Ubisoft PC sales down 90% since always on DRM was implemented

[Red Storm]

Just compare Convictions to a game like Chaos Theory, it's no wonder their sales have plummeted over time. I do think the DRM has played a part as well.

 

[Northern Lawn]

The Irony here is that ALL there games have been cracked, LOL.

 

[nyker96]

I personally find some DRM which interfers w/ gaming exp to be very annoying. If a game constantly bugs me or break down or become unplayable form time to time due to drm related issues i wouldn't bother buying it.

 

[veri745]

dunno...assassin's creed is pretty damn awesome.

The last Ubisoft game that made me say "Wow!" in a good way was FarCry.

 

[JoshGuru7]

Lots of discussion here about something I have seen no proof at all of. "Michael Pachter told Eurogamer that Ubisoft’s “PC game sales are down 90% without a corresponding lift in console sales.”

Michael Pachter is an independent analyst and this article mentions nothing about data he may have been able to draw from. The majority of game sales are now digital and are not public information, so I'm not going to react to one person's opinion about sales without a single shred of evidence given for that opinion.

A more accurate title for this thread: "Person not affiliated with Ubisoft claims PC game sales are down 90%. No evidence provided for this claim."

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

The last Ubisoft game that made me say "Wow!" in a good way was FarCry.

I still play Far Cry sometimes.

Last Ubisoft game I was impressed by was probably Chaos Theory.

No, hang on. Ubisoft did WiC as well? Then that game. It was way too short, but it was pretty good.

 

[exar333]

The quality of the game is usually inversely related to the level of DRM. Thats just my observation over the years.

 

[exar333]

Like most said, I think it's just because of so-so games.

They have a few interesting titles, but there's a lot of junk in there. Unless the market for Where's Waldo and Voodoo Dice is much larger than I realize.

I also agree that many or most pc gamers don't really pay attention to DRM (or know what it is) until something messes up. Those voting with their wallets are most likely a small blip on the revenue map in reality.

This. Bad games = poor sales, period.

 

[BladeVenom]

The Irony here is that ALL there games have been cracked, LOL.

That's what makes you wonder why companies pay for DRM. Why pay for a product that's usually broken the day it's released. They should demand their money back from SecuROM and Starforce.

 

[callaway86]

I haven't bought their games since they added the DRM, I really wanted AC2 and SH5.

 

[mindcycle]

The Irony here is that ALL there games have been cracked, LOL.

Yeah exactly. It's sad that they continue using that DRM system when it's now clear that paying customers are the majority of people actually being affected by it and not pirates for the most part.

I'm not convinced that the 90% drop is due solely to DRM either, but i'm sure at least some of that drop in sales can be attributed to it. Everyone who is posting on this thread is clearly aware of it, so to say PC gamers aren't aware of the DRM being used is clearly wrong. Almost every mainstream review of their PC games mentions the DRM. People know..

Personally, I would have gladly bought the last Assassins Creed as well as Splinter Cell if the always on DRM wasn't included.. I won't touch either with a 10 foot pole now though.

 

[Barfo]

That's what makes you wonder why companies pay for DRM. Why pay for a product that's usually broken the day it's released. They should demand their money back from SecuROM and Starforce.

Because it stops average Joe who is too stupid/ignorant to download a torrent/crack from pirating the games.

 

[mindcycle]

Because it stops average Joe who is too stupid/ignorant to download a torrent/crack from pirating the games.

I agree, that's definitely the only people who it stops. I just wonder how many of these average joes are actually out there, you know..

 

[Locut0s]

I agree, that's definitely the only people who it stops. I just wonder how many of these average joes are actually out there, you know..

The funny thing is the only people this stops are usually those who are NOT pirating the game but those who just want to make a backup copy of the disc and play from the backup while keeping the original untouched. I've heard of people doing this. Anyone who actually wants to pirate the game just goes and downloads it off one of any number of services.

 

[BladeVenom]

Because it stops average Joe who is too stupid/ignorant to download a torrent/crack from pirating the games.

The average Joe uses a console. I can't imagine there are many people out there who can build themselves a gaming machine, but can't figure out how to click on a torrent file.

 

[PingSpike]

The truth is I don't think I would have ever bought any of those games. Submarine sims don't really sound like my thing and I saw Assassin's Creed on a console and it didn't really grab me. That said I didn't buy Bioshock for a far more minor DRM offense. I actually did want that one.

There are so many games and so little time that it makes no sense for me to waste any money on a game that I have to fight with the DRM to play it. Steam can be a big enough pain in the ass if you have a poor connection, and that actually HAS an offline mode. I've heard enough horror stories to know anything short of the greatest game in the universe wouldn't be enough to get me to willingly deal with that crap.

I kind of doubt the drop is entirely people boycotting those games though. I wouldn't be surprised if the DRM scared away plenty of people and turned off some fence sitters, but most likely the games just weren't compelling enough to sell...assuming that statistic is even accurate.

 

[Childs]

I wouldn't be surprised if the DRM scared away plenty of people and turned off some fence sitters, but most likely the games just weren't compelling enough to sell...assuming that statistic is even accurate.

People buy their games on console, so they are compelling enough. I think its a combination of PC gamers being aware of the DRM, and the delay from when the console versions and PC versions are released. PC only gamers are probably getting less and less, and if you wanted to play Assassins Creed, Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, etc, you probably played it on console when it was released. Games sell best at release, just like the first week of a movie release. If you waited for the PC version you then find everyone complaining about the DRM, so you either pass or wait for a Steam sale to make up for the DRM hassle.

They've made PC a secondary market for themselves, and it shows.

 

[smackababy]

The funny thing is the only people this stops are usually those who are NOT pirating the game but those who just want to make a backup copy of the disc and play from the backup while keeping the original untouched. I've heard of people doing this. Anyone who actually wants to pirate the game just goes and downloads it off one of any number of services.

This DRM doesn't stop any of the average joes from pirating it. It only makes it (maybe) more difficult for pirates to crack and put the torrent up. DRM only effects people who crack it and people who buy the game.

 

[evident]

ubisoft hasn't made a good game since rayman

 

[sandorski]

This is unfortunate. Settlers 7 is a great game and I'd hate to see Ubisoft fail because of their DRM. Maybe they'll get the message and drop it.

 

[HeXen]

The majority of game sales are now digital and are not public information, s

no the majority of PC sales is still retail box. same is true for consoles and expansion packs, rentals.
The prediction currently is that digital will be predominant by 2013.

While digital game sales are a topic of intense conversation in the gaming industry, a quarterly report by the NPD says that they're still a small part of the overall market.

likewise, another interesting stat from same site

Digital game piracy is small compared to the music industry, but four percent of gamers (roughly six million people) use P2P networks to pirate, with 72 percent of pirated downloads occurring on PC formats.

 

[frozentundra123456]

That's true. On the other hand, that will cause problems with single-player games also on e.g. Steam (which "no one" seems to have issues with), unless you have a crystal ball to see in the future so you have prepared your Steam games into offline mode beforehand, before the internet (or Steam server) outage hits you.

For these situations, the only "good" DRM would be one that requires online authentication only when you install a game, not when you start playing it, or even during the gameplay. Or no DRM at all, like www.gog.com or www.dotemu.com

Actually I do have issues with Steam too. I could not play steam games for several days because, even though my internet was working, Steam would not recognize my log in information. And Steam support was atrocious, not responding for several days and then just sending some canned response that indicated clearly that they did not really read or understand or care about my support e mail. I finally got so fed up that I just re-formatted my hard drive (it needed it anyway) and reinstalled everything. I never did figure out what the problem was.

And I have mentioned in the forums before regarding Ubisoft's always on internet connection that Steam basically has the same thing. No one seemed to recoginze this and just replied to "play in off line mode". But as you correctly pointed out, unless you can somehow magically tell when you will lose connection with Steam and prepare all your games for offline mode, you do have to be online to play Steam games. So I will again express my confusion as to why people hate Ubisoft always on DRM so much, but think Steam is the greatest thing ever.

 

[Northern Lawn]

Digital game piracy is small compared to the music industry, but four percent of gamers (roughly six million people) use P2P networks to pirate, with 72 percent of pirated downloads occurring on PC formats.

That 4% is almost the exact same figure of refunds you have to give back when a legit business offers a money back guarantee. Idiot developers.

On a tangent, didn't Sins of a Solar Empire release their game with no DRM and do well by it? Some game did that anyway.

EDIT: Yeah I just found the link. Sins of DRM lead to Sins of a Solar Empire >>http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/sins_of_a_solar_empire/

 

[KaOTiK]

And I have mentioned in the forums before regarding Ubisoft's always on internet connection that Steam basically has the same thing. No one seemed to recoginze this and just replied to "play in off line mode". But as you correctly pointed out, unless you can somehow magically tell when you will lose connection with Steam and prepare all your games for offline mode, you do have to be online to play Steam games. So I will again express my confusion as to why people hate Ubisoft always on DRM so much, but think Steam is the greatest thing ever.

I do know offline was/is bugged for some. But I never had an issue going into offline mode and playing a game on my desktop or laptop.

So yeah, for me and plenty of others Steams offline mode works fine. I understand that it is bugged (or at least was, don't know if it has been fixed) for some and wouldn't work and that there is/was nothing you could do, but saying it is the same as Ubisoft's always on DRM is laughable.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Every time my internet has went out I've been able to play steam games offline...