ALBAWABA - Ubisoft recently made changes to their online game subscription tiers, splitting Ubisoft+ into two new plans; Classics and Premium, $8 and $18 a month respectively. The premium plan allows users to access 100+ games from Ubisoft’s catalogue on PC, Xbox and Amazon Luna, while the Classics merely unlocks 50 games that time has passed on, only available on PC.
In a recent conversation with GamesIndustry.Biz, Philippe Tremblay, the director of subscriptions at Ubisoft said “We looked at the consumer behaviour and how people were interacting with our offer and we saw an opportunity for us to evolve”, adding that the company has millions of active subscribers to their Plus service, while noting that a good chunk of players only subscribes for a month or two to try a single game before purchasing it.
Tremblay adds, in a comment regarding the higher price compared to Xbox and PlayStation services, “We're talking day one releases, and with games like Prince of Persia, you get early access. We already have Avatar, Assassin's Creed: Mirage… all of these games are available to play. That's tremendous value already. And then there's the catalogue, too. Thousands of dollars of games.”
You should feel extremely comfortable with owning your games on GOG (they're DRM-free) :)
— GOG.COM (@GOGcom) January 16, 2024
The comment that sparked attention and controversy around gamers is when Tremblay compared owning a video game to a DVD back in the day, explaining that players need to be comfortable with not having ownership of their games; as they do not lose their progress and can always resubscribe to Ubisoft’s service and continue where they left off.
GOG, the games digital store owned by CD Projekt Red, took to X (previously Twitter) to have a swing at the French publisher’s decision to push their live subscription and their use of DRM software to protect their games, which has seen controversies for the way it impacts performance, tweeting “You should feel extremely comfortable with owning your games on GOG (they're DRM-free) :)”
Ubisoft recently released Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, their first major release in the franchise in 14 years, with positive reviews from critics.
