Ubisoft Says Gamers Still Like Owning Their Games – And They’re Trying To Change That

gameranx.com:

Ubisoft has revealed their interest in getting more people to subscribe to Ubisoft +. It may surprise you to learn how well they understand what they’re up against.

As shared by Video Games Chronicle, Ubisoft director of subscriptions Philippe Tremblay revealed in an interview that they understand that gamers still prefer to buy their games, and why.

“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.”

Of course, what Tremblay is alluding to here is that as streaming services like Netflix and Hulu became more popular, consumers got more used to subscribing to stream their shows and movies instead of owning them. We can talk about the issues with this argument, but let’s return to what Tremblay has to say.

Tremblay doesn’t see Ubisoft as forcing a change in consumer behavior, but in normalizing it by making it more agreeable. Again quoting Tremblay:

“The point is not to force users to go down one route or another. We offer purchase, we offer subscription, and it’s the gamer’s preference that is important here. We are seeing some people who buy choosing to subscribe now, but it all works.”

Tremblay has a strong argument for game subscriptions. For what it’s worth, this is the same exact argument that got gamers to subscribe to Game Pass and PlayStation Plus now. Here’s what Tremblay says:

“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