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  • Re: Ubisoft change in strategy?

    From JAB@21:1/5 to Spalls Hurgenson on Mon Sep 30 08:41:55 2024
    On 28/09/2024 16:31, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
    Yeah, this is another fascinating development. But it isn't all as
    rosy as it appears. It isn't about Ubisoft wanting to make better
    games and giving players a better experience.

    My optimistic, and possibly naive side, says that even if they do it for
    the wrong reasons it may at least open the possibility of them realising
    that trying to screw customers for every penny they can maybe isn't the
    be all and end all that they think it is instead maybe there is a place
    in their line-up for other games.

    One of the problems I do see is where as it's relatively easy to
    implement the more mechanical parts of the strategy trying to change the internal culture (at least those who are best able to effect change)
    away from what they currently do seems to be a hard. Do they really have
    anyone working for them that evens understands what putting the player
    first actually means?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dimensional Traveler@21:1/5 to JAB on Mon Sep 30 07:58:28 2024
    On 9/30/2024 12:41 AM, JAB wrote:
    On 28/09/2024 16:31, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
    Yeah, this is another fascinating development. But it isn't all as
    rosy as it appears. It isn't about Ubisoft wanting to make better
    games and giving players a better experience.

    My optimistic, and possibly naive side, says that even if they do it for
    the wrong reasons it may at least open the possibility of them realising
    that trying to screw customers for every penny they can maybe isn't the
    be all and end all that they think it is instead maybe there is a place
    in their line-up for other games.

    One of the problems I do see is where as it's relatively easy to
    implement the more mechanical parts of the strategy trying to change the internal culture (at least those who are best able to effect change)
    away from what they currently do seems to be a hard. Do they really have anyone working for them that evens understands what putting the player
    first actually means?

    That is a concept that is no longer mentioned, let alone taught, in
    business school. The Quarterly Report (their version of The Number) is
    all that matters.

    --
    I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
    dirty old man.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From JAB@21:1/5 to All on Sat Sep 28 09:50:16 2024
    Well this* could be interesting even though it looks like a mixture of
    facts, opinion and speculation and I can't find any other source for it. There's a lot about finances/shares but the parts I found interesting are:

    - Day 1 for Steam: I can see why companies look at the share that Steam
    takes compared to other digital store fronts but you've got to ask how
    much does it hurt their overall sales even for the real big hitters.

    - Paid early release to go: That's got to be a good thing and I find it
    really irritating that they are just look for another way to try and get
    more money out of you. The irony is it's quite possible that you pay to
    be a free tester and then when there's an emergence patch after a week
    for the main release you lose all the progress that you've made.

    - Battle passes to go: This one seems a bit more sketchy on the details
    but it looks like it's going to be replaces with DLC's that you can buy
    when you want and pre-orders get the first one free.

    If this is really what's happening then I think it's a good thing as
    even though I have very little interest in their games maybe it's the
    start of big companies seeing trying to screw money out of your
    customers at every turn isn't a great strategy and selling games that
    people just enjoying playing is. Of course it could be more just to get
    the share price up in the short term after it tanked this year.

    Here's a quote** "Our second quarter performance fell short of our expectations, prompting us to address this swiftly and firmly, with an
    even greater focus on a player-centric, gameplay-first approach and an unwavering commitment to the long-term value of our brands."

    *with an even greater focus on a player-centric, gameplay-first
    approach* - well that's a pretty low bar to meet!

    The slightly depressing part is that if this is what's going to happen
    as a longer term strategy I'm basically pleased that a company isn't
    trying to wring as much money as possible out of people.

    * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2nc4C4nYL4

    ** https://staticctf.ubisoft.com/8aefmxkxpxwl/5U6140Jg0IaqobyAIIEawC/af3b587a1c81f379d57bc64eefdd0285/PR_Trading_update_25092024_final.pdf

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)