Ubisoft has announced an overhaul for its Ubisoft+ subscription service, with a fresh new tier now available for subscribers. As detailed, Ubisoft+ Premium will be the flagship subscription, with this offering day one game releases on PC and Xbox, and a library of 100 Ubisoft games, for a monthly cost of US $17.99 | AUD $23.95.
For those who don’t care for the extra benefit of day one releases, there is now another option, in the form of Ubisoft+ Classics. This PC-only offering will provide a library of 50 selected Ubisoft games, including titles like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Watch Dogs: Legion, Far Cry 6 and more, for the cheaper price of US $7.99 | AUD $9.95 per month.
According to Ubisoft, the new tier was introduced due to changes in consumer behaviour.
“We looked at the consumer behaviour and how people were interacting with our offer and we saw an opportunity for us to evolve,” Philippe Tremblay, director of subscriptions at Ubisoft told GamesIndustry.biz. “When we look at how gamers engage with our different games, we see that our back catalogue is still very active and alive. So we saw an opportunity to offer these worlds to our consumers for a lower fee. And this is a response to the behaviour that we saw from players.”
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“Millions” have reportedly joined the Ubisoft+ subscription platform over the last four years, but each subscriber has their own patterns. “A lot of people” reportedly subscribe for a single game, and then chose to purchase it after their trial, per Tremblay.
“The point is not to force users to go down one route or another,” he said. “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.”
According to Tremblay, Ubisoft is now focused on growth for Ubisoft+ and a potential future where subscription services are more pervasive. While consumers have been slow to adopt gaming-based subscription services, with a clear preference for owning their own games, he believes this may change in future.
“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,” Tremblay said. “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] … 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 these games will exist, the service will continue, and you’ll be able to access them when you feel like. That’s reassuring.”
While Tremblay acknowledged consumer habits, and a growing pushback against subscription services – with plenty of people experiencing ‘subscription fatigue’ based on monthly costs – he remains optimistic about Ubisoft+ and the growth of the subscription platform.
You can learn more about Ubisoft+ Premium and Ubisoft+ Classics on the Ubisoft website.
