Following Ubisoft’s extensively criticized disbanding of the Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown group, the publishing director of Baldur’s Gate 3 has taken to X/Twitter so as to add his view, saying that Ubisoft’s publishing technique “simply is not smart.”
In a publish noticed by PC Gamer, Michael Douse mentioned of Ubisoft that the final “notable recreation” on its platform (the Ubisoft retailer) was “arguably Far Cry 6 in 2021.”
“The Crew, Mirage and Avatar got here in 2023 and didn’t carry out, so you may assume subscriptions had been at a lull when PoP launched by 2024. Which implies folks wouldn’t be launching their retailer all an excessive amount of.
“If it had launched on Steam not solely would it not have been a market success, however there would seemingly be a sequel as a result of the group are so robust. It’s such a damaged technique. The toughest factor is to make a 85+ [review score] recreation — it’s a lot, a lot simpler to launch one. It simply shouldn’t be achieved because it was.”
The final notable recreation on their platform was arguably Far Cry 6 in 2021. The Crew, Mirage and Avatar got here in 2023 and didn’t carry out, so you may assume subscriptions had been at a lull when PoP launched by 2024. Which implies folks wouldn’t be launching their retailer all an excessive amount of.
If it… https://t.co/uiC167uxGG
— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) October 23, 2024
Douse is probably going referring right here to the truth that at launch, The Misplaced Crown required gamers to have a Ubisoft Join account to play it on most platforms. Although there are workarounds, Ubisoft has pushed its personal account, launcher, retailer, and subscription service pretty closely during the last a number of years. What’s extra, on PC, The Misplaced Crown was solely accessible at launch by way of the Ubisoft retailer or by way of the Epic Video games Retailer. It did not make it to Steam till eight months later.
As for the efficiency of The Crew Motorfest, Murderer’s Creed: Mirage, and Avatar: Frontier of Pandora, Douse might be proper. Ubisoft has been remarkably quiet and imprecise as to how properly these three video games have achieved since their launches, and third-party experiences point out not one of the three had been the smash hits Ubisoft has wanted for some time now to proper its ship.
However Douse continues:
“If the assertion ‘avid gamers ought to get used to not proudly owning their video games’ is true due to a selected launch technique (sub above gross sales), then the assertion ‘builders should get used to not having jobs in the event that they make a critically acclaimed recreation’ (platform technique above title gross sales) can be true, and that simply isn’t smart — even from a enterprise perspective.”
If the assertion “avid gamers ought to get used to not proudly owning their video games” is true due to a selected launch technique (sub above gross sales), then the assertion “builders should get used to not having jobs in the event that they make a critically acclaimed recreation” (platform technique above title gross sales) is…
— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) October 23, 2024
Right here, Douse is referring to a press release made by Ubisoft government Philippe Tremblay earlier this 12 months, the place he mentioned: “One of many issues we noticed is that avid gamers are used to, just a little bit like DVD, having and proudly owning their video games. That is the patron shift that should occur. They bought snug not proudly owning their CD assortment or DVD assortment. That is a change that is been a bit slower to occur [in games]. As avid gamers develop snug in that facet… you do not lose your progress. For those who resume your recreation at one other time, your progress file continues to be there. That is not been deleted. You do not lose what you’ve got constructed within the recreation or your engagement with the sport. So it is about feeling snug with not proudly owning your recreation.”
Douse’s level, then, is that Ubisoft appears to be making it part of its technique to drive subscriptions over attempting to promote models of particular person video games. And if that is the case, it additionally appears to be the case that it’ll prioritize that very same technique over builders being employed – which Douse finds to not be “smart.”
This is not the primary time Douse has commented on the industry-wide pattern of layoffs and studio closures that is continued during the last a number of years. Earlier this 12 months, he referred to as the mass layoffs “an avoidable f*ck up.” And Larian studio head Sven Winke has additionally condemned the pattern, saying in an interview with us earlier this 12 months that “it is the fallacious factor for video games.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Yow will discover her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Bought a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.
