Ubisoft has made some seemingly contradictory claims regarding what makes a game fun, in its latest earnings report. The publisher, which is best known for its Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy franchises, has not always been viewed in a positive light when it comes to the treatment of players of its games. This year, it has received criticism for shutting down servers for The Crew and revoking player licenses, leaving those who purchased the online-only game without a means to continue playing it. This has resulted in a class action lawsuit being filed against Ubisoft, where the plaintiffs pointed to the packaging for the game, stating that licenses (per Polygon) would be active until 2099.
There were also controversial details surrounding Assassin’s Creed Shadows, including historical inaccuracies and issues regarding its main character, plus being released on March 20th, the 30th anniversary of the Tokyo subway Sarin attack, which also coincided with the nation’s Vernal Equinox holiday. A day one update (per PCGamesN) for the game also removed the ability to destroy items at sacred shrines, something Japan’s parliament was reportedly looking into legal alternatives to do. Meanwhile, Ubisoft is also one of many publishers that see a significant amount of gaming revenue created via microtransactions. According to a recent report from NewZoo (via TechSpot), up to 58% of gaming revenue comes from microtransactions, which ended up being just over $24 billion in 2024, nearly 2 1/2 times that made from actual game sales in the same year.
“At Ubisoft, the golden rule when developing premium
-Ubisoft
games is to allow players to enjoy the game in full without
having to spend more”
While the above statement seems innocent enough, it is somewhat countered in another that immediately follows. This one clearly hints that there’s a direct correlation between the amount of enjoyment one can have from a game and the ability to spend more on it after purchasing.
“Our monetization offer within premium
-Ubisoft
games makes the player experience more fun by allowing
them to personalize their avatars or progress more quickly,
however this is always optional”
Regardless of how anyone feels about microtransactions or Ubisoft, it is a fact that no publisher would continue to implement them if players were not supporting them with purchases. From cosmetic items, to unlockable characters or weapons and loot boxes, to “pay to play” models, there is an abundance of ways in which publishers have found additional revenue streams from gamers. As controversial as this practice has become, there’s no denying that “optional” doesn’t mean avoided as publishers such as Ubisoft pull in massive amounts of cash from players, and that perhaps it is accurate to say some find it more fun to spend more money as they game. After all, why continue to spend more money on something if you’re not enjoying doing so?
Discussion (18 replies)
Join Discussion →Well, for whales, I don't think they are wrong.
It's just that's a small subset of players who outlay a disproportionate amount of the cash. But yeah, they enjoy being at the top of the game moreso than actually playing the game.
Whales are idiots... and I mean that sincerely. they don't bother to investigate alternate paths to awesome.
For ALL of the recent Assassins Creed games of late they have offered microtransactions for gear/faster advancement. I've personal got a lifetime sub to CheatHappens. Short of cosmetics... I don't feel a need to spend a dime on my single player games. And largely cosmetics don't matter. It's like a bypass for game effecting microtransactions. Sure I'll buy content. But no need to worry about anything that makes the game faster or easier. Fire up the cheat client and I'm good.
And honestly for a 50 year old gamer like me... it's nice to be able to play a game and not just have mounting frustration because I get murdered by X. Or run into roadblock Y. I can relax and play the game. I still try to play the game 'correctly' and work on my in game skills, dodging and blocking and whatever shooting or other gameplay experience is there. I don't walk through the fire like I know I'm untouchable. And largely once you hit max level and gear... and unlock all of the games special skills there is no reason to have the cheats running. Normally at that stage you're already effectively cheating just by existing. Power fantasy delivered.
Yep, I'm a member of CH as well and agree on all fronts. What blows my mind is that I've encountered folk who speak about what they can't afford in real life but then turn around and tell me about the $2K+ spent over a 3-6 months on microtransactions whether its on PC/console or mobile storefronts. I admit I question my own sanity for my hardware but its at least something I own and is tangible but its unfathomable for me spend that kind of money on virtual add-ons. Pretty sure my annual gaming spend rarely exceeds $200 either so it even more mind boggling to me. I don't know, to each their own.
There was a point when I was neck deep in MMOs that I would be running 2, 3, or 4 subscription accounts simultaneously (for the same game), at like $15 a pop. And wouldn’t blink an eye at that.
I still contend, in my younger days, all my money I spent on MMOs was much less than had I spent even a fraction of that time hanging out in the local bar - which was a very likely alternative.
Today I see a new release at $60 and I don’t think “I used to throw that out every month” - instead, I think “meh, it’ll be on sale in a year, I can wait for the GOTY edition”
Im probably along with Peter, I might spend $200/year on game software - almost all of that “on sale”. I spend a lot more time on throw away junk F2P titles than anything else any more - they aren’t all that fun, but they are easy distractions that I can jump into and out of and not feel bad about it when I just drop them completely or don’t have time to dedicate to them.
My main hobbies have kinda shifted - PCs were awesome in the golden days where you upgraded ever year. And I was more into building them out than anything. But that’s kinda went away unless you are willing to mortgage your home to fund your build any more, and the software to run on them is … not really that spectacular leap like it used to be
Same but slightly more limited. I had two accounts in DAOC ... gotta have a buff-bot for farming and running the frontiers. Rather than go the subscription route, I purchased two lifetimes for LOTRO ... still worth a dip in the pool now and then and easily got sufficient value out of them.
Most of my game software purchases these are always on the cheap ... heavily discounted or throw-away indies that started at low cost. I still have an incredibly deep backlog of games to play (and in some cases, replay), so I don't feel compelled to purchase the latest FOMO-marketed pile of overly expensive AAA tripe. If it's a good game today, it'll be a good game in 5 years ... maybe ... most likely. And if it isn't, then I didn't need it anyway.
Yeah man!!!
My friend's grown-@ss step-kids grew up like this somehow. They have no problem doing that, and I can't fathom how it's possible, or why. I start bleeding from the nose as my brain kills itself trying to process the insanity.
For Ubisoft it's actually: " The more you buy, the less obstacles we roll in front of your enjoyment"
I have no problem with microtransactions that provide new content (a new skin is not new content).
I consider DLC a form of microtransaction, even though it isn't presented as such. So on that level, over the course of the last decade, I've spent some money on it for added content/missions/etc. On that level, over the last ten years, probably dropped around an extra $400-$500 and I'm pretty sure that I'm highballing that estimate since it's usually ~$20 a pop, maybe 2x or 3x year since there's usually only 2 or 3 titles a year I end up buying where it's offered and I want it.
I usually end up wildly underestimating my spending on my hobbies when I think I'm highballing it :D
Take your estimate, double it, and add 1/2.
Covered.
So ... triple it? Or just 2.5x? Inquiring minds want to know ...
It's like converting miles to km, you just sort of wing it and hope for the best. ;)
It's not a surprise that a company that's literally floundering with one flop after another over the last two years thinks that.
So true. Basically, anything to make it look good on paper for the investors.
You know what... how about we change the definition of microtransactions back to extremely LOW cost transactions, instead of quick ways to take money?
I mean seriously... in an MMO (because that's where it counts.) cosmetics shouldn't be 120 bucks.. it should be 1.. maybe 2 bucks and you just sell a S-Ton of them. Instead they make them 20 because or 90 bucks... and enough people buy them to make them think that's a great idea to do again and again.
If you want life long gamers and customers. STOP trying to raid their wallets for everything. Give them a game to enjoy, and if you want to sell cosmetics make them cheap.
I swear microtransactions today make the 'gem' button app on iphone's seem down right reasonable.
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Sell those to those that want to look 'unique'.