200°

Is Ubisoft just being greedy by pulling its games from Steam?

MWEB GameZone writes: "The only reason Ubisoft is willing to pull these game's from Steam is because they are convinced that doing so will make them more money."

Fizzler3866d ago (Edited 3866d ago )

I honestly don't blame them, they're probably fed up with all the "screw you Ubisoft, I'm just gonna pirate it, you ain't getting my money" people.

@Sillicur Oh, I read the title wrong... for some reason I though it said PC instead of steam.

Sillicur3866d ago

How would taking it off steam help stop pirating?

user55757083866d ago

exactly. steam keeps the prices down and makes the games affordable for most people. now ubisoft's games will sell less. annefrankly i think theyre going to regret their decision

LightofDarkness3866d ago

Misunderstanding the title does little to rectify your comment's backwards notions; your position and understanding of the situation are abundantly clear.

Ubisoft themselves have admitted that the piracy problem was 1) grossly exaggerated and 2) a direct result of their draconian DRM solution in Uplay. While promising PC players 2 years ago that they would renew their faith and investment in PC gaming by reviewing these practices, they have done no such thing and today have affirmed that they will only worsen their hostile attitude towards their PC customers. I will not buy a PC game from Uplay, after all the hassle and ill will it has garnered over the years. They are showing their teeth now as just another money-grubbing EA wannabe. Crappy DRM and online practices? Check. Hostile attitude towards PC players? Check. Undeserved sense of exceptionalism to the point of separatism? Check. Boy, you guys sure are big dawgs now, huh? Just as cool as EA! Let's see how long you can keep it up once everyone realises you keep making the same basic open-world game over and over and over again.

Meltic3866d ago

It doesen't matter which DRM they use for protection. There will Always be someone who can crack the game sooner or later. Just look at splinter cell Chaos. It took 1 y 2 month too download and crack

Volkama3866d ago

Your position is fine, but I hope you don't use it to justify pirating their games?

3866d ago
freshslicepizza3866d ago

steam gets 30% which is quite a large cut, same with anything on apple store. not sure how much sony, microsoft and nintendo get.

as far as protecting from pirates lords of the fallen and the upcoming gta v will have some new drm that hasn't been cracked on fifa 15 or lords of the fallen.

freshslicepizza3866d ago

3 disagrees so i am wrong? can someone correct me thanks

Date_Um_Sage3866d ago

I will admit it now i pirate games that i can not literally buy, through emulation due to none localisation and region locked to stupid moronic idiots getting games banned.

But if it comes down to it i'd buy it if i got the chance, got to make the collection grow somehow and with over 300 steam games, my wallet makes a difference in £.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 3866d ago
Meltic3866d ago (Edited 3866d ago )

its like '' Hey download our game for free, no steam DRM Protection needed'' Stupid ubisoft....

Volkama3866d ago

Steam wasn't required in the first place, unless you bought it on Steam.

U-Play was and still is required, regardless of where you buy it from.

The_KELRaTH3866d ago

It's all about removing the retailer/etailer from the equation.

Unfortunately though what the PC doesn't need is lots of game frontends and stores and we do need competition to keep prices reasonable.

I find EA's Origin solution a total mess having to user a web browser.

It also won't help promote Steam games machines if the major publishers go out of their way not to support it.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3866d ago
Sillicur3866d ago

No steam no buy for me. Uplay is horrible

SPAM-FRITTER-1233866d ago

You still have to use Uplay even if it was on Steam so not really a justification is it.

SonZeRo3866d ago

I'm surprised the games were on Steam in the first place considering uPlay has been around for awhile and all Ubisoft games have been linked to it. In the end its their games and they can do with it what they want, they could even distribute them on Floppy disks if they wanted too (not endorsing this).

mhunterjr3866d ago (Edited 3866d ago )

I don't understand the line of thinking that a company is greedy for wanting to distribute a game on their own instead of giving a portion of their profit to valve...

I get that people like steam, and WISH all pc titles would be sold through it, but it's extremely unreasonable to EXPECT it.

Isn't Valve also greedy in all of this? There whole during strong armed "volume sales" model is exactly how Wal-Mart operates. They don't win many company of the year awards, despite the low prices.

plmkoh3866d ago

Don't bother explaining logic, if it comes any hint of criticism on Steam, don't expect reasonableness.

Seafort3866d ago

Ubisoft and EA are both as greedy as each other.

You realise that they are charging £50/$85 for all their new games now right? That's just for the standard edition for PC digital download. I think it's even worse in Europe and Australia.

The Ubisoft games were first removed from Steam UK as the steam forums exploded due to the ridiculous pricing in UK/EU.

Now it seems all steam stores have had them removed.

This is just publishers getting too big for their boots and thinking they can charge any price and we'll pay for it. It might work in the console world but it'll never work with PC gamers. We have more options and stores to buy our games much cheaper from and it doesn't involve piracy like most of the console fanboys think.

mhunterjr3866d ago (Edited 3866d ago )

I'm talking about Valve's greed. You act as if UPlay and Steam are the only places to get Ubisoft games.

But answer this question. Why should Valve have more control over the price of a game than the people who actually created the game?

I'm not here to say that Ubisoft isn't greedy, of course they are. Any company wants to maximize the returns on their investment. What I'm saying is that Value is just as greedy, price fixing their way into a consumer sanctioned pseudo-monopoly, to the point where gamers EXPECT, publishers to slash their margins while Valve takes recieved a large portion of the revenues. Meanwhile, the entire process costs Valve nearly nothing.

If I don't want to sell my product in Walmart, because I don't like the way wal-Mart devalues my product, I have every right to choose to sell it directly or through target instead. Sure my volume of sales may decrease, but that's my perogative .

Seafort3866d ago

@mhunterjr I really don't give a shit what price Ubisoft set their games at.

I never buy their games at their recommended price.

Why is Valve greedy? It's Ubisoft that set the ridiculous prices on steam not Valve.

Not sure why you are blaming Valve when you should be blaming the publishers setting the ludicrous prices.

I'm willing to bet that Ubisoft removed the games themselves to get a bigger piece of the pie on their own store. If Valve did put their foot down on the price hikes from these publishers then I congratulate them for standing up for the customer.

I buy all my games for half the price the publishers set so I know with experience that there are many places to shop other than steam, uplay or origin.

You just seem to have a grudge with Steam and Valve when in fact the publishers are the ones taking the piss out of the consumers and not Valve.

bednet3866d ago

@mhunterjr Your Walmart analogy is pretty spot on and you answered you question yourself...Steam is like Walmart, prices are a bit lower and there are tons more people that shop there than anywhere else. If a vendor chooses to not sell their product at Walmart they are essentially not exposing their product to a lot of consumers, lowering their visibility and potential sales.

Case in point, I go on the Steam store almost everyday, just to see what's on sale and such...and everyday I would see ACU or FC4 on the front page, I likely will buy it at some point even if I'm not super interested right now...I never ever go on origin or uplay...never...so I have to go out of my way to buy them, on a platform I don't like...odds are I won't play them until they get to steam and by the time they do, I'll have moved on...

mhunterjr3866d ago (Edited 3866d ago )

You've got me all wrong. I have no grudge against valve or steam or anyone. Business is business. I see things for how they are. 'Greed' is a word you used to describe ubisoft and their quest to make more money from their games. I'm just showing you how valve has the exact same motives.

Valve's model is exactly like walmart's. Their low prices attract a large number of customers. In exchange for access to these customers those who want to sell items in steam/Wal-Mart have to agree to do so with rather low profit margins... for many smaller companies this is a dream come true, because it means access to massive distribution. Especially when you don't have a large marketing budget. But for a larger company, fully capable of distributing your own product, and investing millions into marketing of your product, the idea of paying for distribution becomes less appealing.

You may not realize it, but Valve, like wal-mart, pressures publishers to sell their products at below what would be considered market value. And valve does this, not because they are consumer advocates, but because they love money, and their wide network of suppliers gives them the leverage to forge this competitive advantage... And the profit they make is 100% at the expense of those who make the games.

As Valve grows more powerful in this space, they'll undoubtedly begin to demand a larger percentage of revenues. If you are EA or Ubisoft, why would you want a 3rd party having so much control of your product?

@bednet

Lowering exposure and total sales is not all bad, especially if you are getting more money per sale, and getting more "quality customers". What I mean by that is: a customer who is generally interested in your product, knows how to get it because of you're marketing and outreach, and choose to come you YOUR STORE, is probably more likely to be willing to pay full price, return on the future. The guy who only got it because it's on sale may not ever even touch it. To be frank, those types of customers are considered by businesses to be more valuable.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3866d ago
Psychotica3866d ago

Another thing it does is remove the player feedback that each game has in Steam. No forums, no game ratings, no way to know if people are having problems or another words no bad publicity..

Maxor3866d ago

This is the only real impact of the removal. Prior to this, even if you bought the game from Steam you still need to sign into Uplay to play the game.

Psychotica3866d ago

Steam allows you to do other things as well. Like In-Home Streaming which I had planned on using to stream the game from my main PC to my less capable laptop on the opposite side of my home.

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60°

Report: Inside Ubisoft's Project Renaissance, a Cancelled Minecraft-Like Voxel Game

In recent years, Ubisoft has canceled several games, one of them being a project code-named Renaissance.

100°

16 Ubisoft Titles Can Now Be Purchased on The Xbox PC Store

In a very intriguing and interesting move, 16 Ubisoft titles can now be purchased on the Xbox PC Store. Of course, this is a first as Ubisoft PC titles have never been purchasable on the Xbox PC Store previously.

Read Full Story >>
clouddosage.com
jznrpg24d ago

Servers are going to be bogged down by that 1 guy who will use this.

SimpleDad24d ago

Ahhh, the good old... Xbox PC store?
Who tf uses that?

Tacoboto23d ago

Kind of weird without them being updated to Xbox Play Anywhere purchases

MrDead23d ago

I uninstalled it as I was sick of the ads popping up on my login screen.

180°

Ubisoft Announces Weak Financial Results, Delays Games, but Assassin's Creed Shadows is Going Strong

Ubisoft announced its financial results for the fiscal year 2024-2025, and they're not good, but Assassin's Creed Shadows is doing well.

Read Full Story >>
simulationdaily.com
neutralgamer199224d ago

Three companies keep showing their true faces and telling us who they are but for some weird reason we refuse to believe them. Even when everything they show just makes their greediness even stands out more

Keep messing with the consumers and keep being greedy. Keep telling your consumers to get comfortable now owning your games and we will. You only have few IP's that gamers care about anyways so

"soon enough tencent will buy you out. They already own 49%. Keep deleting games from gamers libraries and getting sued over it instead of making offline play possible for the crew" it's sad that I believe in 10 cents more than UBI because atleast tencent knows how to run a proper business

These executives can taking millions and bonuses and stock options yet they fire those actually making the games without thinking twice. Gaming has become so greedy that their own greed will be their downfall. Companies like Capcom have realized making good quality games and treat gamers with respect

AC series started with a soul but now it's just a soulless empty option world with icons filling the game map. They make their own games so grindy so that they can see the XP boosters to even the odds. As a gamer in my 40's all I want to know is when did gaming just stop being about Fun and all about greed. Double XP weekends selling cosmetics and dances. I use to be a big sports game guy when I was in my 20's the other day I wanted to play NBA 2k and after doing some deep research I realized the best NBA game was 2k17 and NBA 2k25 at $9.79 I couldn't pull the trigger on that 2k25 for how egregious the micro transactions were. So much of the fun is behind a pay wall

dveio24d ago

True words, buddy.

Q: "So how many units did Shadows sell?"

Ubisoft: "Well, look, we ... it's been a busy week."

neutralgamer199224d ago

For over a decade, the price of video games remained steady. We paid $50, then $60 for full, content-rich experiences. Developers found creative ways to deliver incredible games without charging more. From the PS2 era through the PS4/Xbox One, pricing consistency gave players a sense of value and trust.

But then came the jump to $70 during the PS5 and Xbox Series X launches—justified by "rising development costs." And now, barely four years later, we’re seeing $80 price tags becoming more common for standard editions. At this pace, by the time the next generation of consoles launches around 2027, $90 games could be the norm. And with a behemoth like GTA 6 on the horizon, a $99.99 base price wouldn’t be shocking at all.

Yet we’ve also seen proof that this kind of pricing isn’t necessary for success. Look at the recent launches of Expedition 33 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. Both released at $49.99 and have been met with strong sales and positive reception. These games show that there’s still plenty of room for high-quality, mid-budget (AA) titles that offer great value—and gamers are more than willing to support them at fair prices.

But here’s the problem: the big publishers don’t care. If we as consumers keep paying for deluxe editions, early access, and overpriced base games, they’ll keep pushing the limits. They’re not going to back down unless we speak with our wallets—because that’s the only language they listen to. If they see record sales, they’ll take it as validation.

It’s frustrating when these same companies report record-breaking revenue and profits—yet still complain about tariffs, still find excuses to raise prices, and still hand out bigger bonuses to their CEOs. If they’re doing so well financially, why are they passing more of the burden onto players?

It’s because gaming has become the second biggest entertainment market in the world. And with that comes attention from hedge funds, investors, and boardrooms focused on short-term profit, not long-term player trust. To them, your passion is just a revenue stream. They care about quarterly numbers, not the health of the industry or the joy of the experience.

And unless we—as players—take a stand, the greed won’t stop. The monetization will grow, the price hikes will continue, and the soul of gaming will keep slipping away. The choice is ours. We can either keep paying more for less, or we can push back. One purchase—or one refusal to purchase—at a time

dveio24d ago

"And unless we—as players—take a stand, the greed won’t stop."

And that's the tough part about it.

Look at those annual figures showing billions and billions of money being spent on the most ridiculous add-ons, DLCs, pre-release accesses, even pre-orders, digital deluxe crap, etc.

I mean - we've stood together at times. I don't say it didn't happen before.

But within all of our communities there's so much passive aggressive defensiveness.

Look at the debates regarding physical vs digital.

Publishers can't keep a straight face reading our discussions in which many people abandon physical.

Playing straight into the cards of publishers out there.

neutralgamer199223d ago (Edited 23d ago )

Like I said gamers are the biggest issue with gaming. We may united on a issue but as soon as our favorite gaming franchise gets a release we will support it. If there any doubt Mario kart will be one of the best selling games on switch 2?

Things we use to unlock by simply playing a game has not be sold to us as extra content

Rainbowcookie23d ago

I think people arebgetting tired of the formula. We see it in sales. People just want fun again.

neutralgamer199223d ago

I just want games to be fun and not geindy and full of micro transactions

anast23d ago

Even the $130 ultimate editions of UBI games are only a bit less grindy and they still beg people to buy helix coins throughout the whole experience.

It's a travesty what 2K did to NBA 2K.

neutralgamer199223d ago

It really is because NBA 2K is simply unplayable without spending money and you can't even respec for a new my player you are required to spend again

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 23d ago
SimpleDad24d ago

When you don't disclose units sold... and your stock goes down... how is this doing well?

CantThinkOfAUsername23d ago

"According to the company, Assassin’s Creed Shadows achieved the second-highest Day 1 sales revenue in franchise history, following Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. It actually had the best Day 1 performance of Ubisoft’s history on the PlayStation Store."

S2Killinit23d ago

AC Shadows is doing good yes.

gigoran824d ago

but but 2,000,000 players...

Chocoburger23d ago

Ubishit burned so many bridges with fans, releasing filler dreck that was purposefully designed to push you towards micro-trash-actions. It didn't have to be this way, they could have respected us players more, instead of making players waste countless hours of their life just to see stupid "experience points and resources numbers go up" and attempt to profit off us in such a disrespectful way. I stopped supporting them a long time ago. Keep burning bridges, and keep burning your company from within.

S2Killinit23d ago

Which UBI games did that? Im legit asking.

Chocoburger22d ago (Edited 22d ago )

Any game (be it Ubisoft or any other company) with an unnecessary shoe-horned in experience points system, endless resources collection, and a micro-trash-action store that sells you boosters that alleviate the grind.

They do it on purpose to nudge players towards spending more money, and its something I refuse to support. Nearly all modern Ubisoft games have experience points and skill trees these days, not because it makes the games better, but because it can potentially make them more money by exhausting people into giving in and buying boosters.

Assassin's Creed, Ghost Recon and more series are offenders of this game design blight.

S2Killinit22d ago

I see. And I agree. I dont like these trends either. Although I dont remember AC having paid upgrades (given that my last one was black flag)

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