Ubisoft’s Director of Subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, gave an interview recently to talk about the future of the industry. He described how gamers need to begin "feeling comfortable" with not owning their own games, in the same way we've abandoned physical CDs and DVDs.
Ubisoft have just rebranded their subscription model to Ubisoft Premium (and it's still much worse than the Xbox Game Pass, which just got another banger confirmed for February). To celebrate the launch, gameindustry.biz sat down with the director of subscriptions at Ubisoft, Philippe Tremblay, to discuss the future of the subscription model in gaming.
During the interview, Tremblay made a number of remarks that are concerning for anyone who cares about physical copies.
Ubisoft Exec Has Message For Gamers: "It's about feeling comfortable with not owning your own games"
In a recent interview with gameindustry.biz, Ubisoft's director of subscriptions opened up about the resistance gamers have to services like Ubisoft Premium. He described a "consumer shift" that still needs to happen in gaming, and made a number of statements that suggest Ubisoft see this as an inevitable development:
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]. "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.
Tremblay seems to be under the misapprehension that consumers are merely anxious about digital, and he's framing it as a question of comfort and familiarity.
My problem with this, besides how irrational it makes our concerns appear, is that it ignores the very real issue of one day losing access to these products, and it's insulting in offering a path of least resistance. They want us to take the convenient route digital offers, and they're betting on our impatience and laziness, our desire for instant streaming and to no longer have to wait for the postman or physically go to a shop.
It would certainly be depressing if we handed away the last of our consumer rights for these small conveniences. But, it's also realistic.