Ubisoft Watches Used Game Debate To See Which Console To Back

[Karloff]

Ubisoft Watches Used Game Debate To See Which Console To Back

Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot thinks used game sales have been very good for the industry.

Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot, at a Ubisoft sponsored E3 dinner, has said that Ubisoft is waiting to see how the console makers treat used game sales before making a final decision as to what Ubisoft will do. Ubisoft appreciates that gamers feel strongly about the used game issue, and understands that used games have a role to play in the wider gaming market. Used games have been great for the industry, Guillemot says, because it allows gamers to invest in many different titles - maybe even "[making] some mistakes from time to time" - rather than just a small library of games. The more experiences a gamer can have, the better it is for the game makers, Guillemot thinks. "What we have to make sure," Guillemot went on to say, "is there has not been too much money lost in between."

Guillemot was cautiously optimistic about Microsoft, saying that he appreciated the console maker's allowing publishers to decide whether or not they want to take a fee, while at the same time not charging a fee of its own. Sony has since announced that it won't block used game sales at all [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124815-PS4-Will-Not-Block-Used-Games-or-Require-an-Online-Connection], and that its console will be considerably cheaper, which may have tipped the balance, at least in Guillemot's mind.

"We have not decided yet," he said at the time, "we are waiting to see what Sony will do, and then we will decide after that."

Source: Games Industry International [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-06-11-ubisoft-ceo-used-games-have-been-good-for-the-industry]


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[flaviok79]

That's it. The first publisher to begin distancing itself from Microsoft. And it is a huge one.

 

[Andros83]

Oh is that right, Yves?
Is that why Ubisoft up until the recent DRM fiasco had some of the worst cases of DRM on the market?
Blow me Ubisoft, you damn snakes.
Choke on it until i feel a draft.

 

[Marik Bentusi]

Hey Ubi, how about you pull another Rayman Origins/Legends and port The Division to PC to make up for the reduced XBone sales everyone's expecting? Pwease? Eventually? I know you like to arrive fashionably late when it's about the PC, I'm totally cool with that.

No but seriously I wonder how/if publishers and devs will react to what the internet likes to call the utter and complete obliteration of the XBox One.

 

[flaviok79]

In the dance of corporate politics, these subtle movements are very telling.
A big company hints that they are moving to the other guy, expecting Microsoft to change its politics.

What startled me is that everything Microsoft did right with the 360, they are making wrong with the launch of the Xbone. And they are even repeating some of Sony's own mistakes with the PS3 (the non-committed console that only happens to play games, the super expensive price, communicating that it is a luxury item, the corporate friendly language, rather than the consumer accessible approach). Everything in this dance makes me think that Microsoft lost some key people during the 360 life and some corporate douchebag that doesn't get gaming is running the show unimpeded.


I have been a Xbox guy since I replaced my PSone for a Xbox. Now I am going back to Sony, unless Microsoft reviews its policies until November.

 

[RJ 17]

That's it. The first publisher to begin distancing itself from Microsoft. And it is a huge one.

That's what I was thinking to: time for the rats to desert the sinking ship. Some were saying that all the good will the PS4 has jinned up for itself by simply saying "We WON'T be doing all that crap that the XBone is doing that pissed gamers off" won't do much good if all the publishers side with MS and it's publisher-favoring console. But then again, the laws of Supply and Demand would say that if there is no demand for your supply (i.e. no one's buying Xbox exclusives because everyone's got a PS4) then you're going to lose money. And being stubborn about things isn't a good way to make a profit.

Seriously, the consoles aren't even out yet and already the XBone is going down in flames.

 

[erbi79]

What startled me is that everything Microsoft did right with the 360, they are making wrong with the launch of the Xbone. And they are even repeating some of Sony's own mistakes with the PS3 (the non-committed console that only happens to play games, the super expensive price, communicating that it is a luxury item, the corporate friendly language, rather than the consumer accessible approach). Everything in this dance makes me think that Microsoft lost some key people during the 360 life and some corporate douchebag that doesn't get gaming is running the show unimpeded.

It's astonishing isn't it?
In many ways the two seem to have switched places, with the one difference of a more diverse lineup of exclusive titles, which was pretty much always in Sony's favor.

Microsoft's E3 Presentation was good, that's what makes it so sad, imagine they wouldn't have had those features, and wouldn't have obviously shifted their target audience...

Also CD Projekt Red as a big antagonist to DRM was at Microsoft's show, I wonder if in the long run they will create an exclusive for the ps4. I think this generation of consoles could be much more a competition in politics then ever before in gaming.
Let's see what is to come

 

[LordMonty]

This is what every big compony is watching(EA and Activision ofc)... now if sony don't at some level take full control of the market with this tactic god help us... its a strange day but people need to make sony right on this, they've given us the chance to say no to counter productive consumer crap that microsoft keep throwing at us this generation.

I really don't think I want to force my flat mate to get a ps4 at gun point but thats kinda of how i feel this needs to go. Microsoft and all the games componies like EA need to be taught a lesson here.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

What startled me is that everything Microsoft did right with the 360, they are making wrong with the launch of the Xbone. And they are even repeating some of Sony's own mistakes with the PS3 (the non-committed console that only happens to play games, the super expensive price, communicating that it is a luxury item, the corporate friendly language, rather than the consumer accessible approach).

Yep, that's the Curse of 3 for you: Nintendo did the same thing with the N64 (Cartridge only console with only 64 MB's of RAM and this was when Nintendo was still bad with 3rd Parties), and Sega did the same thing with the Saturn (A hard to program console that used very easy to hack CD's, wonky advertisements and no real hard-hitters from them) (PS: I know that Sega had more consoles before, but I believe the Curse of 3 doesn't start until after the Video Game Crash). I don't know why companies think they become to big to fail around the 3rd console, they just do.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

"Used games are killing the industry!" (paraphrase)

[world collectively decides overnight not to buy the console that blocks used games]

"Used games have been great for the industry"

http://cdn.alltheragefaces.com/img/faces/large/misc-you-dont-say-l.png

 

[iniudan]

Also CD Projekt Red as a big antagonist to DRM was at Microsoft's show

CD Projekt doesn't have a large marketing budget (it one of the reason they can develop a AAA game without astronomic budget) and cannot pay itself conference in front of such a large audience, so I think they are just gladly taking whatever free important marketting spot they can get. (And considering Microsoft reputation, they might also be laughing from getting paid for something they would have done for free)

 

[octafish]

Mr. 95% strikes again. It is a good thing that Ubisoft haven't had a decent game for the longest time.

 

[flaviok79]

What startled me is that everything Microsoft did right with the 360, they are making wrong with the launch of the Xbone. And they are even repeating some of Sony's own mistakes with the PS3 (the non-committed console that only happens to play games, the super expensive price, communicating that it is a luxury item, the corporate friendly language, rather than the consumer accessible approach). Everything in this dance makes me think that Microsoft lost some key people during the 360 life and some corporate douchebag that doesn't get gaming is running the show unimpeded.

It's astonishing isn't it?
In many ways the two seem to have switched places, with the one difference of a more diverse lineup of exclusive titles, which was pretty much always in Sony's favor.

Microsoft's E3 Presentation was good, that's what makes it so sad, imagine they wouldn't have had those features, and wouldn't have obviously shifted their target audience...

Also CD Projekt Red as a big antagonist to DRM was at Microsoft's show, I wonder if in the long run they will create an exclusive for the ps4. I think this generation of consoles could be much more a competition in politics then ever before in gaming.
Let's see what is to come

Well, Erbi79, to be honest, I always felt Microsoft as a very bureaucratic, rigidly set in its ways, company. The Xbox, until this debacle, was the sole exception in the whole company. They seemed to be very in tune with what was going on in the game market, fact that is reflected in the many and positive changes to the Xbox 260?s UI, the early support for indies in the XBLA, and the consumer friendly tone they used to have. Unfortunately, that clearly changed now that a monopoly was almost in reach.

That is a great lesson in corporate behavior and market dynamics. I will keep a close eye on it and use it with my students.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Well Xbone still has 6 months to change its mind about certain restrictions. So i guess will have to wait until date of release.I think it will still sell alot, but not near the same as the 360 did. I think, as of now, PS4 is ontop.

 

[SecondPrize]

I can translate his statements into plain English.
"We'd like to make money from used game sales, but having not an install base on par with the Wii U is a little more important."

 

[chiefohara]

This is what every big compony is watching(EA and Activision ofc)... now if sony don't at some level take full control of the market with this tactic god help us... its a strange day but people need to make sony right on this, they've given us the chance to say no to counter productive consumer crap that microsoft keep throwing at us this generation.

I really don't think I want to force my flat mate to get a ps4 at gun point but thats kinda of how i feel this needs to go. Microsoft and all the games componies like EA need to be taught a lesson here.

I completely agree.

If Xbox one sales tank, it'll teach a serious lesson about consumer rights to developers.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

Ubisoft, of all people, comes out and says this. Oh the hypocrisy...

Still, this says a lot about the current state of the Xbox One if a publisher like Ubisoft is backpedaling on their used-games policy.

 

[Artorius]

the thing is, no matter what the publisher or developer says..
if ps4 outsells xbox one in 1:100. then we all know what console the publisher/developer is making games for.
almost exclusively.

 

[GAunderrated]

Ubisoft is queing up to kiss Sony's ass and distance themselves from microsoft plague except for the occasional multi-platform

 

[faefrost]

Well Xbone still has 6 months to change its mind about certain restrictions. So i guess will have to wait until date of release.I think it will still sell alot, but not near the same as the 360 did. I think, as of now, PS4 is ontop.

Unlikely that they can at this point. Some of this is deeply baked into the console. The XBone installs games like a PC. It calls home to validate them. Can they undo all of hat? Probably. But no way before release. The games in production already have this stuff worked into them. What happens if they yank it out now? What appends when they have to push out Xbox One.1 OS? It's real ugly no matter how you look at it.

And this assumes that MS is capable of seeing the problem and making he change? The XBone however just seems to be a symptom of the massive issues currently infesting MS's corporate culture. They let Windows 8 release. Heck they let the lunatic woman that designed MS Offices new "award winning" Ribbon interface UI design Win 8. That was the warning sign right there that they had stopped listening to customer and consumer feedback and were instead sitting around smelling their own farts.

This console Gen SONY learned from PS3. They went out and aggressively asked their customers, asked their developers, tried o get a feel for what they wanted. What best fit their needs. MS simply told their customers and developers what their needs should be, and that hey should deal with it. There is actually a rather fascinating political and economic debate to be gleaned from the two approaches (free market libertarian vs classic progressive) but lets save that for another day.