After a recent revamp of their popular subscription service, Ubisoft Plus Director of Subscriptions Philippe Tremblay sat down for an interview to discuss the changing landscape of video games and the mediums they’re delivered in. According to him, gamers should get used to making the shift to digital and give up on owning their games.
The interview in question was conducted by GamesIndustry.biz, who talked to Tremblay about the new Ubisoft Plus Premium subscription and what it means for Ubisoft’s future. Tremblay had a good bit to say regarding how people interact with their subscription:
We looked at the consumer behaviour and how people were interacting with our offer and we saw an opportunity for us to evolve. When we look at how gamers engage with our different games, we see that our back catalogue is still very active and alive. So we saw an opportunity to offer these worlds to our consumers for a lower fee. And this is a response to the behaviour that we saw from players.
There are multiple behaviours. There are definitely a lot of people who come in for one game and then decide to buy it after [the subscription ends]. That’s part of the reality and that’s okay with us.
Their new model is apparently bringing in new players who wouldn’t touch their products before, according to Tremblay. There are plenty of gamers who are now engaging solely on the subscription side of Ubisoft’s library. It’s a new alternative to outright buying the games they want to play, and it’s working for lots of people.
This idea of playing a game without owning it is one that Tremblay insists is going to become the norm for gaming. While he expresses sympathy for those who hold onto their physical media, he also says that the time of ownership is fading fast:
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.
Tremblay’s not wrong. We’ve already seen both Microsoft and PlayStation begin to sell all-digital consoles. Game streaming has also been an endeavor of numerous companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, and more. We’re on a pretty constant clip towards dissolving physical media as a whole. It won’t be too long before your physical library takes on a status not unlike a collection of vinyls.
We’re watching closely to see where the future of Ubisoft Plus leads. Stay tuned into us here at MP1st to keep yourself in the loop.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
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