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[Aquamarine]

Is piracy as bad as some people make out? If it is then that could be one reason

I wouldn't be surprised if the PC piracy rate on games like Assassin's Creed: Unity is 50% or higher.

PC gamers tend to be aware of these sorts of issues.

So when you make them upset, a lot of them want to give the middle finger to the company and pirate it.



That said, a lot of people still buy Ubisoft games on PC regardless, otherwise they wouldn't bother making any more PC ports.

 

[Nzyme32]

EA

And the PC number would be lower if it wasn't grouped with "browser".

Is that a problem? They have grouped relevant categories together - New Console Generation, Old Console Generation, Other Consoles (ie that don't have similar product lines as the prior - Wii, WiiU, DS etc) PC, Mobile, Other.

Seems reasonable. You can only play browser games on a PC so it is bundled with that.

 

[HoosTrax]

For me, the reason I never buy Ubisoft games on PC is their bad Steam integration. No Steam cloud, achievements, leaderboards, etc.

There are some exceptions -- usually non-AAA stuff like the Heroes III HD remake and indie games they've funded, but their mainline stuff is always a zero-effort port.

 

[Saty]

Interesting you bring this slide but not the one from the last quarter where PC was higher than the XB1.

But yes, AC series skews a bit heavier on consoles. And lets not forget Q3 had Ubi releasing Just Dance which is still a money maker and not on PC.

From today's press call, 39:15 mark: http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/vadwgqwd

Quoting again for new page.

 

[ScatheZombie]

That works the other way also with games that are not /(yet) on PC but available on console platforms during that period and taking up a large percentage - EA (Insert sports titles here); Activision (Destiny); Take-Two (GTA V)

Not entirely since Ubisoft also has console-exclusive titles and franchises (Assassin's Creed: Rogue, Petz, Just Dance). So all 3 publishers have both ports and console-exclusive titles; but Ubisoft is the only one of the three that doesn't have a major PC-exclusive presence or a major browser-game division. So naturally the overall percentage of their total business from PC will be inherently lower, regardless of their other business practices.

 

[Justin Bailey]

Their sales are low because they don't put resources into PC games. They don't put resources into PC games because their sales are low.

 

[Corine]

I'll never buy a Ubi title because of uplay. Simple as that.

 

[Dmented]

That post doesn't show that at all.............wtf?

You have games like Chivalry clearing 2 million units, Crusader Kings over 1 million, DayZ over 3 million, Goat Simulator 1 million, Prison Architect over 1 million, Rust over 2 million, Space Engineers over 1 million, Stanley Parable over 1 million,

What on earth are you talking about?

Was thinking the same thing. That shows some pretty impressive numbers for a bunch of indie games with barely any online promotion (except for the gamers themselves) and probably next to zero TV/radio/billboards/etc promotion.

 

[iNvid02]

30 posts. Impressive.

its the premier pc gaming community lol

 

[The Shogun]

I think in general AAA games do not do well on PC compared to consoles.

Depends on the game / support. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Skyrims best selling version is on PC. The game came out in 2011 and its current peak today alone is nearly 38k concurrent players. Also I remember reading somewhere that Borderlands performs very well on PC.

Now that isn't going to be true of all AAA games, and the majority likely do sell better on consoles, but there is plenty of room for AAA games on PC. Its exactly why major titles like Metal Gear Solid V are getting launched on Steam. Most devs / pubs know it is a big growing market.

 

[Dyson Industries]

<----

 

[Setsuna]

EA released Sims 4

Activision:released Warlord of Draenor

Take two released Civiliazation

Meanwhile every Ubisoft game can be found on consoles

 

[derExperte]

Is that a problem? They have grouped relevant categories together - New Console Generation, Old Console Generation, Other Consoles (ie that don't have similar product lines as the prior - Wii, WiiU, DS etc) PC, Mobile, Other.

Seems reasonable. You can only play browser games on a PC so it is bundled with that.

What successful browser games does EA even have anymore?

 

[Skyzard]

I think they are just really popular console game makers.

I buy their games. Though I don't buy them full price. They've been priced a bit crazy recently. Pretty standard for console games but PC gamers like steam sales.

 

[Haunted]

Surprised and disappointed the first 38 posts weren't just that picture posted over and over again.

The PC market is telling Ubisoft to go fuck themselves with uplay. You won't see a significant uptick in Ubisoft PC sales until the service is abolished.

 

[jaundicejuice]

Ubisoft absolutely cratered out their PC market with some of the worst DRM practices before uPlay. Limited number of installs, SecuROM, their games required persistent internet connections, even single player games like Prince of Persia 2008, and their DRM servers frequently went down. They treated their paying customers like criminals and people who stole their games got better products and user experiences.

Sure uPlay is kinda shit but it's nowhere near as awful as their previous DRM practices.

 

[The Shogun]

EA released Sims 4

Activision:released Warlord of Draenor

Take two released Civiliazation

Meanwhile every Ubisoft game can be found on consoles

As someone posted earlier that doesn't fix the percentages at all. The other pubs have massive multi million unit console only titles in their percentages

Activision - Destiny
Take Two - GTA V
EA - Sports games

And yet they all still have higher PC percentages than Ubi.

 

[Interfectum]

No Steam Achievements.

 

[Fragamemnon]

EA released Sims 4

Activision:released Warlord of Draenor

Take two released Civiliazation

Meanwhile every Ubisoft game can be found on consoles

Games like Dragon Age, Battlefield, XCOM, Borderlands, Diablo 3, and more are largely PC games in style that also play great on consoles. So there's a big pickup and retention from the PC gamers because they feel like they are buying PC games that also happen to have console versions.

Ubi never does that, PC gamers feel they are buying into console gaming with all the bad connotation that carries+the added baggage of UPlay.

 

[ROBOKITTYZILLA]

Uplay, bad ports, late releases, and primarily console focused games.

 

[Mesoian]

Uplay.

Yup.

Well, that and their larger scale PC ports are terribly optimized.

 

[dampflokfreund]

Uplay, bad optimized, no laptop support

 

[Extra Sauce]

Don't all multiplatform game publishers sell far less on the PC?

 

[Game4life]

Depends on the game / support. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Skyrims best selling version is on PC. The game came out in 2011 and its current peak today alone is nearly 38k concurrent players. Also I remember reading somewhere that Borderlands performs very well on PC.

Now that isn't going to be true of all AAA games, and the majority likely do sell better on consoles, but there is plenty of room for AAA games on PC. Its exactly why major titles like Metal Gear Solid V are getting launched on Steam. Most devs / pubs know it is a big growing market.

Actually is that the case? I still see major AAA dev's like Rockstar and Ubisoft still shun the PC more often than not by either not releasing their games or delaying them on PC. They have always treated the PC market as a step child. Honestly I do not even see a title like MGS5 doing great numbers on PC. I mean it will be profitable most certainly but PS4 will be the biggest source of revenue for them. That is where their fanbase is. I could be wrong though and it may be growing a lot but I still have my doubts that traditional AAA gaming is driving that growth. I think it is still MOBA's, MMO's F2P etcc driving the PC market. Activision did not bother to release Destiny on PC too.

 

[geordiemp]

I wouldn't be surprised if the PC piracy rate on games like Assassin's Creed: Unity is 50% or higher.

PC gamers tend to be aware of these sorts of issues.

So when you make them upset, a lot of them want to give the middle finger to the company and pirate it.

That said, a lot of people still buy Ubisoft games on PC regardless, otherwise they wouldn't bother making any more PC ports.

There would be an argument that if the PC port did not exist (no easy pirate opportunity) then the console versions would sell more.

The question is would the console sales increase be greater than the 10 % portion of PC sales.

There must be some owners who could buy on console but choose to pirate on PC, its a lost sale.

 

[Nzyme32]

What successful browser games does EA even have anymore?

*shrug*

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

You aren't just buying GTAV though, you're buying into the strong community support behind the series that keeps delivering well after release. That's a very PC thing, and none of Ubi's games have anything like that.

You're also paying a company that has done their best to thwart the modding scene every step of the way though.

 

[Dr. Buni]

I am doing my part by never buying Ubisoft games.

 

[mkenyon]

What successful browser games does EA even have anymore?

The PopCap stuff through Facebook, I'd imagine.

 

[The Shogun]

Actually is that the case? I still see major AAA dev's like Rockstar and Ubisoft still shun the PC more often than not by either not releasing their games or delaying them on PC. They have always treated the PC market as a step child. Honestly I do not even see a title like MGS5 doing great numbers on PC. I mean it will be profitable most certainly but PS4 will be the biggest source of revenue for them. That is where their fanbase is. I could be wrong though and it may be growing a lot but I still have my doubts that traditional AAA gaming is driving that growth. I think it is still MOBA's, MMO's F2P etcc driving the PC market. Activision did not bother to release Destiny on PC too.

Konami went out of their way to note MGS Ground Zeroes sales on PC in their earnings report

http://www.vg247.com/2015/02/05/metal-gear-solid-5-pro-evo-15-konami-q3-fy15/

Ground Zeroes sold 2 million units in Q3. A large chunk of those had to be PC

 

[jaundicejuice]

Anno 2070 used to be hardware bound. If you changed a component in your rig, like swapped in a new graphics card, you lost one of your five copies of the game.

 

[Shifty1897]

Uplay hate thread? Uplay hate thread.

 

[4Tran]

I don't think there's any mystery here. Gamers like to play on PC for reasons beyond graphics. It stands to reason that games that cater to those reasons will perform better there than ones that don't. Games like Call of Duty aren't very PC-centric, and their sales on that platform are comparatively much weaker than they are on consoles. I think that Ubisoft games fall in a similar spectrum, so their sales result seem to fall within the expected range. If Ubisoft wants higher PC sales, they'll simply have to make titles or ports more consistent with what PC gamers are looking for.

 

[Lingitiz]

Don't all multiplatform game publishers sell far less on the PC?

Not necessarily? PC games are not as front-loaded as console sales due to sales and infinite backwards compatibility. So the tail life on them lasts very long and proves profitable for a long time. Look at a game like Just Cause 2 that goes on sale very often and stays relevant in Steam sales long after release.

 

[jaundicejuice]

You could be playing Driver: San Francisco or Prince of Persia 2008, both single player offline experiences, and get booted out of your game because Ubisoft's DRM servers went offline, which they frequently did.

At one point Ubisoft decided to change their DRM service or server location and did not bother to inform their customers of this, so for a few days some of their PC games were completely unplayable. It was after people started to complain that Ubisoft went "oh, this is why".

 

[lensoftruth]

Bad ports of bad games isn't exactly enticing is it?

 

[Setsuna]

Games like Dragon Age, Battlefield, XCOM, Borderlands, Diablo 3, and more are largely PC games in style that also play great on consoles. So there's a big pickup and retention from the PC gamers because they feel like they are buying PC games that also happen to have console versions.

Ubi never does that, PC gamers feel they are buying into console gaming with all the bad connotation that carries+the added baggage of UPlay.

Let me make this simpler

If 4 developers release 3 games in a year, and 3 of those developers released 2 multi platform games and 1 exclusive on PC while the 4th is selling only multi platform games

Which developers PC sales are going to be lower? The 3 that made an exclusive or the one that didnt

 

[Sevenfold]

A lot of people are buying Grow Home, their indie title, simply because it forgoes UPlay and is a Steam-exclusive release. It helps that its a really good game, too.

I don't think Ubi would get it if you walked in with bag of cash labelled Uplay with a fiver in it and another bursting with cash labelled Steam/NoDRM.

 

[derExperte]

Anno 2070 used to be hardware bound. If you changed a component in your rig, like swapped in a new graphics card, you lost one of your five copies of the game.

Yeah, Uplay wasn't the beginning, Ubisoft's history of questionable behavior is long and there probably aren't a lot PC gamers left that they haven't pissed off at least once. Showing more effort/care wouldn't double their sales but they definitely lost a few percentage points due to this.

The PopCap stuff through Facebook, I'd imagine.

I'm looking at their home- and facebook page and can't find anything. Looks like everything is mobile.

And speaking of PopCap. Peggle 2 PC motherfuckers, would boost revenue to unimaginable levels.

 

[jrcbandit]

Ubisoft always teams up with Nvidia so that means cheap game keys for sale that Ubisoft doesn't count.

Due to Uplay and poor optimizations, I don't buy their games at full price when new. I normally use GMG for new games but don't for Ubisoft because they are Uplay only keys and I don't want to use Ubisoft download servers or support Uplay when the game is only 20% off. I either wait for a Steam sale or buy it cheap elsewhere when brand new like Nvidia codes or Origin India for 50% off.

 

[perfectsil]

Why does a bad game like AC unity sell so well on consoles?

 

[4Tran]

Don't all multiplatform game publishers sell far less on the PC?

It depends on the game. Franchises like Fallout, Dragon Age and Elder Scrolls draw from strong PC traditions, so they tend to do well on that platform. Also, a lot of indies will perform better on PC than they do on consoles. You should also be wary of lumping in all console releases and comparing them to just the PC release. A proper comparison should be broken down by console and each of them compared to the PC version.

Let me make this simpler

If 4 developers release 3 games in a year, and 3 of those developers released 2 multi platform games and 1 exclusive on PC while the 4th is selling only multi platform games

Which developers PC sales are going to be lower? The 3 that made an exclusive or the one that didnt

Ubisoft released Might & Magic X last year.

 

[Purest 78]

Aren't PC games the lowest in sales on all multiplat game.

 

[Zia]

Because Ubisoft are defiantly tone deaf and wrongheaded, releasing late, shoddy ports and injecting the virus that is Uplay into everything and then blaming the customer for any and all issues their PC push has. Activision and EA can be pretty shitty but I don't feel as if either is as combative as Ubisoft. Fuck them.

 

[StalkerUKCG]

Ubi ports are dog shit.

 

[Soph]

Goodwill - Ubi offered paying customers harsh DRM, while pirating the game gave you a better product without drm for free. The paying customers got annoyed by the DRM and switched to pirating.

How to create goodwill? Do it like Paradox Interactive, put no drm at all on your games and pirates might actually feel guilty for pirating your game. Pirating rates on Paradox Games are far lower than most comparable publishers, heck, make great video ads about what piracy actually does: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvO50GYniiI

 

[Corine]

Aren't PC games the lowest in sales on all multiplat game.

Nope plenty of games sell more on PC than any other system.

 

[Imp the Dimp]

Well, their games are very console-centric in what they offer gameplay-wise. Just looking at the most popular Steam games (Dota, CSGO, Skyrim, Football Manager, Civ V, Warframe and so forth), Ubisoft offer nothing of that sort. Just plain, high budget console games with usually very shallow mechanics.

 

[ZiZ]

terrible ports + UPlay

I tried playing Far Cry 4 on my PC. It was terrible, NPCs wouldn't load, quests wouldn't advance... etc.

Unless Ubi gets its shit together I'm never buying another one of their games.

 

[ScatheZombie]

Nope plenty of games sell more on PC than any other system.

Such as?