• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Ubisoft Director of Subscriptions: Gamers need to feel "comfortable with not owning your game"

This is coming from Philippe Tremblay, Director of Subscription at Ubisoft:
"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.

"I still have two boxes of DVDs. I definitely understand the gamers perspective with that. 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. That's reassuring."
Full article available at GiBiz:
 
mister rogers middle finger GIF
 

Nonehxc

Member
This is coming from Philippe Tremblay, Director of Subscription at Ubisoft:

Full article available at GiBiz:
Phillip Tremblay and Ubisoft need to feel comfortable with not getting any of my money..like they've been doing for the past 9 years. Same applies to ActiBlizz for maybe about the same time or more, and the only reason I came back to EA after a loooong time was because they started letting two teams make games and not roulettes and Respawn with both Jedi games and Motive with Dead Space Remake did a fantastic job.
 

ByWatterson

Member
If you can build a subscription model as stable and broad as Spotify, sure, why not?

But you can screw right off with a Netflix here-today-gone-tomorrow Gamepass approach. I guess the publishers can guarantee their own games forever, but none of them have catalogues good enough to justify the money over time.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I mean he makes a good point about people streaming music and movies nowadays. No one cares.

Gamers will come around eventually. But his revenues wont. Movies have the box office to recoup their money. Taylor Swift goes on tour and makes a hundred million per tour. If not more. the streaming is just extra revenue for them.
 
Last edited:

Fredrik

Member
I have no problem with not owning games, just let me play them. Same as with Spotify. And Netflix.

But I have a problem with subscribing to a small games library with too few games I want to play. So no Ubi+ here. Sorry.

Currently subscribing to PS+ Premium and Gamepass Ultimate. Both subs ends soon, it’s planned. I could see myself subbing to Gamepass again if I find a cheap deal, but no full price subs.
 

angrod14

Member
There are a lot of differences between videogames, music and movies in terms of media consumption.

Music subscriptions work because they're dirt cheap and the artists aren't fragmented in several plataforms (like it happens with movies). 8 dollars a month get you all the music in the world without any hassle.

How long does a movie last? An average of 1 and half hours. With one month of subscription you can watch many many movies and make your money's worth, then unsubscribe. There's no progress to lose. You want to purchase the movie because you want to see it many, many times? You can buy the blu-ray, or a digital copy.

Gamepass and PS Plus are expensive. They don't have all the games, they have a limited selection that is constantly rotated. How many games are you going to play in a month? And the whole "you don't lose your progress" is kinda bs, as these companies are used to ban people's entire accounts for the most ridiculuous reasons. Apple isn't banning my ID, nor is it Netflix or other services. But for some reason in gaming they have to be such a pussy.
 

Damigos

Member
Most important thing is to always have the option to buy physical. Which we already dont, especially on pc.
So its a war already lost. The sub model will dominate, whether we like it or not. Maybe not next generation, but some time it will
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Director of subscription services says thing relevant to subscription model games!

What else would you expect somebody in that role to say?
 

SHA

Member
"DIRECTOR OF SUBSCRIPTIONS!"
What is this? this is too humiliating to be true, we are hitting a new low, the phrase is too offensive, can't they at least find different words instead of being offensive.
 
I do love the knee jerk reactions to this but I treat games now very much how I treated movies after the streaming services became popular. If I like a movie/game enough I'll buy it regardless of whether it's on the service or not as its something I'd prefer not to lose if I unsubscribe.

The benefits of a subscription far outweigh the negatives IMO (not actually owning your games) as I always have something new to play.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
I got Ubi+, not because I'm a hardcore Ubisoft fan, but because I wanted to play Prince of Persia for $15, lol. I'll cancel the service and buy it when it's cheaper if I really enjoy it. But, screw this guy. We need to get used to not owning things? Nah, we don't. You lost me pretty quickly, man, lol.
 
Last edited:

Mahavastu

Member
Ubisoft has the problem, that the price of their games goes down fast, but the Subscription service is pretty expensive (I just saw 18 Euro per Month).
If you do not have to play the games day 1 it makes no real sense to subscribe their service, even if you like the games and buy them regulary.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom