Ubisoft Exec Suggests Gamers Need To Get Comfortable With Not Owning Their Games

Game Rant ^ | 01/16/24 | DOMINIK BOŠNJAK

[BenLurkin]

A senior Ubisoft official suggested that gamers need to get comfortable not owning their games. The executive's perspective on the subject of game ownership, or lack thereof, arrived amid his company's latest digital push that saw Ubisoft make big changes to its subscription service.

Philippe Tremblay, Ubisoft's director of subscription, labeled the latest changes as the company's attempt to "evolve." In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, the executive explained that splitting the subscription offering into two will allow the publisher to better cater to its ever-diversifying customer base, which now includes a substantial number of people who are primarily interested in older releases. And while it might seem intuitive to assume that this particular demographic is price-conscious and hence uninterested in subscription products, Tremblay appears to be of the opinion that's not necessarily the case, or at least won't be true forever

Looking beyond Ubisoft, Tremblay's forecast appears to be well-rooted in reality; according to a number of recent reports, physical game sales continue to decline across the board while the industry, on the whole, keeps growing. And even traditional digital sales only work to strengthen Tremblay's perspective, as platforms like Steam and PlayStation Store have long normalized selling game usage agreements instead of actual games.

[DEPcom]

Same thing is happening to DVD and Blue rays.

[MeanWestTexan]

The subscription model in all things annoys me to no end.

I’ll frequently do without than deal with a lifetime of slavery.

[null and void]

You will own nothing...

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

These GamerBoys need to get used to a lot more than that.

While they’ve been asleep at the wheel living in fantasy land the world has changed.

[Tacrolimus1mg]

I make sure to own hard copies of my favorite games. God forbid the internet goes out.

The bigger franchises - Halo, Call of Duty, Gears of War, Battlefield, etc., - will likely continue to sell hard copies for some time.

Not doing so will also put places like GameStop out of business, so they should be rallying against this. Players who don’t have large amounts of money to spare buy second hand, and digital copies DO NOT cost less like one would think.

[mewzilla]

The more I say no to, the easier it gets to do.

[butlerweave]

so stay away from Ubisoft and let them DIE ,someone with brains will buy them

[piytar]

Even if you “own” the game, often times you have to go online to even get the game to boot. Microsoft has a free subscription service for some of them.

I don’t game much anymore but on occasion it’s a nice break. Go back to the classics namely Halo 1, 2 and 3. However, my “Master Chief” (Halo) disk won’t boot up if I’m not signed in.

It’s annoying to say the least.

Do have some old XBox One and PS4 games that boot up whether or not I’m online.

BTW Ubisoft, GTH.

[yuleeyahoo]

I have plenty of older games, books, music and movies. I think I will somehow manage.

[wally_bert]

Same here.

[Eagles6]

I had to fake my own death, when I was 18, to get out of a Columbia House LP subscription, back in the day!😆

[RightOnTheBorder]

People are happy with digital only because companies have yet to pull the rug from under them. Once you don’t have the option to own media the the prices to rent will go up, the censorship will start and the rules will become draconian.

Being that entertainment is a want and not a need I wonder if the plan will work.

[z3n]

You will own nothing...

~~~

Will?

Tell me what you have that the government can’t confiscate without due process?

[bobbo666]

Uhh, F(*#$ you!

I quit most games once Steam walked in and demanded that you cannot play a game without dialing into Steam. So, you don’t own anything you get from Steam. No, if you need permission from anyone to play a game, YOU DO NOT OWN IT!
So, I only play the games I have at home, with all the updates — that I own.

[VAFreedom]

too bad, i already don’t “own” 100’s of games that i play.

thanks to a certain russian distributor named FatGuy.

[Yo-Yo]

I had to fake my own death, when I was 18, to get out of a Columbia House LP subscription, back in the day!

But you enjoyed those 19 albums for only 1 penny, didn't you?

[butlerweave]

Is this senior Ubisoft official a follower of the Nazi Klaus Schwab and the World Enslavement Forum ?

[cross_bearer_02]

I don’t think so. I have a backlog of stuff going all the way back to the very early days that’ll keep me more than busy for a lifetime.

[Honest Nigerian]

A triple negative? ……. Can they not take that? Or not?