Ubisoft Executive Says Gamers Need To Get Comfortable Not Owning Their Games

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Overview

Ubisoft Executive Says Gamers Need To Get Comfortable Not Owning Their Games refers to a controversial statement made by video game publisher Ubisoft's Director of Subscriptions Philippe Tremblay in which he said that there needs to be a consumer shift where video game players rent or subscribe to games instead of owning them, not unlike consumers shifting to streaming from physical media. The quote garnered criticism from many gamers in mid-January 2024, with many encouraging each other to start pirating Ubisoft games or boycotting them entirely. The statement additionally spawned widespread discussions and memes over the following days.

Background

On January 15th, 2024, Ubisoft's Director of Subscriptions Philippe Tremblay said in an interview with Games Industry Biz^[13] that he supports a consumer shift towards subscription-based gaming. In the article, titled "The new Ubisoft+ and getting gamers comfortable with not owning their games," Tremblay said:

"One of the things we saw is that gamers are used to, a little bit like DVD, having and owning their games. That's the consumer shift that needs to happen. They got comfortable not owning their CD collection or DVD collection. That's a transformation that's been a bit slower to happen [in games]. As gamers grow comfortable in that aspect… you don't lose your progress. If you resume your game at another time, your progress file is still there. That's not been deleted. You don't lose what you've built in the game or your engagement with the game. So it's about feeling comfortable with not owning your game.

The quote was posted to the /r/videogames^[1] subreddit by Redditor /u/Mistah-S later that day on January 15th, and to X^[2] user @Rahll's account on January 16th, where it gathered over 1,000 upvotes (seen below, left) and 50,000 likes, respectively, in three days (seen below, right).

Developments

Ubisoft Stock Drop

In the days following Philippe Tremblay's controversial statements and the widespread backlash toward his take on game ownership, Ubisoft's stock price notably crashed,^[10] with some speculating it was related to his comments.^[11] For example, YouTuber^[12] Gaming Industry & Finance uploaded a video on January 16th, 2024, under the title "UBISOFT STOCK CRASH!!! Are They Losing It on Latest Subscription Talk?" (shown below).

Online Reactions

The news quickly spread online over the following days and was reposted to Reddit's /r/gaming^[3] on January 16th, 2024, gathering over 19,000 upvotes in two days. The quote was also posted on /r/technology^[4] and /r/pcgaming^[5] gathering over 3,000 upvotes each in a similar timeframe.

On January 17th, iFunny^[6] user @FriendlyNeighbourhoodRetar posted the news, gathering over 800 smiles in two days (seen below, left). On January 18th, iFunny^[7] user @KinkRoulette posted a It's Always Morally Correct meme about pirating video games that gathered over 13,000 smiles in a day (seen below, right).

On January 19th, 2024, Redditor^[8] /u/Professional_Job1154 posted a meme to /r/pcmasterrace using Tremblay's statement, gathering over 4,000 upvotes in a day (seen below, left). X^[9] user @QuirklessStoner also posted a joke about piracy on January 17th, gathering over 10,000 likes in two days (seen below, right).