Stop Releasing Broken and Downgraded Games
Here’s the basics: customers give you money and you give them a product according to the description you gave, which is supposed to be true. The easier way to get angry customers is to lie about your product’s quality. This is so basic it shouldn’t be discussed. Nevertheless, Ubisoft seems to be breaking this implicit rule consistently. Even though many Ubisoft games released in the last years have been pretty great (Rayman Legends, Child of Light, Valiant Hearts, Far Cry 4, etc.), the cases in which things weren’t as expected were really unforgivable.
Assassin’s Creed Unity will be a case to remember for many years to come. Why? It was supposed to be one of the most impressive next-gen (now current-gen) focused experiences and it turned out to be a huge failure. We’re talking low FPS rates, outrageous amounts of bugs, NPC spawning issues, and horrific visual glitches. You name a problem, and chances are that Assassin’s Creed: Unity had it. The reasons for this incredible letdown were not explained; which leads to the funny part: the game was actually delayed so it would have the best release possible. Fair is fair, and everybody knows no game is completely perfect at the time of release. Yet there’s a very large gap between requiring a few fixes to being completely broken.
In a much lesser category of unfriendly practices, Ubisoft has also been tricking players with fake demonstrations. In addition to the famous Far Cry 3 graphical refurbishing to a much less detailed version, there’s the much-talked-about Watchdogs visual downgrade. The reasons don’t really matter since the result is always the same: selling games that aren’t what Ubisoft promised.
Stop Abusing Microtransactions on Already Expensive Games
Ubisoft is a big company, that’s pretty much undeniable. It makes big-time AAA games which are supposed to be cream of the crop and tend to come at a higher price. There’s nothing wrong with buying an expensive game, that’s for sure, but shouldn’t it stop there? You’ve already made an effort and all you want is to play freely. Well, Ubisoft thinks differently.
Lately, Ubisoft games have become a rather greedy bunch. In addition to paying $60 (or even more for deluxe editions) they all have come to include microtransaction. No genius is needed to understand that’s a way to squeeze just a bit more out of their fans’ pockets. Disguised behind the supposed idea that these purchases are there to help players unlock stuff quicker, they definitely reflect a whole new dimension of greed. It’s even confusing, since after all, the deal about not playing free-to-play games is that there shouldn’t be excessive grinding, nor over-the-top unlocking systems. Moreover, the sums needed to unlock every item or upgrade end up costing a lot more than the game’s price.
Of course there are some ways in which microtransactions become slightly acceptable in full-priced games. An interesting example is Dragon Age: Inquisition in which there’s actual money involved in direct exchange of platinum currency, but it’s only limited for the multiplayer part. Having to invest money in the single-player campaign would have ruined a lot of the game’s freedom and enjoyment. On the completely opposite side is The Crew, a game in which absolute freedom depends a big deal on the amount of cars you actually get, which lead you to unlocking and buying new models. The main experience in Ubisoft’s racing game is limited by the game’s own greed.
Stop Repeating Gameplay Mechanics
Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series is the best example of abusing a successful series to its very limit. What once seemed like a very innovative and amazing kind of game was eventually turned into a heartless series of reiterations. What happened in between? Well, Ubisoft’s commercial practices kicked in.
Of course there are differences between Assassin’s Creed games, but when looking at them from a distance, anyone can notice they have neither progressed into something else, nor developed everything it was that made them seem appealing. A big part of this lack of charm comes from the seemingly mindless release of titles without taking time to plan ahead. Assassin’s Creed Unity appeared suddenly when players were still enjoying Black Flag, while Assassin’s Creed Rogue came straight out of nowhere. This yells money all over the place and Assassin’s Creed releases have become even more frequent than yearly sports games.
As if this wasn’t enough, when Ubisoft isn’t repeating the assassin theme, it’s abusing the open world formula. Now, there are many ways in which open world games can be turned and twisted in order to achieve a sense of novelty; take Watchdogs’ hacking mechanics, for instance. Nonetheless, the Far Cry series seems to be going over the board with its open-worldness. Even if Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was a really unexpected jewel, the basic gameplay experience is still Far Cry 3, repeated almost exactly in Far Cry 4.
Now, this doesn’t mean Far Cry 4 isn’t a fun game. The raw fact is that the latest game in the series is kind of a new skin for Far Cry 3, in which almost the same things are seen and done. Take a few new weapons and vehicles, different skills, crank the visuals up a bit and that’s that. Would this franchise’s success actually survive yet one additional repetition? Probably not. As further proof, Dying Light, a game that has many Far Cry features, stands as a valid and pretty much fresh option even without having a good story. The solution was to add something new, a huge sense of freedom generated by the parkour feature.
Stop Using Sinister PR Tactics
After all that’s been said in the previous pages, you’d think Ubisoft would try to reconnect with their fans, keep them interested and assured about the games they are buying. Well, that’s not what happens. In addition to being pretty much secretive and giving weak explanations to their games’ problems, Ubisoft’s PR agents have also been using really shady tactics.
First of all, there’s the not giving review copies issue. Having reviews from trusted games media is a huge resource when players are having second thoughts about buying a game. It’s a way to know if the game has serious problems, letdowns and even other sinister surprises. Of course not everybody buys brand new games, but preventing media from having reviews published on release dates is definitely a poor way to get extra sales from anxious or curious gamers.
As if this wasn’t enough, some of the latest Ubisoft releases also included embargos which lasted for several hours after the actual games’ release. So, it’s pretty simple: enforced silence on games that were utterly broken and/or unfinished equals more sales. Oh, you naughty Ubisoft.
Ubisoft is a big company and has proven it has what it takes to make good games. It’s a shame such resources have been put to waste by extreme greed and whatever hidden reason there is for making so many mistakes simultaneously. Honestly, when taking all these reasons altogether, it’s easy to see how far Ubisoft is falling in the eye’s of its fans.
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