Drifting from the traditional route of owning titles, gamers are now slowly embracing temporary subscription services to source their daily dose of fun—and Ubisoft’s director of subscriptions Philippe Tremblay thinks that shift “needs to happen” for a good cause.
Speaking to Games Industry.biz after the rebranding of Ubisoft+ was announced on Jan. 15, Tremblay highlighted that while the community is still yet to let go of buying and owning games like CDs and DVDs, many players are realizing the advantages of subscription-based services and making the shift—whether it’s to trial a game before buying it or to try thousands of games without committing their funds to any of them.
Discussing why the subscription model is currently unable to dominate the industry despite offering so many advantages, Trembley said, “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.”
He also highlighted what he thinks is the biggest reason behind the discomfort: saving 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,” he explained before noting that the shift will happen gradually.
“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.”
Ubisoft+ Multi-Access and PC Access have now been renamed to Ubisoft+ Premium, available at $17.99 per month, and while that might seem a bit too pricey, it really isn’t if you look at its features. For starters, you’ll get day-one access to new AAA titles like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and more. While The Lost Crown is slated for a global release on Jan. 18, you can now hop into the game in early access if you own a Ubisoft+ Premium subscription. Not just this, but Ubisoft Premium+ will also get you access to premium editions of titles, DLCs, and monthly rewards, all of which will be accessible across three platforms: PC, Xbox, and Amazon Luna.
Besides the premium model, gamers can also choose to get the cheaper Ubisoft+ Classics subscription, which features a curated selection of Ubisoft’s popular back-catalog games, like Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Siege, and Watch Dogs: Legion, for just $7.99 per month. Classics is also included with PlayStation+ Extra and PlayStation+ Premium subscriptions.
