Ubisoft exec says get ‘comfortable’ with not owning your games

The gaming industry has shifted an awful lot over the years, and not all of it has been good. Purchasing games online has brought players closer to them than ever before, letting you buy them on a whim and start downloading them instantly - seriously reducing the friction between the consumer and the company.

However, there's a disparity here, as those same companies can yank games from online storefronts whenever they like. Because this leaves titles entirely inaccessible to the players who paid for them, there is a sense of unease with buying digital games.

Stealing away the implication that players actually own the games they've purchased is a major point of contention, and now, the team behind arguably the most egregious examples of this is seemingly telling you to suck it up.

Ubisoft: players have to be 'comfortable' with not owning games

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As reported by gamesindustry.biz, the director of subscriptions at Ubisoft has spoken about gamers and the current subscription-based consumption model in the gaming industry, indicating that players are simply going to have to get used to it.

"One of the things we saw is that gamers are used to, a little bit like DVD, having and owning their games," says Philippe Tremblay, Director of Subscriptions at Ubisoft. He continues, "That's the consumer shift that needs to happen. They got comfortable not owning their CD collection or DVD collection."

Doubling down on the idea that you'll simply have to get used to it, Tremblay said, "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." It's a little alarming that Ubisoft would say this, as streaming services aren't yet the be-all and end-all of gaming.

As titles like Baldur's Gate 3 simply aren't coming to streaming, there are still fresh outsiders that break this mould. Until the industry relies on streaming in the same way that movies and TV do, the claim that not owning games is just fine isn't good enough.

Ubisoft is proving the downsides of not owning games

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It's fascinating that a member of the Ubisoft team would suggest that players need to get used to not owning their games, especially as 2022 brought news that the company was stripping Assassin's Creed Liberation HD from all digital storefronts - seriously limiting the game's reach and future-proofing.

If gamers want to download and play the game, that's tough; they're going to have to find it and download it illegally to play it. Tremblay's musings are indicative of wider problems in the industry, as delistings seriously impact a game's stamp on history.

So far, it seems that Ubisoft is leading this charge, and it's a controversial one. Thanks, Ubisoft, but more than looking pretty on the shelf in our gaming rooms, we think we'll keep our physical copies for now.