Saturday, November 26th 2011
Ubisoft Developing PC Free-To-Play Ghost Recon Game, Claims Is 'embracing pirates'
Ubisoft, pioneer of the much-hated always-on DRM, is currently developing Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - but only for the console platforms. The PC will instead get the free-to-play ("F2P" in common parlance) Ghost Recon Online, which conversely will not be available for consoles. Ubisoft claims that this is because "95% of our consumers will pirate the game", so they are addressing the needs of this market. Sebastien Arnoult, Ghost Recon Online producer said:
He then explained how they are embracing "piracy":
However, not everyone at Ubisoft sees it this way, as Stanislas Mettra, Creative Director of console-exclusive Ubisoft title I Am Alive, believes that the sales numbers on PC simply don't stack up to make a full port from console worthwhile:
One thing is clear however: the DRM-free model of premium product does work, whether it be games, songs or movies, as reported here and here. So, perhaps Ubisoft should concentrate less on worrying about "pirates" and instead give people a reason to buy their products - it's very easy to use "piracy" as a scapegoat for the poor sales of a poor product. Treating their customers like criminals by infesting games with unreasonable, draconian DRM is not the way to give people a reason to buy and many potential customers simply boycott those products due to this DRM.
The official website for Ghost Recon Online is at ghostrecononline.ubi.com and an established Ghost Recon fan site with lots of info on the entire Ghost Recon series is at ghostrecon.net
Source:
PC Gamer
We are giving away most of the content for free because there's no barrier to entry. To the users that are traditionally playing the game by getting it through Pirate Bay, we said, 'Okay, go ahead guys. This is what you're asking for. We've listened to you - we're giving you this experience. It's easy to download, there's no DRM that will pollute your experience.'Note how Ubisoft are finally admitting that DRM 'pollutes' the experience? No kidding. Arnoult then elaborated on the differences between the business models of the PC and console platforms:
We're adapting the offer to the PC market. I don't like to compare PC and Xbox boxed products because they have a model on that platform that is clearly meant to be €60's worth of super-Hollywood content. On PC, we're adapting our model to the demand.
When we started Ghost Recon Online we were thinking about Ghost Recon: Future Solider; having something ported in the classical way without any deep development, because we know that 95% of our consumers will pirate the game. So we said okay, we have to change our mind.In other words, they won't bother developing the main single player game for the PC and just give gamers some maps to play online with each other instead, with some added "premium" content that requires payment to access. Not good news for single player gamers, leaving them feeling like second class citizens.
"We have to adapt, we have to embrace this instead of pushing it away. That's the main reflection behind Ghost Recon Online and the choice we've made to go in this direction.
However, not everyone at Ubisoft sees it this way, as Stanislas Mettra, Creative Director of console-exclusive Ubisoft title I Am Alive, believes that the sales numbers on PC simply don't stack up to make a full port from console worthwhile:
Perhaps it will only take twelve guys three months to port the game to PC, it's not a massive cost but it's still a cost. If only 50,000 people buy the game then it's not worth it.This appears to be the view of the old guard however and it will be interesting to see which view, Arnoult's or Mettra's or yet something else, will prevail in the long run.
One thing is clear however: the DRM-free model of premium product does work, whether it be games, songs or movies, as reported here and here. So, perhaps Ubisoft should concentrate less on worrying about "pirates" and instead give people a reason to buy their products - it's very easy to use "piracy" as a scapegoat for the poor sales of a poor product. Treating their customers like criminals by infesting games with unreasonable, draconian DRM is not the way to give people a reason to buy and many potential customers simply boycott those products due to this DRM.
The official website for Ghost Recon Online is at ghostrecononline.ubi.com and an established Ghost Recon fan site with lots of info on the entire Ghost Recon series is at ghostrecon.net
93 Comments on Ubisoft Developing PC Free-To-Play Ghost Recon Game, Claims Is 'embracing pirates'
Is the guy at the leftmost side wearing flared pants? Dont ask dont tell
It doesn't have to do with Ubisoft but my latest "lame" experience on PC is with Batman Arkham City. Rocksteady developed a superb game but meant for consoles. I preordered the game, bought by the promise of a superior experience on PC and I ended up with a mere console port powered by the obsolete DX9 API... and another promise... a DX11 patch in the near future.
The problem with PC gaming is not piracy but the bias toward PC gamers, developers have always treated us like criminals and background processes. How about:
1. Make excellent games with rich content out of the box, games that could take advantage of todays PC hardware. Make me wish to pay for your games!!!
2. Keep the good prices down. I prefer to pay on preorder $40 for a downloadable game than paying more than $60 on the console counterpart (of course you must pay the royalties to Microsoft and Sony, pathetic uh?). Stop recharging (I hate DLCs) for the content that should be included in the first place.
3. Stop using DRM ware, that is useless, a total waste of money, a cracker always finds a workaround sooner or later. Digital Restrictions Management doesn't hurt the pirates but only the customers who give you their hard-earned money.
4. Don't come out with stupid excuses. Sales are down because the quality is down. I bet even sales of console games are decreasing.
PC gamers are worried that this anti-PC trend is getting worse but the ones that should be more preoccupied are Nvidia and AMD, if there are no PC games out there that really push our hardware to the limit with palpable results of course, then both companies are going to have problems trying to sell their shiny powerful GPUs with DX12 or whatever, because I won't buy a GTX 770 just to benchmark or Folding@Home.
obviously the objective quality can be difficult to judge (diff'rent strokes), however anyone that honestly says there is no argument to get away from $60 pricing needs their head examined. And of course some companies will overprice their games - but they need to really look at how smart that is:
the ONLY reason i bought Batman AC is because steam had a sale that AA owners got $20 off. I was not even considering it. not that i didn't think it'd be quality, but i have games to play. it would never have happened. but suddenly it's a brand new AAA game that doesn't cost $60... hmmm. I bought it within minutes. and I'm not upset about that now.
Gaming is expensive, and then we get companies like ubi who try to milk you more, and than call you a pirate when you don't by their crappy ports.
Class action lawsuit for defamation of character?
"It's a clusterf**k."
That would sums up this situation with Ubi quite nicely.
Another developer, Fork Parker of Devolver in a recent interview about Serious Sam 3 BFE, on the other hand said "PC gamers will definitely “pay for awesome.”
Some people get it. Ubi obviously doesn't.
The whole word 'game' is like forgotten these days and as said above 'Super-Hollywood' o my I mean tetris was a insane hit. ;)
they are so full of it. Dumb corporate cu----- I can't say that word here.
I wonder if Ubisoft actually believes 95% is the accurate figure. If they TRULY believe that, then it's no wonder they're so willing to destroy their pc chapter er whatever with such drastic actions to combat piracy.
next stop: tidal waves. gotta do something about that moon...
Oh and Anno 2070 doesn't use always on DRM, just an activation at install. So your point is kind of moot.I've got 418GB of download PC games that would like a word with you(give or take a few GB of legit downloaded games)...
And pirates don't care about DRM, because it isn't a challenge to them, that is kind of the point I've made(and MatTheCat helped me prove). And DRM isn't designed to stop the common pirate like myself, it is designed to stop casual pirates, and less tech savvy. As I've said, I've spoon fed people how to pirate, and they still can't manage it.