Ubisoft CEO focused on F2P development for the PC market, claims 93-95% pirate rate
Pirate rate claim based on the global market, presumably
In an interview with Games Industry, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot spoke one the direction he'd like to take Ubisoft in with regards to the PC market. He believes that the new generation of consoles has taken too long, that the console market has stagnated, and that the current trend of F2P titles is a result of that. Still, Yves wants Ubisoft to key in on on the developing F2P system in the PC market.
If Yves isn't as confident in F2P's longevity, the why is he keen on applying it to the PC market? Because of growing piracy rates, of course:
"It's a way to get closer to your customers, to make sure you have a revenue. On PC it's only around five to seven per cent of the players who pay for F2P, but normally on PC it's only about five to seven per cent who pay anyway, the rest is pirated. It's around a 93-95 per cent piracy rate, so it ends up at about the same percentage. The revenue we get from the people who play is more long term, so we can continue to bring content."
Guillemot, it seems, doesn't see F2P so much as a better way creating games for the PC market so much as a more reliable revenue stream. Also, keep in mind that Guillemot is likely referencing the global market for PC games with respect to the 93-95% pirate rate. Eastern territories including China typically have horrific piracy rates, though a F2P system may help change that.
"We want to develop the PC market quite a lot and F2P is really the way to do it. The advantage of F2P is that we can get revenue from countries where we couldn't previously - places where our products were played but not bought. Now with F2P we gain revenue, which helps brands last longer."
Part of the shift in direction Guillemot directly attributes to the cheaper development costs of going F2P, building off of development project, graphics and systems used in the past and improving them. These shortcuts will allow Ubisoft to, "change the content and make it a better fit to the customer as time goes on."
Source: Games Industry
Section: PC Games
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So the reason developers think thats where the moneys at is cause the new consoles aren't out yet? The new consoles that need to last 5+ years compared to pcs without any upgrades? Its not like there are two new handhelds they could be focusing on.
Does he honestly think F2P is a cure-all to piracy? If people have no intention to pay nothing is going to change that, and DRMing the hell out of something won't do do anything but drive the paying customers away.
fanbase: you're handing out your video games for free?
ubisoft: YES! with this new strategy i will assume world domination and obliterate the pirates for once and for all. muahahahahaaa!
meanwhile.
pirate captain: aim for the dlc...
This is of course, the same company that felt using Starforce would be a great idea to infect / hijack computers with a rootkit based DRM system.
Oh, and I am a PC gamer, I have paid for all of my games going back to Alpha Centauri, Day of the Tentacle and even Zork.
Publishers wish they had as many users as they claim are pirating their code. Its a lie to keep their shareholders from asking why the publisher is selling inferior games.
PC Players do not pirate!
Rinse and repeat.