What convinced Ubisoft to launch the Uplay+ subscription service?
In the market of subscription gaming services — one more. Today Ubisoft launched the recently announced Uplay+. What the publisher wants to achieve with its help, said Ubisoft Vice President Brenda Panagrossi.
App2Top.ru made an excerpt from the material Gamesindustry.biz .
To begin with, what do we know about Uplay+:
- it costs $15 per month;
- gives access to more than 100 Ubisoft PC games, including Watch Dogs: Legion, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and other novelties;
- new items are available by subscription already on release;
- In 2020, Uplay+ will be integrated into Google Stadia.
To justify the need for such a service, Ubisoft interviewed 4 thousand users from 15 to 45 years old (not only desktop, but also console players). And I found out that 41% of them use the services of Xbox Live, PS Network and/or Nintendo Online, and 24% have an Xbox Game Pass, PS Now and/or Origin Access subscription.
Thus, as Panagrossi states, the demand for subscription services is very wide. Especially among hardcore gamers who purchase more than 10 games a year and play at least 20 hours a week.
We believe that the prospects for this business model are growing. It (Uplay+) will complement our traditional sales of digital and physical copies of games.
Ubisoft Vice President for Platform and Product Management
According to Ubisoft, one of the most important advantages of such services is access to a large amount of diverse content. This is what many respondents explained their desire to take games by subscription. For the same reason, they renew their subscription every month.
Uplay+ features games from only one publisher. Ubisoft has enough of them to interest new users. Now her task is to establish regular updates of the Uplay+ library, which is still inferior to some services:
- PlayStation Now — more than 800 games;
- Origin Access — more than 200 games;
- Xbox Game Pass — more than 100 games;
- Uplay+ — more than 100 games.
Nevertheless, Panagrossi is confident that the Uplay+ library will be constantly replenished with high-quality content. Ubisoft launches more than one game a year. And out of 16 thousand of its employees, 80% work on AAA.
Thanks to the expansion of the library, Ubisoft hopes not so much to increase the base of Uplay+ subscribers, as to maintain a certain percentage of regular subscribers. “Success for us will be if the players are involved and satisfied with the service, and stay in it,” said the vice president of the company. It is not specified how much of a regular audience Ubisoft expects.
And we note: although the publisher promised access to all its games, the same Anno 1800 is not included in Uplay+ “for technical reasons”.
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