Ubisoft has put in DRM setups in many of their PC games that require an "always on" Internet connection, even while playing games in single player mode. This move has angered many PC gamers, who feel that Ubisoft's method are too heavy handed.
In a new interview at Gamesindustry.biz, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot talked about how the publisher is trying to release more PC games that are of the free-to-play variety, such as Ghost Recon Online, shown above. He states:
It's a way to get closer to your customers, to make sure you have a revenue. On PC it's only around five to seven per cent of the players who pay for F2P, but normally on PC it's only about five to seven per cent who pay anyway, the rest is pirated. It's around a 93-95 per cent piracy rate, so it ends up at about the same percentage. The revenue we get from the people who play is more long term, so we can continue to bring content.
Guillemot also says that free-to-play games can also be cheaper to make, including the fact that they don't normally require being distributed on a disc and sold in boxes.
The fact that Ubisoft claims that PC games are heavily pirated is certainly an excuse to put in "always on" Internet connections, but it is also a pain for PC gamers who buy games legitimately and have to go through these hoops just to play them.
Source: Gamesindustry.biz | Image via Ubisoft
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