Following Ubisoft’s much-criticized disbandment of the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown team, the director of Baldur’s Gate 3 has turned to X/Twitter to add his thoughts, saying that Ubisoft’s publishing strategy is “just not sensible is”.
In a post spotted by PC Gamer, Michael Douse said of Ubisoft that the last “notable game” on his platform (the Ubisoft store) was “arguably Far Cry 6 in 2021.”
“The Crew, Mirage and Avatar came in 2023 and didn’t perform, so you can assume subscriptions were at a low ebb when PoP came out in 2024. That means people wouldn’t launch their store too often.
“If it had been released on Steam, not only would it have been a market success, but there would probably have been a sequel because the team is so strong. It’s such a broken strategy. The hardest part is getting an 85+ to make [review score] game — it’s much, much easier to release one. It just shouldn’t happen the way it was.”
Perhaps the last notable game on their platform was Far Cry 6 in 2021. The Crew, Mirage, and Avatar arrived in 2023 and made no appearances, so you can assume subscriptions were at a low ebb when PoP was released in 2024. Which means people wouldn’t do that. t launch their store too much.
If it… https://t.co/uiC167uxGG
— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) October 23, 2024
Douse is likely referring to the fact that at launch, The Lost Crown required players to have a Ubisoft Connect account to play it on most platforms. While there are solutions, Ubisoft has pushed its own account, launcher, store and subscription service quite heavily in recent years. Furthermore, at launch, The Lost Crown on PC was only available through the Ubisoft Store or through the Epic Games Store. It didn’t reach Steam until eight months later.
As for the performance of The Crew Motorfest, Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, and Avatar: Frontier of Pandora, Douse may be right. Ubisoft has been noticeably quiet and vague about how well these three games have done since their launch, and third-party reports indicate that none of the three were the big hits Ubisoft has needed for some time to right its ship to get.
But Douse continues:
“If the statement ‘gamers have to get used to not owning their games’ is true because of a specific release strategy (sub over sales), then the statement ‘developers have to get used to not having jobs when they make a critically acclaimed game’ ( platform strategy over title sales) is also true, and that simply doesn’t make sense, even from a business perspective.”
If the statement “gamers have to get used to not owning their games” is true because of a specific release strategy (sub over sales), then the statement “developers have to get used to not having jobs when they make a critically acclaimed game” (platform strategy over title sales) is…
— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) October 23, 2024
Here, Douse refers to a statement from Ubisoft CEO Philippe Tremblay earlier this year, in which he said: “One of the things we saw is that gamers are used, a bit like DVD, to having and owning their games. There needs to be a shift among consumers. They feel comfortable because they no longer own their CD or DVD collection. That is a transformation that has taken place somewhat more slowly [in games]. As gamers become comfortable in that area… you won’t lose your progress. If you resume the game at another time, your progress file will still be there. That has not been removed. You do not lose what you have built up in the game, nor your involvement in the game. So it’s about being comfortable with not owning your game.”
So Douse’s point is that Ubisoft seems to be making it part of its strategy to force subscriptions rather than trying to sell units of individual games. And if that’s the case, it also seems likely that it will prioritize that same strategy over hiring developers — which Douse doesn’t think is “wise.”
This isn’t the first time Douse has commented on the industry-wide trend of layoffs and studio closures that has continued in recent years. Earlier this year he called the mass layoffs “an avoidable mistake”. And Larian studio head Sven Winke has also condemned the trend, saying in an interview with us earlier this year that “it’s the wrong thing for games.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her post at BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Do you have a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
