Ubisoft Wants You to Stop Buying Games and Start Subscribing

Fans of Ubisoft games may be faced with the prospect of no longer being able to purchase them. In a recent earnings call, Ubisoft CFO Frederick Duguet said that for subscription services to be effective, gamers must understand that “they don’t own the game”.

Ubisoft, one of the leading publishers lobbying for a subscription-based business model, offers over 100 games on its Ubisoft Plus service for $14.99 a month. The service is now accessible on PC, Stadia, and Amazon Luna, with Ubisoft planning to expand its availability to other platforms and territories.

The official word on the subscription model

However, why would Ubisoft want you to go from purchasing games to subscribing? Duguet explains that this is because subscriptions provide a more reliable and consistent income source in addition to a more effective means of player engagement and value-adding. He stated that subscriptions are “a way to increase the lifetime value of our players, as well as to reduce the exposure to the volatility of new releases.”

According to Duguet, gamers benefit more from subscriptions since they have access to a greater selection of games and genres and may try new titles that they might not have otherwise attempted. Subscriptions are, according to him, “a way to offer more choice and more quality to our players, and to give them the opportunity to enjoy our games in a more frictionless way.”

Players’ reactions

However, not everyone agrees with Ubisoft’s prediction of a future centered around subscriptions. Some players are concerned about giving up ownership and control of their games, particularly if doing so requires them to be played via online servers and DRM. Furthermore, some players would rather purchase games separately and retain them forever than pay a monthly subscription and risk losing access in the event that they quit or the service is discontinued.

Furthermore, considering that Ubisoft has a history of creating shoddy and repetitive games that frequently use the same open-world premise, some players have doubts about the company’s capacity to produce high-quality and varied games. Since Ubisoft Plus doesn’t have any DLC or microtransactions and rivals other subscription services like Xbox Game Pass, EA Play, and PlayStation Now, some players also doubt its worth.

So, what are your thoughts? would you be adopting Ubisoft’s subscription plan or would you still rather buy your games outright? Tell us in the comments section below.

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