay+, Uplay Passport, Ubisoft Club, and now Ubisoft+ Premium/Classics.
Even though there may not seem to be high demand on the surface, Tremblay confirmed in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that Ubisoft+ had its biggest month ever in October 2023, and that the service clocked in “over half a billion hours” played with “millions” of subscribers.
Such results may be the byproduct of moments in time when Ubisoft refused to release its titles on Steam to force PC players to use its services.
A Strategy That Makes No Sense
Paying upwards of $17.99 per month for a subscription to a single publisher in the most competitive industry in entertainment is ludicrous. Not to say that Ubisoft’s games are low quality, but it’s an inevitable failure when you have competitors like Game Pass and PlayStation Plus.
Both film and TV companies attempted this same strategy, offering exclusives to specific streaming services which then ended up alienating consumers.
Tremblay emphasized the way in which Ubisoft desires to see a “consumer shift”, one that is comparable to how people moved from CDs and DVDs over to Spotify and Netflix, rather than buy physical media.
One of the things we saw is that gamers are used to, a little bit like DVD, having and owning their games. That’s the consumer shift that needs to happen. They got comfortable not owning their CD collection or DVD collection. That’s a transformation that’s been a bit slower to happen [in games]. As gamers grow comfortable in that aspect… you don’t lose your progress. If you resume your game at another time, your progress file is still there. That’s not been deleted. You don’t lose what you’ve built in the game or your engagement with the game. So it’s about feeling comfortable with not owning your game.
Tremblay continued with, “But as people embrace that model, they will see that these games will exist, the service will continue, and you’ll be able to access them when you feel like.”
To be fair, Ubisoft is not the only one attempting this to get people interested in paying less for immediate access. EA offers a similar service in the form of Play and Play Pro for $4.99 per month and $14.99 per month respectively.
Right now, if you were to give Ubisoft $17.99/month of your hard-earned money, you would have access to Anno 1800, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Avatar, Skull & Bones, and The Crew: Motorfest at the same time. While this is cheaper than purchasing any of them individually, you’re gonna have to fork over another $18 a month in a continuous cycle if you want to keep them. Just imagine you making hundreds of hours of progress and then having them pulled down, the same way Netflix removes certain films over time.
Streaming Services Don’t Last
Industry professionals always try to act like their streaming service or subscription business will last forever. They almost never do. This is why it’s critical for people to be able to own their games!
There are also still plans for Ubisoft to include Activision Blizzard’s games in streaming services despite Microsoft’s acquisition. It all seems redundant as most of these titles will come to Game Pass.