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Ubisoft Director of Subscriptions: Gamers need to feel "comfortable with not owning your game"
- Thread starter Thick Thighs Save Lives
- Start date
- News Business
Killer8
Member
I don't know why he's framing it as physical vs digital, ie. you either have your physical collection of discs or you fully embrace an owner-less subscription service. It's a false choice because digital ownership has been a thing now for two decades.
Also "engagement" has to be one of the most miserable words this industry has ever discovered, next to "content".
Also "engagement" has to be one of the most miserable words this industry has ever discovered, next to "content".
Agent_4Seven
Tears of Nintendo
Not anymore and for at least 10 years, no. Nintendo games don't count.
He can just fuck off.
nikos
Member
You don't own pretty much anything you've purchased digitally. I honestly couldn't care less. It hasn't gone anywhere, and if it ever does there are ways of reacquiring it easily. At that point I probably won't care about it anyway.
The only media I continue to buy physically is vinyl and some films.
The only media I continue to buy physically is vinyl and some films.
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mystech
Member
Once again we are reminded that publicly traded companies are great for investors and bad for customers.
Notice I used the word “CUSTOMER”… that customer concept seems to be slipping away as these new companies see people as “CONSUMERS”. There’s a much different treatment between customers and consumers. You take care of your customers so they come back to you. The power is in the customers hands to vote with their dollar. With the consumer model, the power is with the company and they will give us whatever they throw together that’s good for their investors.
It’s not in app purchases or GAAS that’s ruining this industry right now. It’s the nature of publicly traded companies. Just look what it did to the medical industry…
Notice I used the word “CUSTOMER”… that customer concept seems to be slipping away as these new companies see people as “CONSUMERS”. There’s a much different treatment between customers and consumers. You take care of your customers so they come back to you. The power is in the customers hands to vote with their dollar. With the consumer model, the power is with the company and they will give us whatever they throw together that’s good for their investors.
It’s not in app purchases or GAAS that’s ruining this industry right now. It’s the nature of publicly traded companies. Just look what it did to the medical industry…
Lord Panda
The Sea is Always Right
Kenneth Haight
Gold Member
Feel Like I'm On 42
Member
It's already been happening but yes I fear it'll get much worse. I HATE the idea of a subscription based gaming industry. I like to own games
Jesb
Member
And I hope that’s when we witness the next videogame crash. Perhaps the final dagger in video gamers hearts and never get them back.
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Shin-Ra
Junior Member
Anyone interested in a great French-made logic/puzzler should try the Chants of Sennaar demo.
Hudo
Member
Yeah, Rayman Legends was the last game I bought from them as well.
Laptop1991
Member
No i won't, no matter what Ubisoft tries to say and do, look at how successful their NFT push was.
Rocco Schiavone
Member
Digital only fanboys are their best target group. 
MacReady13
Member
How about guys like him and Phil Spencer fuck right off with this shit?!? Many of us would love to continue owning what we pay for. So really mate, just fuck off with this bullshit. You can push sub services all you want but many of us won’t budge. Change it and many of us are out for good.
Aguero9320
Member
I wish they'd done this years ago. When I left the UK I threw away/gave away every disc I owned as it was too difficult to transport them. If I'd owned a digital license they would have gone with me, clutter free.
xrnzaaas
Member
It's funny how he's mentioning owning collections of DVD's while movies & tv shows are being removed from the digital libraries of people who paid for them. Or how digital versions can always be censored to get rid of the "outdated" themes. You can't do that with a disc version unless you break into my house.
Magic Carpet
Member
It's been forever since I bought physical anything so is an Ubisoft account required to play a physical copy of an Ubisoft game?Digital only fanboys are their best target group.
Majormaxxx
Member
He's not talking about digital licenses. He's talking about new gaas products. If we had gaas products back in the day when you moved, by now the servers could be already off and everything would be gone to make place for the modern gaas sequels with improved monetization.
Dorfdad
Gold Member
I just don't get this mentality. IF you buy something you own it. If you rent something you can use it for as long as you continue to rent.
I personal don't have any real commitment to older games as I view them was movies and play and move on. However if you're selling me something and I buy it you transfer the rights and ownership to me. I should be able to sell it at my will when I deem it un wanted, and I should be able to play it on original medium 30 years from now without issue.
What they are doing is making the case and encouraging people to pirate more. Offer subscription models but when someone buys your product they should get different rights to the media.
I personal don't have any real commitment to older games as I view them was movies and play and move on. However if you're selling me something and I buy it you transfer the rights and ownership to me. I should be able to sell it at my will when I deem it un wanted, and I should be able to play it on original medium 30 years from now without issue.
What they are doing is making the case and encouraging people to pirate more. Offer subscription models but when someone buys your product they should get different rights to the media.
Paltheos
Member
That's some 'talking out of both sides of your mouth' bullshit. Gamers are concerned about progress disappearing because services have and do continue to disappear, and if he's insightful enough to identify that concern, he would know the most direct address would be to claim that Ubisoft's services would never go offline. Since he knows however that that's obviously impossible and that saying that would put him more directly into the line of fire, he crafted a statement that succeeds at saying nothing while still asking us to acquiesce regardless. I get ya, Philippe - You do what you gotta do. That's cowardly, but I get ya.
ByWatterson
Member
It works in music because it's a democratization. Streaming created the democratization of music.
But digital and Steam in particular already did that for games. It's just a different product.
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crackajack
Member
Gamers are funny in their ignorance and superiority complex.
Ubi games might be too casual for the self proclaimed pros but they are great with cloud saves, I think lately even cross platform. And also the quality of the games is actually high. Much filler maybe in their open world endeavors, but no true turd in the past years
The point is totally correct, people who like to own their games won't like subs but those who don't care about owning something that they usually play once and then be done with it can love subs, even when "losing" all the rented content at one point in the future. I can understand collecting stuff but in gaming I shifted almost entirely to a cinema like one time experience model. I guess it would be weird if Sony shuts down tomorrow, but I played what I wanted to play for less than if I had to pay physical. Also minus the plastic clutter and boxes.
Ubi games might be too casual for the self proclaimed pros but they are great with cloud saves, I think lately even cross platform. And also the quality of the games is actually high. Much filler maybe in their open world endeavors, but no true turd in the past years
The point is totally correct, people who like to own their games won't like subs but those who don't care about owning something that they usually play once and then be done with it can love subs, even when "losing" all the rented content at one point in the future. I can understand collecting stuff but in gaming I shifted almost entirely to a cinema like one time experience model. I guess it would be weird if Sony shuts down tomorrow, but I played what I wanted to play for less than if I had to pay physical. Also minus the plastic clutter and boxes.
londontko
Member
Every time this subject comes up everyone gets in here and starts REEEEEEEEEEEE'ing and just sperging out, it's as bad as ResetEra. No one really provides any meaningful argument or counter-point just 'FUCK THIS GREEDY PIG', 'HOW BOUT NO ASSHOLE'.
He's 100% right, and the point that keeps getting missed is that just like the vast majority of media today that's available through streaming, YOU HAVE THE OPTION.
I love game pass, I don't care if games come and go, but if I did I could just buy them. Unless the argument is that eventually they will stop making physical copies, but that hasn't happened yet and isn't even being proposed?
You guys can cling to your physical media all you want but it's becoming an increasingly esoteric viewpoint that isn't rooted in reality with the mainstream consumer wants. Enjoy yelling into your echo chamber but that isn't going to stop the future.
He's 100% right, and the point that keeps getting missed is that just like the vast majority of media today that's available through streaming, YOU HAVE THE OPTION.
I love game pass, I don't care if games come and go, but if I did I could just buy them. Unless the argument is that eventually they will stop making physical copies, but that hasn't happened yet and isn't even being proposed?
You guys can cling to your physical media all you want but it's becoming an increasingly esoteric viewpoint that isn't rooted in reality with the mainstream consumer wants. Enjoy yelling into your echo chamber but that isn't going to stop the future.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
To be fair, big business and investors and stock prices go hand in hand with how well the company performs. And if the company is raking in the sales and profits it means they are doing something right with customers, consumers etc... In which stock goes up. If customers/consumers hate sub plans then sales would be trash and the company would spiral down the toilet.
If people cared that much about physical ownership, nobody would sub to gaming or movie plans. And DVD/BR sales would be like the 2006 hey days and not a fraction of what they are now.... disc sales have probably dropped like 90%. And nobody back in the day would rent games for $5 over a weekend either. They'd just save up money and buy each game for $50. I did my share of renting games for $2/day or $5 over 3 days.
Monthly cable TV subs are similar. The only difference is that it has live TV like news and sports. But most stuff you can just wait and buy TV episodes digitally or as DVD sets. But most people still have cable subs, watch TV shows and never own them.
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StereoVsn
Member
Dammit, was going to bring out same gif.My immediate response to him
Edit: And I am going to be sticking to my max $20 for a Ubisoft game rule even more strictly.
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Panajev2001a
GAF's Pleasant Genius
The problems for all these companies, which is inversely why MS started buying all these big publishers to consolidate most of the industry, is that the premise of giving people something new to play constantly to feed their ADHD addiction is not sustainable even by designing games for this. Lowering quality, pushing out more games with less of a critical look at the concept or gameplay polish, etc. even then they are all too little to rule their own little turf like little despots.This is coming from Philippe Tremblay, Director of Subscription at Ubisoft:
Full article available at GiBiz:
The new Ubisoft+ and getting gamers comfortable with not owning their games
Ubisoft has rebranded its subscription offering and introduced a new service for PC players.Ubisoft's main all-singing,…www.gamesindustry.biz
So, for them, if they really wanted this utopia, it would be on someone else’s platform (like Steam, Gog, GamePass, PS+, etc…) at which point the real owner kind of becomes the live platform where gamers actually end up getting the games on more than each of the publishers.
So how comfortable are you Ubisoft of not owning your own games I ask you
?
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
I'm trying to think of how many videogame cartridges and CDs/DVDs I bought that are now floating in the ocean because I don't care about owning junk.
A lot.
A lot.
FoxMcChief
Gold Member
Ehhh. I was fine with this ages ago.
The vast majority of games aren’t worth owning.
The vast majority of games aren’t worth owning.
adamosmaki
Member
Ubisoft need to feel comfortable with not owning my money then
Optimus Lime
(L3) + (R3) | Spartan rage activated
The amount of users here who are defending and celebrating a future which embraces a non-ownership of media and culture is alarming. You think you're going to be better off by giving more power to publishers and media conglomerates?
Truly, you are useful idiots.
Truly, you are useful idiots.
Physiognomonics
Member
I am very comfortable with not buying your games.
Halo is Back
Member
And I'm getting very comfortable not buying your products.
Monkfish877
Member
Vivendi should of finished you guys off.
DaciaJC
Gold Member
Options are great. But that's not the language he's using in that paragraph.
"That's the consumer shift that needs to happen. They got comfortable not owning their CD collection or DVD collection."
The implication is there, even if he may not have intended it.
Ar¢tos
Member
existensmaximum
Member
He's just gotta get comfortable not getting my money then 
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