A Ubisoft Exec has shared their thoughts on some topics regarding the current state of the gaming industry including where it may be going. Philippe Tremblay, Ubisoft’s Director of subscription sales, spoke with GamesIndustry.Biz about the game publisher’s rebranding/restructuring of its Ubisoft+ subscription services. The Ubisoft Exec had some interesting things to say about changes that are happening within the industry. He conveys in the interview how Ubisoft has been extensively analyzing the market of subscription services, for both games but also including movies and television, and the shopping behavior of its customers.
Research data showed trends with gamers staying actively engaged with older back catalogue titles hence why they were offered at a lower rate (Ubisoft+ Classics). Other patterns showed that over a half billion hours of gameplay occurred from millions of subscribers within four years. The data also showed how some subscribers might play multiple games while others would simply try out the service and drop it after a month.
Per GamesIndustry.Biz:
“There are multiple behaviours,” he explains. “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 ok with us.”
Now while Ubisoft’s premium tier subscription service may be higher than those offered by competitors Sony and Microsoft Tremblay does emphasize that it not only grants early access to new AAA games but also that subscribers can play the “complete” version of the game with all its DLC and extra content. Subscribers play their games on different platforms as well including PC and consoles, or via game streaming devices such as Amazon Luna. He explains that Ubisoft is seeing growth with its subscription services and that its data shows that one in ten subscribers has never played a Ubisoft game beforehand.
Industry Shift:
Tremblay finishes the interview with thoughts on the future of the industry. It is here where some gamers may have their feathers ruffled but the Ubisoft Exec does have a point. He does point out similarities to how consumers have shifted away from buying physical media such as CDs and DVDs to various streaming media services instead. This shift has led to a decline in physical media sales, something that in turn has caused some big box store retailers such as Best Buy to begin removing physical media from their inventory.
In regards to gaming, he predicts a similar shift within the gaming industry, and while this may end up being somewhat true of physical copies, it could be a long time coming given the presence of digital retailers like Steam, Epic, and GOG. However, between Ubisoft+, NVIDIA’s GeForce Now, Microsoft’s Game Pass, and Sony’s and Amazon’s offerings, it is clear that a shift is indeed happening. He does add that there are some benefits to this change with player’s games being kept on servers but as many veteran gamers know already, that can be a risk should those servers, or support for said games, get retired or shut down.
“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.”
Subscription Fatigue:
Tremblay also acknowledges that subscription fatigue across all platforms, whether gaming or television/movie-based, is already happening. The industry is continuing to experience growing pains with numerous providers combining services under one roof to attract subscribers while keeping costs lower. Meanwhile, consumers are also dealing with what seems to be a never-ending swath of services from every direction be it music, video, gaming, or just about anything anyone can imagine to be offered online. The Ubisoft Exec jokes about this by saying “And I’m a dad with teenagers… it’s difficult to keep up with what you’re subscribing to and where. That’s part of the challenge we have as a subscription service, and we’re embracing that.”