Off course not because screw pc gamers there horrible pc ports that lack of communication there bloated software not working properly thanks to ubisoft kiev and Uplay. It's all wrapped around for a recipe of disaster.
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Upcoming Ubisoft titles seemingly removed from Steam worldwide [edit: they're back]
- Thread starter ShockingAlberto
- Start date
Off course not because screw pc gamers there horrible pc ports that lack of communication there bloated software not working properly thanks to ubisoft kiev and Uplay. It's all wrapped around for a recipe of disaster.
Memorabilia
Member
lol This.
There's zero chance I'll ever buy a Ubi game that isn't on Steam. Then again, because they refused to remove their DRM on most of their Steam games I avoided buying them anyway. So, I guess for me it's status quo.
Ubi is quickly becoming worse than EA in my book.
blankempathy
Member
Again who does it benefit by forcing gamers to have multiple clients to game on? Please tell me why its more beneficial to have some of my games on uplay and some on origin and some on steam. If you want to force people to use uplay but still have their games on steam then fine whatever but when a company is hoarding all their games and saying "well now you have to use this service" its simply the company being greedy. Also like I said it wouldn't be so much of an issue if it wasn't Ubisoft. The company thats notorious for hating on pc gamers and treating them like the red headed step children of the industry. Why the hell would I ever put my faith in a company like that to handle my games and use their client willingly?
demosthenes
Member
Guess I won't be playing far cry 4. Sorry ubi, I made my choice and you made yours 
alexandros
Banned
My EA boycott is still going strong, adding Ubi to the list is no big deal.
Ubi recently updating Uplay to make the Steam -> Uplay game transition more seamless is the big reason why I don't think the games being removed worldwide was intentional. That being said, I'm sure Ubi's response will be along the lines of "We are working with Valve to correct technical issues with pre-orders" despite there being no such issues and the games will be needlessly held back until either later today or Monday.
Correct. But at least they're just asking to install a free software to access their games. It's a small bother, compared to the console exclusive bullshit.
Memorabilia
Member
So, Ubi is effectively encouraging people to pirate their games then?
UPlay is such a steaming piece of shit the mind boggles they would pull this right before the holiday rush. Ubi apparently hates money.
UPlay is such a steaming piece of shit the mind boggles they would pull this right before the holiday rush. Ubi apparently hates money.
eot
Banned
Origin is fine in my opinion, Uplay not so much.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Not to defend this or anything, but even if it were on Steam, it would still require UPlay. I think this has been the case since Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood or so.
I do find it weird that all of these games were up on Steam and available for pre-order. I assume people who got in a pre-order will still get them on Steam? That's also assuming this is intended to be a permanent take down.
As I mentioned in the UK topic yesterday. I'll handle this the way I'll handle Origin. I'll simply won't purchase any games on unplay unless they are 50% or more off their original price. The only exception I did for that rule was Mass Effect 3 and might be Dragon Age Inqusition.
They definately helped me make it through november by crossing FC4 and ACU off the list of my wishlist.
They definately helped me make it through november by crossing FC4 and ACU off the list of my wishlist.
Even assuming Ubi is following in the footsteps of EA, existing owners will still get their games.
I remember very well when Valve forced steam down our throats with Half-Life 2. Everybody hated it, but you know ... Half-Life 2. Fast forward 10 years and everyone acts like this DRM platform is the f*** saviour. Of course companys like Ubisoft, Activision and EA don't want to share their revenue with a competitor. It was only a matter of time and you should expect that to happen with every major publisher. I almost exclusively use my PC as an indie machine. I am just sick of having to update that damn thing every couple of years for hundreds of Euros just because of unoptimized ports...
They could have just done this. And having a higher price on Steam they could claw back some of the fees that bother them so much.
Azure Dream
Member
The notion that gamers should download and maintain ~30+ proprietary app stores of varying quality and functionality for every publisher that decides they want more money and "it can't be that hard" is also crazy. It's already happening with TV and Movie content and it's stupid.
Memorabilia
Member
Yeah, I mentioned in a previous post this is basically "status quo" for me. I've always refused to buy anything by Ubi that had their own DRM in addition to Steam's. So in my follow-up post I was referring more to the market at large. This can't be good for Ubi's bottom line right before Christmas. A lot of people who might be willing to buy a Ubi game on Steam and "put up with" Ubi's horrible DRM for the convenience of Steam may not be willing to put up with the same horrible DRM on Ubi's own, separate, less convenient platform.
On the other hand, I suppose if this article has any teeth...http://www.pcgamer.com/opinion-ubisoft-piracy-and-the-death-of-reason/
...then Ubi's PC biz can't exactly get much worse. It's just baffling that they would choose to ignore the fact their excessive and horribly functioning DRM is likely the cause of tanking PC sales. In essence, they are creating a bigger market of pirates because the DRM is so non-functional that a cracked version works better.
You don't maintain nothing. It is almost like old days when games didn't require any client and you had icons on your desktop. Today instead of game icons you have client icons. You start them and that is it. Every client will update itself, every game will update itself and you can always check play offline in client.
Valve pay for the servers, maintain the community, develop the interface that makes many people comfortable with buying games in the first place, building trust with PC gamers and digital products after companies Ubisoft did all they could to destroy it. Also Valve are making more with Dota 2 than they ever would with HL3.
Memorabilia
Member
Exactly. I would imagine that 30% cost would even out if Ubi were to spend the time and resources to match Steam's quality of servers and community. But, that's where Ubi likely intends to save most of that 30%...by essentially saying "FUCK IT" when it comes to after-the-sales support and service/community building.
daninthemix
Member
Stuff like this makes me realise: I can live my entire life without buying Ubisoft games. Try it - it actually works!
They're not the same type of competition at all.
Say, Ubisoft pulled their game from Steam to attract more people to use Uplay. To counter that, Valve can release Portal 3 and make it Steam exclusive. That's what I would call competition.
Or, say, Uplay implements a new feature that makes game playable after a certain % is downloaded while the rest can be downloaded in the background. After a few months, Steam follows suit and implements the same feature. That's what I would call competition.
Or Steam starts their annual summer sale. To counter that, Uplay also puts all of their games on sale. That's what I would call competition.
Hmmm I dunno. Maybe creating incentives for them improve their clients?
If Origin did not have the ability to hide games years ago, we probably still wouldn't be able to hide games on Steam today.
Origin is also letting people refund games if they did not like it within 24 hours. Due to competition, maybe one day Steam will rethink of their terrible refund policy too?
Well to be fair it's only a seemless transition if you were the sort never to leave your Uplay credentials saved in the client. For those people who had the "Remember me" box checked on Uplay the new system using your Steam Account to authorise you adds nothing. Personally I see it one more bit of information for Ubisoft to missmanage when one of their sites security gets compromised again.
Uplay is so ingrainined into their systems now I don't think it's going anywhere for a long, long time. You log into their client with your Uplay account, you log into their support system with it. Their forums, their promo sites, their console & mobile interfaces and clients, most if not all services Ubisoft provides requires a Uplay account.
Ugh this again. Valve take a 30% cut of games they sell on their store. If Ubisoft wanted to they could generate Steam keys and sell them on Uplay for 100% of the spoils.
GlamFM
Banned
At first I thought: Damn you UBI, not another Origin, please.
But then I checked my Steam library. In my opinion (and that is entirely subjective) Ubisoft didn't release one extraordinary title in at least the last 5 years.
Yes, they released good and hyped titles, like Watch Dogs and the Assassin's Collectathon series, but nothing, which was really groundbreaking and a 100% must play. I will try to skip Uplay titles, just as before, just as GFWL titles and (speaking only for me again) not miss out on much.
But then I checked my Steam library. In my opinion (and that is entirely subjective) Ubisoft didn't release one extraordinary title in at least the last 5 years.
Yes, they released good and hyped titles, like Watch Dogs and the Assassin's Collectathon series, but nothing, which was really groundbreaking and a 100% must play. I will try to skip Uplay titles, just as before, just as GFWL titles and (speaking only for me again) not miss out on much.
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
That's not competition. That's fragmentation.
toddhunter
Member
You have it completely wrong.
The first case creates no competition, since the games are available only on one platform. There is no incentive to improve them.
The other two cases can happen no matter what happens with the games.
PLASTICA-MAN
Member
Huh, this article made it like it was an error and not intentional: http://www.vg247.com/2014/11/07/ass...4-and-the-crew-gone-from-us-steam-portal-too/
You can do that with The Crew on UPlay.
PLASTICA-MAN
Member
I tried that with the crew beta. Trust me, nothing was playable when I recahed that level and even when teh game almost finished downloading. Only the menu was playable.
SMH at having to relaunch Uolay in offline mode just to get Blood Dragon load the fucking title screen.
I was able to drive around the world and do a few missions just fine. I didn't test the extent to which I could play the game though as it didn't hold my interest long.
PLASTICA-MAN
Member
The same was for me. In fact, it is the only game that I don't mind getting removed from Steam
Can totally see them trying.
I don't particularly care if a publisher prefers me to buy through their store rather than steams. The caveat to that is that I want a single point of entry to play my games.
If that isn't steam, then the publishers need to figure something out. Either let us all use steam to launch their games directly or come up with a neutral game launcher that everyone can use.
If that isn't steam, then the publishers need to figure something out. Either let us all use steam to launch their games directly or come up with a neutral game launcher that everyone can use.
Memorabilia
Member
So you're saying Ubi can equal Steam's quality of service for zero internal cost?
alexandros
Banned
Azure Dream
Member
Man, that sounds so easy and I'm sure it never has issues. Also, having to install and set up all their little app stores, figuring out which apps have or lack which features that you like, managing your library between WB's app and Activision's app and Capcom's app (soon to be canceled, along with all your digital purchases on it) and SquareEnix's app...
Are you citing guaranteed "features" in clients I suggested hypothetically? If you're talking about Ubisoft, they were literally all about Always-Online DRM for quite a while. I'm not going to hold my breath on that always being guaranteed. Besides, that doesn't mean other features of the service won't be down. It's already a pain keeping track of or finding out that Steam has scheduled downtime, or PSN does, or XBLA, or Nintendo Network, or Origin, etc. God knows how much downtime some third party game services would go through the first few times they hit serious troubles.
Ubisoft's ahead of the curve in that regard, and their app is STILL crap. EA's the only one that may be able to justify their service, and only because they started implementing some very forward-thinking policies and gave away a lot of free crap. They're competing with Steam with desired features in that regard, not just holding their games hostage to their own little proprietary service and making the consumer jump through extra hoops to appease them. Although they tried that for a while too.
Memorabilia
Member
Exactly. There seems to be wide-spread brain-lock on this point. Whatever behind-the-scenes haggling is going on isn't just about the 30% fee to sell a game through the store.
crazyrabbits
Banned
That's an archaic way of looking at things.
Valve has had 10 years to refine and augment Steam. For better or worse, it's one of the most reliable and stable clients out there. They rightly got shit on because they were the first out of the gate, but they fixed their problems and garnered huge customer loyalty in the process. When people talk about Steam, it's usually because it's the simplest, easiest and most effective way to build a library of games on PC. The fact that people prefer to go with Steam's method of DRM over others should tell you something about how well they've crafted their system.
EA and Ubisoft haven't come anywhere close to that success, despite trying. Origin's main benefit is that you can get a refund if you're not happy with your games within a certain timeframe, and they've garnered some goodwill with all of their free game promotions. Ubisoft has neither of those benefits - their internal DRM is buggy and prone to failure when the servers collapse, and adds an unneeded level of DRM on top of a service that already works. Why do you think so many people are complaining about the new GTA V DRM scheme? It's unneeded complexity, and that's not even getting into their lackluster store or general ineffectiveness at setting themselves apart from the pack.
Again, it's clear that you don't understand the situation.
Steam has, by far, the largest market penetration out of any PC DRM service out there, and the 30% fee is not uncommon. Steam is pretty much the gold standard because it has the outreach and userbase possible to justify any proposed fees, moreso than other competitors.
EA split from Steam because (a) they couldn't use their own in-house system (Bioware Points) with another service, and (b) they had a problem with Valve taking a cut of revenue for said DLC. Never mind that selling that DLC would expose them to a much wider crowd than they would have had with Origin at that point in their lifespan.
It makes little sense to fragment your userbase, especially after trying to integrate Steam better with UPlay and just before a major holiday season. The only thing they've done is shot themselves in the foot.
GlamFM
Banned
Memorabilia
Member
Given that the actual average fee for Ubi to sell their games on Steam would be quite a bit lower than 30% if they simply generate keys for use on Steam I would say we'll have to agree to disagree. I believe Ubi's potential internal cost to equal the service they get from Steam - on the server side, community, and simple good-will from a large swath of gamers who prefer the simplicity of one client - would be greater than you think. No matter Ubi's expenditure it would be impossible to replicate the peripheral benefits in the short term, if ever.
All my UPlay games except Rayman Legends and Splinter Cell Conviction are on UPlay only and i start them from Steam so i have all features i want. Also Ubisoft is way better in announcing Server maintenance than Valve, they always make announcement few days before and often they try to make them in late night hours when there are less players.
UPlay Client is better and better with every update and Ubisoft started implementing meaningful rewards in their Action/Rewards system. They are offering Soundtracks now for example. Client is not perfect for sure and UPlay store needs huge update to be useful enough but they are working on it, they didn't abandoned service like MS did with GFWL. Origin is updating almost every time i start him but i don't see any meaningful features added but it is stable service and that is most important thing.
All in all will this be ok for everyone? No people want simple way to play their games and Steam is offering them exactly that. Should you and everybody else skip game you/they are interested in because you need to click UPlay icon instead of Steam icon one time? I don't think so.
Shining Sunshine
Banned
Ubisoft is making enemies out of everyone.
However, EA is making a bundle of money with Origin. Ubisoft definitely wanted to follow suit.
However, EA is making a bundle of money with Origin. Ubisoft definitely wanted to follow suit.
Couldn't agree more. I was very skeptical Steam would deliver. Today I'm grateful they completely abolished on-disk (and in-OS) DRM like Starforce. Valve had the option to screw everyone over with this system, they had the option to establish market dominance and raise prices to infinity. Instead they tried to do the right most of the time (and made billions in the process).
Ubi on the other hand (and in my opinion also EA) have shown time and time again they don't act in the interest of the customer. They shouldn't get another free pass.
This is all about owning the ecosystem. Everybody wants to dictate, which store you see, when you open their game. In my opinion Valve should act here and offer unique storefronts inside of Steam for other publishers, where each company can offer their games and offer their content servers for something like 95 - 100 % of the profit. At the same time they must dictate that no other DRM is installed alongside Steam.
Shining Sunshine
Banned
What? Steam is like the worst DRM. Their Greenlight program is a failure, and Customer Service is terrible and slow.
And EA completely shitted on Steam with their recent Refund policy on Origin.