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Ubisoft’s Director Of Subscriptions Says Gamers “Need” To Get Comfortable Not Owning Their Games

Subscription services already dominate most of the entertainment industry. We get our movies and tv from Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV+, etc. We listen to music and podcasts with Spotify or Apple Music.

Even reading, at least of the audio variety, is a subscription with platforms like Audible. Games aren’t entirely there yet, but they are getting closer.

For Ubisoft’s new director of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, completing that transition is all about making gamers “comfortable” not owning their games.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.Biz, Tremblay spoke about Ubisoft’s new initiative on PC with Ubisoft+, and the mindset transition he feels players need to make.

“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.”

When looking at today’s entertainment world, Tremblay’s words aren’t all that scandalous. We’re relying on subscription services more and more for everything.

Not to mention that things like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus have been establishing a precedent of players getting comfortable not owning ‘some’ of their games for years.

Tremblay’s words are however undercut by the fact that Ubisoft has in the last few years shut down online services for older titles, removed other titles from digital stores entirely, and just last month announced that its original The Crew game will be shut down by April 2024.

It’s already been removed from digital stores as well.

This isn’t to say that movies and tv shows aren’t removed from subscription services at times, but they’re almost always still available for purchase somewhere.

Perhaps the reason gamers can’t seem to get comfortable not owning their games, is because they keep seeing games disappear entirely.

Tremblay may still be right, that this transition will eventually happen. But gamers will need a bit more reassurance than Ubisoft has been providing if Tremblay wants it to happen soon.

Source – [GamesIndustry.Biz]