Ubisoft Reckons Microtransactions Make Games 'More Fun'

lol these guys.. it’s like buying dinner somewhere then paying extra for the silverware/napkins

This one is gonna go well. I’ll be back in an hour. Good morning, by the way!

And me not playing their games makes my life more fun.

You know what's even more fun?
Not buying your cookie-cutter micro transaction infested games!

It's Ubisoft so people will be outraged, but of course a company like Capcom has basically the exact same approach, and Capcom are one of the "Good Guys"

Not buying Ubisoft games anymore is even funnier.

Can I get what they are smoking?

The things they are selling like character customisation and quicker progression are indeed fun, that's why they were cheat codes 20 years back Ubisoft, you greedy corporation.

@WolfyTn Well I liked where you started, but then you completely went off the rails. Try this: It's like buying dinner at a restaurant of a hamburger or a steak and then seeing on the menu they charge an extra $1 for a slice of cheese, a strip of bacon, mushroom topping, or fries on the side, of upgrading from fries to onion rings or a baked potato. Which almost every restaurant (in the US) selling dinner does.

I'm glad this was in a financial paper and not a social media post. It's still poorly worded but their thought isn't as horrible as the headline makes it sound. The problem is when you grew up playing games before the internet the game was complete on cart or disc, and now they sell us everything piecemeal. We don't just buy a combo meal for a set price anymore, we go to fast casual and pay for every item individually. It sucks, but getting nickled & dimed to death is how capitalism works now. And some people like being able to pick and choose, and those people can probably afford it.

But Ubi could have worded it better. Maybe not for their stockholders where only $ matters.🤑

So UbiSoft’s message to their customers :

“Here is our brand new game.
It is £75.00, on the latest and most advanced hardware
We have purposefully made sure that is no fun at all.
If you would like the fun version, please pay us more money”.

Except, in french, I assume.

These people really need to work on their PR.

Luckily for me, I like my characters to look like they actually belong in the game world. All of Ubisoft's mtx outfits look like they're out of Tron. Makes it an easy pass.

How out of touch can someone be?

Ubisoft is actually a parody

100% I can always remember the first time I bought something via micro transaction. Best day of my life. Those extra points made my year.

@Medic_alert Nah, it's the days/weeks/months that followed where people bought it that was the bigger contributor. Had they sold 12 copies of that armor, they wouldn't have done it again nor anyone else copied.

If by “more fun” they mean “less of a tedious grind”, then yes, being able to buy personalized avatar equipment and progress does make it funner than the alternative slog. 😛

Ubisoft have been living inside some sort of a bubble for a while now

@SeaDaVie Yup, there are plenty of publishers that aren't much better. Bandai Namco's Tales series is pretty blatant with it's microtransactions, Sega put Infinite Wealth's NG+ behind a paywall and Atlus can be pretty scummy with extra content as well. Just the reality of modern gaming I guess.

Honestly there's nothing wrong with the quote, just that it could have been said better.
A nothing burger, just like that "gamers should get used to not owning games" one that was taking out of context.
But it gets clicks I guess.

Ubisoft seemed to be doing really well with ACS, and I was wondering if they were finally coming round a bit... then someone had to open their mouth...

To be fair, their handling of microtransactions is no where near as bad as a number of others - this is just about how they have put this across.

They learned absolutely nothing from Expedition 33. 😆 🤣 😂

Well on that note, Assassins Creed isn't exactly fun these days Ubisoft. It only gets fun when there isn't a grindy system in place to lure people into buying a XP token.

A silly company preaching their desirable greed.

There’s a reason this was aimed at investors rather than us. I think this is a load of tosh. But for people who want more money, this sounds like Ubisoft will make me more money.

"makes them more fun" and "experience more fun" are not the same. Did we all take reading comprehension lessons?

ubisoft are so out of touch it's unreal

Listen to people and companies when they tell you who they are.

Anyone who reads this and thinks, “Gosh, I definitely need to preorder the next Ubisoft game!” deserves what they get.

Could there be a games company more detached from reality than Ubisoft?
"At Ubisoft, the golden rule when developing premium games is to allow players to enjoy the game in full without having to spend more."
Every game they make has 3-4 price points. Every game they make has the most pointless filler fetch quests. Every game they make is a carbon copy of a previous game, with little to no innovation or effort to make something unique. Go away Ubisoft. You're drunk.

I will continue not buying their mediocre crap

I must of missed the memo for that one...

@SeaDaVie I think it’s a matter of perception, but I could be wrong. Ubisoft fully leans into micro transactions, to the point where it feels as if they are advertising that more than the actual product. They also make the same game over and over but with a new skin, so this audiences lukewarm on them as a company and will judge them more harshly, whether that’s fair or not.

With Capcom, they don’t lean towards micros transitions as heavily. They promote their game first and additives later. They also make great games that are generally universally praised. Futhermore, they are willing to take risks with new IP - Pragmata, Kunitsu Gami - with positive feedback. When you build a reputation (and for a while they had a bad rep until a resurgence several years ago with RE7) for creating great games, new IP, or even revisiting old IP and creating something fresh from it, you will have an audience more willing to overlook micro transactions. Again, I’m not saying this is right or wrong, but it’s how people think.

If Ubisoft made a new Splinter Cell game or even remade the original (I doubt this supposed remake will ever get released) and wasn’t an open-world checkbox game, and truly faithful to its original identity, that would be a start in the right direction. And then maybe pursue Prince of Persia (The Lost Crown was excellent; the trilogy is also great and that’s what people want more of) in the same way. If they could get a steady cadence of games out that feel fresh, aren’t pushing heavily into the live service arena, and not release a new AC game every year that feels the same as the year before, they would more than likely garnish trust from their audience and have a strong turnaround. Unfortunately, I don’t think that will happen, at least any time soon.

That’s just my opinion, btw. I could be totally wrong and lost in left field. I know as a consumer myself, that’s how I view it.

I don't thibk there is anything wrong here, you get massive games full of content. I mean people moan about the ubisoft nature of bloat in games, so why moan about more stuff?

They are correct after a fashion as I tend to avoid games which include them. And then find an actual "fun" alternative which doesn't feature them and is likely a far better game too.

Corporate boardrooms are a hellscape where human decency goes to die.

What a joke 😃 ye of course they make games more fun

@Kraven Yes you're pretty spot on.

@SeaDaVie I'm sure i've read people angry rant about the MTX for red orbs in DMC 5, fighter coins in SF 6, or whatever that specific item in Dragon's Dogma 2. Even back in 2012-2016, Capcom received a lot of hate with their bad decisions. So it's not like people gave Capcom free pass all the time.

But there's a couple of big different why nowadays people are more tolerant for Capcom than Ubisoft.

1. Capcom redemption arc was a success. They've listened to the fans feedbacks and put out plenty of great and polished games for the last 7-8 years. Compare to Ubisoft, their mixed bag to negative track records is still ongoing.
2. Capcom CEO / higher ups rarely says d*mb things like Ubisoft did.

The gift that keeps on giving

Whenever I go clothes shopping I always think "this pullover will make my life more fun" and this applies to my microtransaction virtual clothing purchases too so I agree with Ubisoft on this one.
This may contain sarcasm.

Which is why i haven't bought a ubisoft game since AC syndicate. So, i am clean of ubi soft dirt for a decade now. 🥂

Shadows didn't save the company, it bought it time. If they keep with this mindset they're going to go down in flames.

@SeaDaVie "It's Ubisoft so people will be outraged, but of course a company like Capcom has basically the exact same approach, and Capcom are one of the "Good Guys""

Can you point me to quotes of the Capcom higher ups gushing over microtransactions and live service? You won't find them because they are not stupid, they know they have a negative connotation so they keep their mouths shut.

Ubisoft on the other hand likes to shout every month from the roof tops that every scummy practice done today is actually amazing and we are all idiots for thinking otherwise.

I mean, it's easy to scoff at this as someone who doesn't like microtransactions. But, it's not like there isn't an audience for this kinda stuff. And for that audience...yeah, it probably does increase their fun. If it didn't, one would hope they wouldn't be shelling out actual money.

Now we can argue it's more an addiction than anything. However, speaking of Ubisoft specifically, I don't think their microtransactions are often designed to prey on those types. Now a gacha game (kinda seems like this website loves most of those...), there's a stronger argument to make there. But Ubi microtransactions usually just alleviate grinding, which you could say is a little scummy due to artificially bolstering grind, but at least there's not a gambling aspect to entice gamers.

@Juanalf Actions are more important than words, no? Capcom makes plenty of love service attempts, and has microtransactions in almost every game

I can understand putting them in F2P games, but how is it "more fun" to pay for customization options that could've just been in the full priced game to begin with? The only people having more fun are the company execs.

Eh, costumes/unlocks make games more fun but so long as I can unlock them with in game currency/progress I am fine. Which you can for games like AC:Shadows.

Oh, look, more out of touch BS from higher ups who fail to read the room.

Who on Earth works in Ubisoft's PR department??? 😂

Keep telling yourself that, mate.

@SMJ Apparently people who don’t have a clue about public perception. 😂

I guess in the defense of the PR Dept, they likely had no control over what the accounting guys were saying in a financial document and now they have to respond to the bad press.

Ubisoft made a handful of decent games but the micro transactions for minor cosmetic items are the worse parts. It use to be you could unlock extra content by playing the game now it pay extra for content that doesn't add anything to the game. The infamous horse armour was criticized but it added actual value, now you are paying just to change the colour of your armour.

This Ubisoft situation is like seeing the same car crash over and over and over again, yet you can't look away

That Ubisoft CEO is really drinking kool aid by thinking micro transactions are fun. 🙄
That people is beyond dumb in video games industry.

Add in extra steps for these companies to make their money. See how fun they think it is.

Paying taxes makes being a citizen a blast!

Mmmmmmmmhm
With the most sass imaginable.

Heavy drugs they take in Ubisoft... heavy...

Step 1:
Make a single player game with abysmal pacing
Step 2:
Sell xp boosters to make the pacing like intended
Step 3:
Profit

Of course greedy corporate stooges would spout this kind of nonsense. I'm old enough to remember a time when these MT items were all available for free when you bought the game and just had to do challenges to unlock them. Those were some fun times. Some of the worst culprits today are in fighting games trying to coerce players into paying for palette swaps. Truly shameful times.

@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare bravo..somebody read this correctly and didn't conveniently ignore that part to further their own narrative. Like you I have no issue with mtxs and I've always found ubisofts approach to how they are presented before you start your game (none intrusive in the actual gameplay.) I have serious issues with EA's monetisation in fifa or whatever its called these days because its a gambling mechanic and it has no place in games therefore I don't purchase EA's footie game. It all boils down to choice and having some self control. I've enjoyed the last 3 AC games that I purchased (origins,odyssey and valhalla) and not once did I feel that I was obliged to purchase the add ons or cosmetic dlc as there was more than enough in game. I'm not happy with ubisoft over the whole "you don't own the game you bought..." bollocks thats been doing the rounds but that's for a different discussion.

Well this article certainly misinterpreted that information on purpose to make me click it.

More fun? Who says that? I bet are not we!
And fun in your pockets, sure! Hipocrits...

It wouldn't be so bad if the microtransactions were actually micro and cost just a few pounds/dollars/euros (etc) at the most.

If the prices were lower, I'd be willing to bet that many more people would make purchases to support their favourite games and developers but the greed seemingly blinds the businessmen to this possibility.