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[LectureMaster]

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ubisoft-defends-microtransactions-saying-they-pay-for-assassins-creed-updates/1100-6536521/

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Microtransactions have become a standard part of video games, albeit one that is still heavily criticized to this day. Cosmetics and new DLC form the bulk of these quick purchases, which are typically introduced as optional preorder and post-launch content that complements a video game. One such game that sells cosmetics is Assassin's Creed Shadows, and associate game director Simon Lemay-Comtois recently spoke about how these items have provided vital post-launch financial support.

"Microtransactions, for all the flak it gets, it allows us to do the Isu stuff, the quest stuff, the parkour updates, all of it," Lemay-Comtois said to IGN, arguing in favor for DLC. Assassin's Creed games don't operate in a vacuum when it comes to optional extras, as almost every AA and AAA released these days offers some form of additional content that you'll have to pay extra for. Call of Duty is notorious for its crossover skins, fighting games like Street Fighter 6 regularly release new characters to play as, and premium in-game currencies bought with real-world cash are very common.

 

[LectureMaster]

 

[El Hee-Ho]

Microtransactions wouldn't have to pay for Assassin's Creed updates if Assassin's Creed came out as a complete and properly functional game in the first place.

So fuck 'em.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

At the end of the day, a shitty practice is still a shitty practice. You don't get a free pass because Calladuty is doing it, nor is it made better by pretending like it helps you subsidize actually finishing the game. If you don't like people's response to it, then change your model.

 

[digdug2]

Fuck you, Ubisoft. You could (and should!) be providing updates for your games without micro-transactions. This just further proves they don't give a shit about their customers, because they could (and SHOULD!) be providing feature-complete games out the gate.

 

[Witchilich]

Microtransactions, for all the flak it gets, it allows us to do the Isu stuff, the quest stuff, the parkour updates, all of it

when it comes to optional extras

Tell that to all single player Sony and Nintendo games, single player portion of Rockstar games (MTX only for the online) and countless indie single player games like Expedition 33.

fighting games like Street Fighter 6 regularly release new characters to play as

Thats a live service and you are releasing a single player game. And for Street Fighter, Capcom releases a version that contains all DLCs at the end of the games life cycle, and its also a physical release.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Valhalla was crammed with micro transactions with their Helix currency. All of the coolest weapons and armor sets were locked behind a paywall instead of finding them out in the world. Fucking bullshit that this is a needed practice. Look at From soft. All of their Souls-games are content complete and you can find every weapon and armor set in the game with no micro transactions at all. They even hide stuff like entire levels and bosses for you to find and yet, their games sell many more millions than whatever Ubisoft is producing. Go figure

 

[rm082e]

Ghost of Totei doesn't have microtransactions, and it's on a single platform.

 

[Memati187]

Now everything makes sense. How could I not realise I was the problem after all this time. From now on, I will buy anything you throw at me. Give me them pinks and purples, I am ready.

 

[Fake]

Ubisoft defends Ubisoft. Its a shame microtransactions in single-player games don't pay for Assassin's Creed DLCs.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

All of the coolest weapons and armor sets were locked behind a paywall instead of finding them out in the world. Fucking bullshit that this is a needed practice.

Not true, all the stuff in the shop can be gotten for free, it has been this way since odyssey, in shadows they made it even easier by including the currnecy in the infinite tracks.

 

[Fbh]

If you make good games that continue selling well over time you can still afford to support them.
See stuff like Baldur's Gate 3, or games games that managed to turn around a bad launch and offer years of free updates without mtx, like Cyberpunk or No Man's Sky.

 

[Gp1]

How about finish your god damn game content/scope complete so you don't need to update it ad eternum?

 

[Saber]

If the game was great as opposed to an instrument to pandering and retain their budget in check maybe they wouldn't need that.
Look at that trash they called Skull and Bones. How the fuck any sane person can justify that piece of retard trash costing absurds amounts of money? Why burn that amount of money in the first place?

 

[Mr Hyde]

Not true, all the stuff in the shop can be gotten for free, it has been this way since odyssey, in shadows they made it even easier by including the currnecy in the infinite tracks.

Yeah, by grinding thousands of hours to collect the currency that's hidden around the world. By the time you have collected for one armor set you're sick of the game and delete it from the hard drive.

 

[HRK69]

Not true, all the stuff in the shop can be gotten for free, it has been this way since odyssey, in shadows they made it even easier by including the currnecy in the infinite tracks.

On PC, you can use Cheat Engine to unlock the sets available in the store

That said, it's probably not worth the trouble, most of the sets are fairly uninspired and don't add much to the experience imo

 

[Skifi28]

My man Lecture when Ubisoft says or does anything

 

[owandeseis]

I honestly think more single player games should have microtransactions, specially cosmetics yes, if people wants to support them, why not

Too bad Ubi has embraced mediocrity lately, wouldn't even pay for their games, much less the cosmetics

 

[Deerock71]

Bu-bu-but, since they CANCELED the upcoming expansion for Shadows, are they refunding said money?

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Yeah, by grinding thousands of hours to collect the currency that's hidden around the world. By the time you have collected for one armor set you're sick of the game and delete it from the hard drive.

gross hyperbole, I got several sets without even reaching the end of the story in either game; and like I said shadows includes currency in the tracks, it's braindead easy to get the currency, barely takes any time investment.

 

[Quantum253]

Why game patches/updates are needed, and you should be happy to pay for them

 

[Kerotan]

Ghost of Totei doesn't have microtransactions, and it's on a single platform.

Tbf Sony get 100% of the sale as they're the platform holder.

 

[calico]

You know what else would allow them to do those things? If AC wasn't having to also carry a bunch of other flops, or if AC wasn't carrying a self-inflicted woke handicap.

I honestly think more single player games should have microtransactions, specially cosmetics yes, if people wants to support them, why not

Because it skews the game design philosophy towards prioritising the selling of mtx. I want to buy a game, not a storefront masquerading as a game.

This is why they now measure success in 'session days'.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

I honestly think more single player games should have microtransactions, specially cosmetics yes, if people wants to support them, why not

Too bad Ubi has embraced mediocrity lately, wouldn't even pay for their games, much less the cosmetics

Those should be FREE unlockables, as in Stellar Blade and Expedition 33, among others.

A retail price game should not have ANY more content chopped off the game on release.

Precisely, the embrace of mediocrity goes hand in hand with this kind of policies. It all comes from the same brainrot.

 

[Z O N E]

So many excuses instead of just admitting that Shadows was a flop and they messed up on creating a great Assassins Creed set in Japan.

 

[Windom Earle]

There is not a single good Assassin's Creed game. Not one.

 

[Boneless]

And this is why your stock is now €7.

 

[owandeseis]

Because it skews the game design philosophy towards prioritising the selling of mtx. I want to buy a game, not a storefront masquerading as a game.

This is why they now measure success in 'session days'.

Yes, greedy ass companies are always going to find ways to abuse or focus on this, it's complicated, luckily their games are normally forgettable or uninspired so i wouldn't even buy the games in first stance.

But at the same time, for games like BG3, KCD2 or Exp 33 that are incredible on day 1 already, i wouldn't mind the companies to add some MTX a few weeks/months after release that could allow them to farm some extra money while they create their next game.

As i said it's complicated, but i understand it's not easy for some Single player game developers, with the actual long development periods, to sustain the salaries of hundreds of developers for several years when their previous game has already made most of the money it could.

 

[calico]

So many excuses instead of just admitting that Shadows was a flop and they messed up on creating a great Assassins Creed set in Japan.

It's very frustrating. Always some tale of hardship from the industry when so much of it is self inflicted. This had to be one of the easiest layups in gaming and they had to go out of their way to screw it up.

 

[Boss Mog]

They're free to try to sell single-player cosmetics and such but we're free not to buy em. I don't really understand why anybody would spend money like that, well expect maybe a hot outfit/bikini for an attractive female character, but Ubisoft doesn't have any attractive female characters in its games these days so...

 

[Z O N E]

It's very frustrating. Always some tale of hardship from the industry when so much of it is self inflicted. This had to be one of the easiest layups in gaming and they had to go out of their way to screw it up.

Literally.

They were handed the BEST setting with the best gaming formula for it too and... failure.

We all know the saying "You can't fuck this up"... well, they fucked it up.

Generational fuck up.

 

[rm082e]

Tbf Sony get 100% of the sale as they're the platform holder.

Yes, but AC is on 3 platforms where Yotei is only on one.

 

[Brakum]

Maybe do a good game that sells enough for you to do it without mtx. It's not like there aren't a million examples of games like that

 

[IFireflyl]

My man Lecture when Ubisoft says or does anything

 

[The Mad Draklor]

Tbf Sony get 100% of the sale as they're the platform holder.

Ubisoft had the opportunity to initially make the PC version available on their own storefront like they did with Valhalla (for 2 years I should add), but they didn't.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

MTXs pay for updates that Ubisoft then goes on to sell to the userbase? Wut?!!?

How is it that devs like Hello Games can produce massive updates for the game and release them for free to the userbase, meanwhile, that tiny studio is sitting on mountains of revenue from selling new copies of their game to new users because of the positive WoM NMS gets from the community that is delighted by the free updates?

 

[Skifi28]

We're not quite there yet, but perhaps one day.

 

[Generic]

It was only ok when Expedition 33 did it.

 

[calico]

It was only ok when Expedition 33 did it.

Did it?

 

[Kerotan]

Yes, but AC is on 3 platforms where Yotei is only on one.

Well Yotei will eventually be on 2 and AC loses 30% from all except the UPLAY store.

 

[IFireflyl]

It was only ok when Expedition 33 did it.

There are no microtransactions in Expedition 33.

 

[Camreezie]

These gaslighting fuckers

 

[proandrad]

These gaslighting fuckers

People don't hate Ubisoft enough.

 

[CLW]

 

[Laptop1991]

Nothing Ubisoft says matters anymore, and that includes their newer games, never known a company press the self destruct button more than Ubisoft and they are still doing it after the response they have got from gamers and their former customers which is loud and clear, insanity!.

 

[MayauMiao]

There is not a single good Assassin's Creed game. Not one.

Black Flag.

 

[Shubh_C63]

As true for most things, it is about how you present them.

These mtx are presented in the game or landing page in a way that feels like playing a cold store product rather than a adventure ubi would have you believe.

It wouldn't be wrong if they were subtle and only in the corner.

 

[simpatico]

Single player games shouldn't need updates.

Source: Final Fantasy VI SNES cartridge and Xbox KOTOR disc.

 

[Ozzie666]

Sometimes it's just best to say nothing at all, especially if you feel the need to defend really shitty business tactics. Maybe the truth is your games and budgets are way out of control. Your managerment of studios and budgets is equally shit. You can't say this shit when Ghosts and other games don't have the same problem and aren't multi-platform.

Learn to run your business better. Learn to read the room.

 

[laynelane]

Ubisoft just isn't having it with any sort of customer feedback that skews towards criticism. I think that gives a good idea about what to expect from their future projects and makes me very glad I decided to not buy games from them years ago.