Ubisoft: Difference between revisions

In December of 2014, Ubisoft was giving away free licenses for a game<!-- initially this said 'for assassin's creed unity', but from what I can tell from the linked article, it wasn't Unity which was actually given away. also this should mention that it's not like the disney situation - the right to sue was only waived in relation to Assassin's Creed Unity and its Season Pass. -->, but with a catch: the terms<ref>{{Cite web |last=Makuch |first=Eddie |date=23 Dec 2014 |title=Assassin's Creed Unity Free Game Offer Waives Lawsuits |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/assassin-s-creed-unity-free-game-offer-waives-laws/1100-6424381/ |url-status=live |access-date=31 Mar 2025 |website=Gamespot}}</ref> for the clickwrap agreement in obtaining the game for free contained a clause stating that the user could not sue Ubisoft in relation to ''Assassin's Creed Unity'' or its season pass:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=18 Dec 2014 |title=Your Assassin’s Creed Unity Season Pass Free Game Comes With A Legal Catch |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/12/18/your-assassin-s-creed-unity-season-pass-free-game-comes-with-a-legal-catch.aspx |url-status=live |access-date=31 Mar 2025 |website=Game Informer}}</ref><blockquote>''You hereby irrevocably and unconditionally RELEASE, WAIVE, AND FOREVER DISCHARGE AND COVENANT NOT TO SUE Ubisoft Entertainment S.A., and each of its past, present and future divisions, parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, predecessors, successors and assigns, together with all of their respective past, present and future employees, officers, shareholders, directors and agents, and those who give recommendations, directions, or instructions or engage in risk evaluation or loss control activities regarding the Campaign (all for the purposes herein referred to as “Released Parties”) FROM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY TO YOU, your assigns, heirs, and next of kin FOR ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, DEMANDS, CHARGES, LAWSUITS, DEBTS, DEFENSES, ACTIONS OR CAUSES OF ACTION, OBLIGATIONS, DAMAGES, LOSS OF SERVICE, COMPENSATION, PAIN AND SUFFERING, ATTORNEYS’ FEES, AND COST AND EXPENSES OF SUIT, KNOWN OR UNKNOWN, SUSPECTED OR UNSUSPECTED, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE PURCHASE, ACQUISITION, RENTAL, POSSESSION AND/OR USAGE, AND/OR THE INTENT TO PURCHASE, ACQUIRE, RENT, POSSESS AND/OR USE, THE ASSASSIN’S CREED UNITY VIDEO GAME AND/OR THE ASSASSIN’S CREED UNITY SEASON PASS ON ANY AND ALL PLATFORMS, AND/OR RELATED TO THE CAMPAIGN, WHETHER CAUSED BY THE NEGLIGENCE OF THE RELEASED PARTIES OR OTHERWISE.''</blockquote>

Ubisoft's CEO, Yves Guillemot, has repeatedly stated that "[[Games as a service|games as a service]]" is the future of the gaming industry,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=30 May 2017 |title=Top Video Game Companies Won't Stop Talking About 'Games As A Service' |url=https://kotaku.com/top-video-game-companies-wont-stop-talking-about-games-1795663927 |url-status=live |access-date=31 Mar 2025 |website=Kotaku}}</ref> and Ubisoft's director of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, said that players should get used to not owning their games.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yin-Poole |first=Wesley |date=16 Jan 2024 |title=Ubisoft Exec Says Gamers Need to Get 'Comfortable' Not Owning Their Games for Subscriptions to Take Off |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/ubisoft-exec-says-gamers-need-to-get-comfortable-not-owning-their-games-for-subscriptions-to-take-off |url-status=live |access-date=31 Mar 2025 |website=IGN}}</ref> These comments have been met with criticism, particularly when juxtaposed with decisions like the shutdown of ''The Crew'' and the introduction of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into Ubisoft’s business model.

On January 15, 2024, Ubisoft's director of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, was interviewed by [http://www.gamesindustry.biz gamesindustry.biz]. During this interview, Tremblay made the following comment on ownership:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dring |first=Christopher |date=15 Jan 2024 |title=The new Ubisoft+ and getting gamers comfortable with not owning their games |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/the-new-ubisoft-and-getting-gamers-comfortable-with-not-owning-their-games |url-status=live |access-date=31 Mar 2025 |website=Games Industry}}</ref><blockquote>"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."</blockquote>

On July 10, 2025, during the Q&A portion of Ubisoft’s 2025 General Meeting<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tran |first=Edmond |date=19 Jul 2025 |title=Ubisoft CEO Addresses Stop Killing Games Movement Concerns |url=https://thisweekinvideogames.com/news/ubisoft-ceo-addresses-stop-killing-games-movement-concerns/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-07-10 |website=This Week in Videogames}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=10 Jul 2025 |title=Investor center: General Meetings |url=https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/company/about-us/investors#generalMeetings |access-date=2025-07-20 |website=Ubisoft}}</ref> at around 1:22:30<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 Jul 2025 |title=General Meeting 2025 |url=https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/zzxygofu/ |access-date=2025-07-20}}</ref>, Guillemot has addressed shareholder concerns regarding the [[Stop Killing Games]] movement, unfortunately repeating the same misinformation as the lobby group [[Stop Killing Games#Industry push back|Video Game Europe]] regarding the wrong assumption that the initiative is asking for servers to be kept alive forever<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 Jul 2024 |title=Europeans can save gaming! |url=https://youtu.be/mkMe9MxxZiI?t=150 |url-status=live |access-date=2025-07-20 |website=Youtube: Accursed Farms}}</ref>:<blockquote>“We operate in a market, and whenever we release a game, we provide a lot of support for that game. We also provide a lot of services to make sure that the game is accessible and remains playable 24/7.”