Ubisoft Kills Ghost Recon: Future Soldier on PC

[QUINTIX]

Maybe if every developer stopped treating PC gamers like dirty pirates who steal everything, they'd stop torrenting games to avoid god awful DRM.

They released Prince of Persia 2008 without DRM precisely for the purpose of calling the PC gaming community a bunch of lying thieves [http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2008/12/pc-prince-of-persia-contains-no-drm-its-a-trap.ars].

 

[Joe Cobler]

Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see PC or something like it survive as a gaming platform, if only because of digital distribution having made it somewhat possible for an indy scene to be profitable, and because the tools of development are readily available and for the most part cheap or free (fuck Adobe, though).

Sorry for little OT, but really complaining about Adobe? If You are at the level of professionalism that requires You to use Adobe over freeware alternative You can make the costs of Creative Suite in a few months time considering the prices on quality commission art (100$ for lineart alone is pretty standard, coloured can easily go for 250-300$). Not to mention student discount available. Professional tablet will be cost of 1,000$ for starters anyway, and before You get one of those You do not need Adobe stuff.
It costs a lot because of high returns if You utilize it well. Just like any professional 3d design software or game engine licence with full source code.

Errrrm. I had no idea I needed a tablet to write code in Flash Builder 4...

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Maybe if every developer stopped treating PC gamers like dirty pirates who steal everything, they'd stop torrenting games to avoid god awful DRM.

They released Prince of Persia 2008 without DRM precisely for the purpose of calling the PC gaming community a bunch of lying thieves [http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2008/12/pc-prince-of-persia-contains-no-drm-its-a-trap.ars].

Well, I guess PC gamers all suck then. Which annoys me because I buy all my games. They are ruining it for everyone!

 

[tomvw]

Couldn't get through the storm of rage and buttthurt to figure out if anyone took the pragmatic view. So I may be repeating someone.

Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see PC or something like it survive as a gaming platform, if only because of digital distribution having made it somewhat possible for an indy scene to be profitable, and because the tools of development are readily available and for the most part cheap or free (fuck Adobe, though).

That said, if I was management at a company that tries to make big games with fucktons of art assets and fancy engines that throw around shitloads of geometry and dynamically generated animations and blah blah blah, I'd probably be pushing for us to go console-only. Even if the rate of PC piracy was only slightly higher, or even lower than that on consoles. The development effort is more work for less reward. Either you spend way, way more time on development and testing, or you run the risk of, say, the video card vendor whose hardware you didn't test managing to make your team look like shitheads. Or users pissing and moaning that they spent thousands of dollars on a monstrous gaming rig and you didn't bother to actually render extra geometry just for them. If they don't try to suggest that you should have made something the majority of users would not be able to run at > 10 frames per second. On console you build towards and test on two, maybe three platforms (or as few as one!).

Yes, it was a dick move for Ubisoft to scream "pirates" on their way out the door. That was the wrong thing to say. But what could they possibly say that *wouldn't* piss off, like, the entire internet? Even quietly not developing for the platform anymore would piss you guys off.

Developing for PC from the get-go (or at least considering a port during development) would solve a bunch of problems, and it would probably be cheaper than porting after the fact. Even then, a company can out-source the PC-port, like Eidos did with Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It doesn't take as much effort and investment to put out a decent PC version, if they're smart about it, at least.

Testing against various configurations is a problem since there's no catch-all solution for that, but it's not impossible. Maintaining a good relation with the video-card vendors (there's like 2 really big ones, so it isn't that hard) should help in that regard (give them an advance copy in time, so they can tweak their drivers, *hint*).

As for the whole "PC gamers demand MOAR GRAPHICS to max out their crazy expensive rigs" argument, that can also be remedied by making your graphics engine scalable, so it runs well on all sorts of rigs (like Valve's Source-engine). High-end users can turn up shadow-resolution, reflections, anti-aliasing and the like to get better image-quality, while low-end users can just turn down the options to get playable framerates. That's what PC-games have been doing for ages, and it's worked out well for the most part.

 

[QUINTIX]

They are ruining it for everyone!

No, Ubisoft is only ruining it for themselves. See my earlier post [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.326129-Ubisoft-Kills-Ghost-Recon-Future-Soldier-on-PC?page=6#13324692]

 

[CrazyJew]

Pirates consist mainly of these crowds:

1. Cheap assholes who can afford the games but choose not to

How to win them over - you can't.

2. People who don't have the disposable income at the moment but promise to buy the game the moment they do:

How to win them over - There are two groups, those who have the willpower to go through with it, and you already have them, those who don't, you won't get them.

3. People who hate the lack of free demos and need to try the games. Divided into those who get the game if they like it, those who don't like the game, those who like it but laze out.

How to win them over - Those demos you send for reviewing to websites like IGN? Yeah, publish them. Now you have the crowd that just needs a way to evaluate their product.

4. People who hate your DRM

How to win over - Remove the DRM. It costs a lot to implement, those DRM servers cost a lot to keep up, and at the end of th day the DRM is cracked. You just lose money. Better gain money on the people who pirate on accounts of crap DRM.




I am not saying the entire pirate crowd can be converted by removing DRM. I am not saying the entire crowd of DRM haters can be converted, since many might latch onto a new excuse. But DRM certainly costs a lot while saving nothing. On the other hand removing it will at least get you some of the pirate crowd.

 

[Joe Cobler]

Couldn't get through the storm of rage and buttthurt to figure out if anyone took the pragmatic view. So I may be repeating someone.

Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see PC or something like it survive as a gaming platform, if only because of digital distribution having made it somewhat possible for an indy scene to be profitable, and because the tools of development are readily available and for the most part cheap or free (fuck Adobe, though).

That said, if I was management at a company that tries to make big games with fucktons of art assets and fancy engines that throw around shitloads of geometry and dynamically generated animations and blah blah blah, I'd probably be pushing for us to go console-only. Even if the rate of PC piracy was only slightly higher, or even lower than that on consoles. The development effort is more work for less reward. Either you spend way, way more time on development and testing, or you run the risk of, say, the video card vendor whose hardware you didn't test managing to make your team look like shitheads. Or users pissing and moaning that they spent thousands of dollars on a monstrous gaming rig and you didn't bother to actually render extra geometry just for them. If they don't try to suggest that you should have made something the majority of users would not be able to run at > 10 frames per second. On console you build towards and test on two, maybe three platforms (or as few as one!).

Yes, it was a dick move for Ubisoft to scream "pirates" on their way out the door. That was the wrong thing to say. But what could they possibly say that *wouldn't* piss off, like, the entire internet? Even quietly not developing for the platform anymore would piss you guys off.

Developing for PC from the get-go (or at least considering a port during development) would solve a bunch of problems, and it would probably be cheaper than porting after the fact. Even then, a company can out-source the PC-port, like Eidos did with Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It doesn't take as much effort and investment to put out a decent PC version, if they're smart about it, at least.

Testing against various configurations is a problem since there's no catch-all solution for that, but it's not impossible. Maintaining a good relation with the video-card vendors (there's like 2 really big ones, so it isn't that hard) should help in that regard (give them an advance copy in time, so they can tweak their drivers, *hint*).

As for the whole "PC gamers demand MOAR GRAPHICS to max out their crazy expensive rigs" argument, that can also be remedied by making your graphics engine scalable, so it runs well on all sorts of rigs (like Valve's Source-engine). High-end users can turn up shadow-resolution, reflections, anti-aliasing and the like to get better image-quality, while low-end users can just turn down the options to get playable framerates. That's what PC-games have been doing for ages, and it's worked out well for the most part.

... Or you go console only and none of this stuff you just mentioned would even be necessary.

 

[Stormz]

Not wanting your always online bullshit DRM makes us all pirates? Glad to know where Ubisoft stands. I'm going to be thinking twice before ever buying another game from them PC or otherwise. No industry in the world tries this much to make the consumers hate them.

 

[QUINTIX]

Somewhat off topic: Lets not use the term torrent as a synonym for pirate. It simply is not. [http://www.wowpedia.org/Blizzard_Downloader] In fact I firmly believe it to be the future of digital distribution. Using torrent as a synonym for steal is like using mms [http://www.wowpedia.org/Blizzard_Downloader] as a synonym for fapping. It is a file transfer/distribution protocol and nothing more.

 

[Rawne1980]

Never purchased or even played an Ubisoft game on my PC. They have been dicks for years so swore i'd never give them any of my money.

I did have all the Assassins Creed games on 360 (bar Revelations which I won't be getting) but I got them used so they got fuck all from me.

If I do decide they have a game out that is worth buying then i'll be buying that used as well.

But I mainly use my PC and have more than enough coming out to keep happy.

Ubisoft, jog on.

 

[Michael Hirst]

To keep it short. Fuck Ubisoft, if they can't be bothered then I won't buy their games at all, I've got a shit load of their titles, even the crap like Splinter Cell Conviction.

 

[Thoric485]

Overpriced Shovelware and Shitty Reboots - The Company.

Assassin's Creed has been carrying them for the last five years, but seems management is pretty intent on running Ubisoft into the ground.

Just look at the amazing result of 90% reduction in PC sales [http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/10/07/opinion-ubisoft-piracy-and-the-death-of-reason/] since introducing their always-on DRM, but hey - at least piracy's down!

I guess making games so bad people wouldn't even want them for free is one way to go about it.

 

[Burst6]

First off, I defy any PC gamer to say they haven't pirated a game before....seriously. It's rife on PC

Secondly, to people bitching about Ubisofts DRM. I think always online DRM is a good thing and heres why:
They want to know that the copy of, say, Assassins Creed you are playing is a legit copy. The old CD key tactic is pretty much useless due to the sheer amount of Keygens floating about the web. Therefore, always online DRM allows them to check that the copy you are playing is legal.
If you made a game that cost a tonne to develop you would want to make sure no one pirated it, right? Well thats what Ubisoft are doing...

You know, except for the fact that the DRM gets cracked within days(sometimes instantly) for games. So when the game is released, the pirates will have a better quality game than the people who actually bought it.

Two neighbors get a ubisoft game. One pays for it, one pirates it. One day, something happens that deprives them of internet connection (maybe a storm or they're using their laptops for entertainment in a place without wifi). Which one has the better game version?

 

[tomvw]

... Or you go console only and none of this stuff you just mentioned would even be necessary.

True, but you'd be ignoring a valid chunk of the market that, if done right, you can access without a large added cost. Proper PC development could make Ubisoft more money, if they just put in the extra effort.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

I don't get it...why would you go out of your way to piss off PC gamers? You're effectively turning down an entire platform of customers.
Steam had over 160thousand people playing Skyrim today alone...But I guess those kind of numbers dont matter.

 

[crystalsnow]

Honestly, I can't help but wonder if they actually have some elaborate plan going here and we're all just suckers for their infinite genius.

Or they really are just that stupid and deserve to be purged from the gaming world.

 

[Dark Prophet]

I think Ubisoft angered a lot of PC gamers with their DRM bullshit and it caused a wave of piracy just like it was with Spore when EA decided to use DRM on it and it ended up beeing the most pirated game of it's time. Also isn't the X360 the most pirated platform?

 

[Andronicus]

First off, I defy any PC gamer to say they haven't pirated a game before....seriously.

Hi there! Never pirated a game before. I used to play a pirated version of Morrowind that my friend gave me ages ago, but it's cool, because I bought the GOTY version off Steam when it came out. I think developers deserve some sort of monetary compensation for their hard work. I know, sounds weird, right? Although, seeing as this is the road we're going down, and that Ubisoft are going to be screaming bloody murder at my face as a PC gamer anyway, perhaps I should just stuff any moral quandaries about it and join the rest of my dirty, thoughtless PC pirate gang.

...Or I could, you know, just not buy Ubisoft products. Or whatever.