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

Trogdor1123

Gold Member
Doesn’t he actually mean that companies need to find ways to provide assurance to players that they won’t lose their games, progress, or access to games rather than gamers need to change? If they make the value there, people will pay, but people are looking at streaming services right now and don’t want that to happen with their gaming and I don’t blame them.
 

King Dazzar

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.
Do you need a hand putting your toys back in your pram?

Anyway I thought the debate was more specific in sub vs buying, rather than digital vs physical... it'll be interesting to see where the sub model goes long term. With everywhere wanting more and more monthly subs, I think consumers are starting to get savvy and cautious with it all in general, beyond just gaming. I know I am. So maybe I'm and others just aren't your "mainstream consumer". Sorry.
 
qYdUfF5.gif
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I feel so uncomfortable with not owning my game that I am willing to get worse version of a game on ps5 vs pc just to own the damn disc.
And even steam is gazillion times better than subs. You can actually backup your damn game if you wish so.

Subscriptions are cancer
 

Reaseru

Member
Ubisoft reps sure like to talk a lot of shit.

Unbelievable how people are paid to burn their own company reputation with its consumer fanbase.
 

Tajaz2426

Psychology PhD from Wikipedia University
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.
No, the problem is people are ok spending money on digital subs, MTXs that have no real world value. I do not buy downloadable games, nor microtransactions because I do not own them and can be taken away.

I’m struggling to understand how folks can be ok with throwing money at these companies for absolutely nothing in return and the consumer has no recourse if it is taken away. I learned this in basic economics in school. I look around completely dumbfounded at people who want digital and buy these microtransactions like armor or haircuts, or swords and I feel sorry for them that they are a hostage to companies like that. I find it completely pathetic and embarrassing, but that is just me. I mean these bitches hire psychologists to make our dumbasses part from our money, that should tell us everything we need to know.

People are becoming idiot sheep that will do whatever they are told. Just like I said previously my youngest son’s nock name is half retard because he spent real money he worked for, for haircuts on a video game.

If this sounds harsh, sorry I just tell it straight forward.

Edit: I do not own subscription services like Netflix, Hulu, heck I won’t even get the subscription through jeep to unlock and start my Wrangler 4xe.
 
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londontko

Member
Do you need a hand putting your toys back in your pram?

Anyway I thought the debate was more specific in sub vs buying, rather than digital vs physical... it'll be interesting to see where the sub model goes long term. With everywhere wanting more and more monthly subs, I think consumers are starting to get savvy and cautious with it all in general, beyond just gaming. I know I am. So maybe I'm and others just aren't your "mainstream consumer". Sorry.

Getting more savvy and cautious how? What do you mean?
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
And Mr. Tremblay needs to feel comfortable with the fact that Uplay+ is an unappealing subscription with a lousy catalog and a subscriber base that's shrinking by the day.

But no, blame the customer.
 
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londontko

Member
No, the problem is people are ok spending money on digital subs, MTXs that have no real world value. I do not buy downloadable games, nor microtransactions because I do not own them and can be taken away.

I’m struggling to understand how folks can be ok with throwing money at these companies for absolutely nothing in return and the consumer has no recourse if it is taken away. I learned this in basic economics in school. I look around completely dumbfounded at people who want digital and buy these microtransactions like armor or haircuts, or swords and I feel sorry for them that they are a hostage to companies like that. I find it completely pathetic and embarrassing, but that is just me. I mean these bitches hire psychologists to make our dumbasses part from our money, that should tell us everything we need to know.

People are becoming idiot sheep that will do whatever they are told. Just like I said previously my youngest son’s nock name is half retard because he spent real money he worked for, for haircuts on a video game.

If this sounds harsh, sorry I just tell it straight forward.

Edit: I do not own subscription services like Netflix, Hulu, heck I won’t even get the subscription through jeep to unlock and start my Wrangler 4xe.
You sound fun…
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
I have a 100 TB server for my movies, TV shows, music, and games. I will never accept this dumbass subscription model.
 

Tajaz2426

Psychology PhD from Wikipedia University
You sound fun…
I certainly sometimes am, I just see no fun or intelligence in giving a company money and having no value in said product. I’m a pretty simple person, my idea of fun is not putting money I worked hard for in a blender and then trashing it.

Edit: looking back, you changed my mind. I am no fun.
 
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mitch1971

Member
We've seen the memes of 'you will own nothing and be happy'. It's actually amazing in these times that a business can get away with blatantly saying 'you will not own your product' and pretty much a majority of people will say fine.

The point of him saying your save will be their - don't worry, is troubling, when he is glossing over the fact your game will eventually be taken away, resulting in the save statement becoming a moot point.
 

hinch7

Member
Every pc gamer for decades:
Charlie Day Ok GIF
Yep and basically anyone who's been buying games on any digital store front. You don't own the games, just the rights (licence) to access to them. Which is also why I don't understand why some people stan for digital only on consoles, when you have a choice.

There are outliers like GOG for DRM free content but thats pretty much it; though their library of games is quite limited.
 

StereoVsn

Member
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.
Yep, basically stanning against customer rights. It’s freaking mind boggling. Even if you don’t use it, it’s always good to have options and by it’s very presence physical games help curtail some of the otherwise inevitable digital shenanigans.
 

StereoVsn

Member
Yep and basically anyone who's been buying games on any digital store front. You don't own the games, just the rights (licence) to access to them. Which is also why I don't understand why some people stan for digital only on consoles, when you have a choice.

There are outliers like GOG for DRM free content but thats pretty much it; though their library of games is quite limited.
Once again, this is a false narrative. Even on Steam most non Denuvo games can either be easily cracked or they may not have DRM at all.

Also with Steam and even other PC stores you can buy games in 3rd party shops. Yes, it’s possible that a game may get pulled completely but you have a lot of ways around things.

On consoles (and with some Denuvo titles), you are shit out of lock. To celebrate even further fuckery by corpos is jus idiotic.
 

hinch7

Member
Once again, this is a false narrative. Even on Steam most non Denuvo games can either be easily cracked or they may not have DRM at all.

Also with Steam and even other PC stores you can buy games in 3rd party shops. Yes, it’s possible that a game may get pulled completely but you have a lot of ways around things.

On consoles (and with some Denuvo titles), you are shit out of lock. To celebrate even further fuckery by corpos is jus idiotic.
Not really. And I'm pretty sure hacking, modifying to outskirt DRM and cracking them breaks TOS in more ways than one. And also sure that people who are doing that aren't buying them and would rather sail the high seas with their booty.

But yeah you still don't own the games in any way, just the licence to use them just like buying a physical copy of a game. Only, with that.. you own a physical copy that can be cannot be removed/revoked from the publisher and can used to install and play any time a user wants (unless there's online DRM). I only brang up GOG because technically you can do what you want with your copy with an offline backup, well apart from reselling ofc.

That and Steam itself is DRM. Despite there being DRM free games on that platform. Consoles are another can of worms and with their completely closed walled gardens and lack of competition within their own ecosystem(s).
 
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Jayjayhd34

Member
Yeah I really thought paying 80 pounds tops made me the ower of 10 50 100 million project...

That's how stupid people are when imply they own a game ...
 

Ozzie666

Member
Please don't start with Star Wars Outlaws, the only Ubisoft title I'm interested in. But seriously, doesn't the consumer usually have some power to dictate the market and acceptence of changes? It come's accross as really aggressive and out of touch. I'm also not sure the music and movie industry comparrisons are the same thing either. Maybe Ubisoft is just a head of the curve, but they are also greedy and don't give two fucks.
 

Jayjayhd34

Member
Please don't start with Star Wars Outlaws, the only Ubisoft title I'm interested in. But seriously, doesn't the consumer usually have some power to dictate the market and acceptence of changes? It come's accross as really aggressive and out of touch. I'm also not sure the music and movie industry comparrisons are the same thing either. Maybe Ubisoft is just a head of the curve, but they are also greedy and don't give two fucks.
Don't understand what you mean they already do a subscription service for both xbox and pc that allows you to play games early play all there latest games etc. Since there's no physical on pc it makes no sense not use this service.
 
The reality is they will keep this garbage up and increase the frequency and those that would complain or upset will slowly shift to a relative minority and they will just move forward.
 

KXVXII9X

Member
There's a subscription for everything these days. No.

I think they forget that stuff like Spotify and Netflix caught on fast due to their being few subscription services at the time. Also movie and music content is easier to consume more kinds of content in a given time frame than games.

I have over 3,000 songs on my Spotify Premium. That would cost near $6000 to buy each song individually. I maybe pay up to $130 a year for Spotify and had it for 8 years. That is still MUCH cheaper than the alternative. It also helps curate songs for me and is great for playlists. I just don't see that with gaming. Steam nicely stores my games to the Cloud free of charge and have a nice ecosystem where I just pay for the games I want.

I do pay for both Nintendo online and GamePass but I don't use both enough to justify paying each month. I can see the appeal of them and wouldn't mind them being an option alongside paying fully for a game. I just don't want it to be the forced way of playing games. With heavy sales, it is MUCH cheaper in the long run buying games than renting. That is something these people don't tell you.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
What’s wrong with what he said? If you sub to a service then you need to be comfortable not owning a game. That’s the whole deal.. you didn’t buy a game you paid less to play more.

It’s like the ultimate form of a rental system. Did you complain that you didn’t own the games you rented? No you didn’t because that’s absurd. So is complaining about it when you use a subscription service.
 

Bernardougf

Gold Member

StereoVsn

Member
Not really. And I'm pretty sure hacking, modifying to outskirt DRM and cracking them breaks TOS in more ways than one. And also sure that people who are doing that aren't buying them and would rather sail the high seas with their booty.

But yeah you still don't own the games in any way, just the licence to use them just like buying a physical copy of a game. Only, with that.. you own a physical copy that can be cannot be removed/revoked from the publisher and can used to install and play any time a user wants (unless there's online DRM). I only brang up GOG because technically you can do what you want with your copy with an offline backup, well apart from reselling ofc.

That and Steam itself is DRM. Despite there being DRM free games on that platform. Consoles are another can of worms and with their completely closed walled gardens and lack of competition within their own ecosystem(s).
Stop with this myth. Steam is NOT DRM but a distribution platform, store and so on. Valve does offer basic DRM services but those are optional. There are fully non DRM games distributed through Steam that you can subsequently launch without Steam launcher (and can fully backup).
 

RavageX

Member
Getting more savvy and cautious how? What do you mean?
In my opinion...

The original idea for streaming services/subs was to get away from cable. Cable being overpriced and paying for a bunch of channels you dont want, and not being able to pick and choose.

Streaming services and subs are getting to be a lot like cable. Raising prices(PS plus is a good example) but bringing literally nothing extra to the table that would be of interest. Shows disappearing from the service, commercials all the time.

One of the great things about streaming originally was NO MORE COMMERICALS. AT this point you might as well watch cable...it's practically the same.

So yes, sadly now you have to be watchful of BS that sub services/streaming services try now.

I personally have no interest in the sub model for a game. I'll use Rocksmith Plus by Ubisoft for example. Rocksmith...first two games were great, and in my opinion there is no topping what they had with Rocksmith 2014 remastered.

Now you have RS Plus, a subscription model ONLY. It practically took a year for any good songs to appear(matter of taste). But if you paid for a year of that and it sucked the whole year, and promises weren't delivered, AND you don't get a refund....well WTF is that? Is that consumer friendly?

Having said that, I don't mind a service like gamepass.

I DO mind if its the only way to buy and play games.

I also don't want to jump through hoops to play games offline. I don't want to worry about making sure my account is set for offline play, I simply want to turn on and start. I don't want online license checks or any of that shit.
 

hinch7

Member
Stop with this myth. Steam is NOT DRM but a distribution platform, store and so on. Valve does offer basic DRM services but those are optional. There are fully non DRM games distributed through Steam that you can subsequently launch without Steam launcher (and can fully backup).
It is a form of DRM, not sure why you keep saying its not. Most games will require you to use the Steam client (launcher) and most people will use it. Anyway going way off topic, so cba to reply anymore on Valve/Steam.


On topic, you can keep your subs and especially not using your launcher Ubi lol.
 
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StereoVsn

Member
It is a form of DRM, not sure why you keep saying its not. Its written as DRM on their page. Anyway going way off topic, so cba to reply anymore on Valve/Steam.

You are conflating Steam which is a platform with Steamworks which are a set of dev tools for said Steam platform.

Steamworks isn’t required to distribute games on Steam. You pointed to a link with whole bunch of games with no DRM on Steam and even that list isn’t complete.

Steam isn’t DRM and doesn’t include DRM as a requirement. DRM is part of the offering and a lot of games obviously use it. It’s quite weak form of said DRM and can be easily cracked, hence proliferation of Denuvo and whatever crap tool Capcom is using.

in general flexibility of options on PC side is why digital distribution is a lot more palatable be consoles. That’s especially so with GoG and Steam.
 

intbal

Member
Splinter Cell Blacklist was the last Ubisoft game I ever bought.
It was a digital copy, so I think I need to go pick up the cheapest used disc copy I can find.
And then pirate the PC version.
And then never buy another Ubisoft game ever again.
 

IAmRei

Member
If they change to subs only, it will be revolt for some and lead to the next sales could be lower in $ than ubi expected.
 
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