Viendo que la mayoría sigue cayendo en el titular clickbaity, aquí algo de contexto del artículo original:
"The point is not to force users to go down one route or another," he explains. "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."
"It is proving to be a way for gamers to access our worlds who perhaps weren't inclined to purchase," he tells us.
"These players are brand new. We're shaking hands for the first time. It's been Ubisoft's strategy for as long as I've been here to try and reach more players with the franchises that we have. So I'm happy, as the leader of this product, to be able to deliver on that."
"I don't have a crystal ball, but when you look at the different subscription services that are out there, we've had a rapid expansion over the last couple of years, but it's still relatively small compared to the other models," he begins. "We're seeing expansion on console as the likes of PlayStation and Xbox bring new people in. On PC, from a Ubisoft standpoint, it's already been great, but we are looking to reach out more on PC, so we see opportunity there.
"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.
"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.
"Streaming is also a thing that works really well with subscription. So you pay when you need it, as opposed to paying all the time."
Y es algo que muchos no estáis considerando: combinar ambas opciones. Si sale BG3 o cualquier juego que me interesa seguro, me lo compro; pero me interesan los juegos en general y por ejemplo ir probando lo que van sacando en gamepass me permite probar juegos que nunca me compraría, de los cuales algunos me han encantado. De ubisoft + saqué el mayor rendimiento el año pasado: en un mes jugué al Valhalla hasta hartarme, me pasé Immortals Fenix Rising, la campaña del Anno 2205 y probé las expansiones del Anno 1800, todo por 15€.
Si, con los 4-5 servicios de suscripción se concentra todavía más el poder en 4-5 compañías, pero simplemente es un acelerante, el origen del problema viene de antes.
Y por acabar mencionando a Larian, que de ellos iba la noticia. BG3 ha sido la tormenta perfecta y el que espere que algo así se vuelva a repetir con cierta regularidad no ha entendido nada. Larian ha hecho "el mismo juego" durante 20 años, creciendo poco a poco, manteniendo esa experiencia dentro de la compañía. Han estado al borde de la bancarrota más de 10 veces y siguen en manos privadas. Han tenido un éxito con su anterior juego lo que les ha permitido asegurarse una IP con renombre. Han tenido experiencia anterior con EA, sabiendo llevarlo. Han sacado un RPG basado en D&D justo después de una pandemia que ha convertido D&D en mainstream.
Si alguien conoce una compañía que se acerque a estas condiciones, que me lo diga, a ver si puedo comprar participaciones.