Is Ubisoft Plus The Future?: Exec Say, “Get Comfortable Not Owning Games”

Are services like Ubisoft Plus and Xbox Game Pass the future? According to one Ubisoft Executive, gamers will have to get used to not owning games as these services grow in popularity. There is a current trend in the entertainment space. A trend where we stream instead of own. There used to be a time when we bought CDs if we wanted to listen to music. Now, we stream on Spotify and YouTube. If we want to watch a movie, we stream it on Disney and Netflix. Gaming is no exception. Many players like to use gaming subscriptions when they want to play a game.

It is understandable why. Many cannot afford the 70$ per game price tag. For those people, a subscription to a game pass becomes enticing. However, if you are streaming movies or music or subscribing to Ubisoft Plus or Game Pass, there is one obvious catch. You do not own any of this. If Xbox Game Pass or Ubisoft Plus shuts down, your game will go along with it. Even in cases where you buy the property online, you still face the possibility of losing it. You need to look no further than PlayStation, which recently tried to shut down purchased movies.

Why Will Never Own A Game With Ubisoft Plus

While it is common knowledge that you do not own anything that you subscribe to online, the comments made by the Ubisoft executive were still considered controversial. In an interview with Games Industry, Philippe Tremblay stated,

“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.”

While many have become comfortable not owning a movie or video game, it is still understandable that some are upset. Companies are deliberately pushing towards streaming services such as Ubisoft Plus. As this push becomes more successful, we will start to own less. Gamers are nowhere close to giving up ownership. However, the future involves less ownership. Many gamers consider themselves casual. They play for a few hours and move on. For them, subscription services are the best solution. They don’t need to hand over 70$ to play a title. As this group of gamers grows, so will the sentiment around not owning your games.

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