Ubisoft CEO addresses Stop Killing Games after overseeing the deaths of The Crew and XDefiant: “Support for all games cannot last forever”
Ubisoft CEO addresses Stop Killing Games after overseeing the deaths of The Crew and XDefiant: “Support for all games cannot last forever”
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Which is why you make it possible to let people host servers/sessions
That’s the neat part, you don’t need to support them forever, you just need to make games playable offline, and peer to peer servers are available for multiplayer.
This is the same argument Pirate Software tried to make and shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the movement.
I love how they keep completely misrepresenting what that entire initiative is about. They just have absolutely nothing of substance to bring forth against it, this is so desperate.
When it’s not financially viable for the business to operate a game it should go open source. Fans should be able to legally operate it further if they want.
Not with that attitude Ubisoft.
Yes the hell it can! Just don’t require internet to boot or play at any point!
Bro is the CEO of tone deaf
Every game with a singleplayer mode made before about 2010 is still fully playable today because there’s no reason to lock singleplayer content behind an internet connection unless you want to force people to stop playing old games so they have to buy new ones, and doing so is a part of your business strategy to the point of planning an entire game’s framework around justifying online components in singleplayer as an excuse to make singleplayer content dependent on an external service that can be shut down.
This asshole is literally ignoring what people are demanding in SKG. Yes, NOTHING lasts forever, however the movement is asking for something much more simple than constant upkeep from the publisher. Have a plan so that the game is at least mostly playable without *their* servers.
This is as simple as a patch to allow offline play. The Crew HAD an offline mode that was ripped out of the game and then the servers were shut down from just driving alone in the world. You can’t play ANY portion of The Crew today, and this asswipe thinks offering a cheap upgrade to an unrelated product (The Crew 2) is compensatory for stealing a product from people when you KNEW the game would be shut down eventually?
Fuck this guy, his excuses, and his half-truths. We want to simply continue playing the games we bought with no strings attached and no support required by the company, functionally costing them nothing. No balancing, no leaderboards, no daily challenges, no nothing except the ability to boot the game and maybe hack it to work in private servers.
These are not big asks.
You know what doesn’t take a lot of resources, and requires no support? Not including an unncessary kill switch in your game.
Then just give up the source code and let the people who love the game take over. Private servers are a thing.
I think there is some mass confusion about what people want from this “Stop Killing Games” initiative.
People don’t want neverending developer support.
What they want is to ensure that when they spend their hard earned money on a game, that you do not require an internet connection to play it, especially if it can be played entirely single player.
No one was expecting that the servers for “The Crew” would be live indefinitely, but at the very least (as it can be played solo) That you could still play offline and with the latest updates available without multiplayer or internet connections OR have private servers.
These days, If a game isn’t deemed successful enough, then companies can and have taken games offline making said games entirely unusable.
This generation has seen a few games that now have discs that are useless. Because of this online requirement.
(See Babylons Fall, The Crew, Concord etc)
I don’t think Ubisoft are a demonic company but I do think the higher ups are extremely misguided when it comes to this. It’s not just a Ubisoft issue.
Then give me my money back when I can no longer play the game.
hmmm i dunno my mk3 cartridge still works..
Or you just make a fucking game that doesn’t require constant internet connection or a server… like, bro… it ain’t rocket surgery
If that’s his response then no. He didn’t address Stop Killing Games.
Asking support to last forever is a completely separate subject.
The implicit thing there is without releasing source code
If you aren’t making money off it anymore you shouldn’t have government protection for IP you aren’t using
That’s our property. Literally. Everything is public domain except for what is protected for a limited time by the government. If you blockade the game for 70 years so there are no functioning traces when it would fall into PD then that is theft.
The crew didn’t need support , just a patch to get rid of the always online requirement, it’s mostly played single player
Then make an offline mode. Provide modding tools so fans can make your game into whatever they want. There are 20+ years old games still being played because there’s a modding community passionate enough to support it for free (Dawn of War off the top of my head)
What a shock, he’s arguing with a straw man.
They could’ve just made an offline version or gave people the program to create their own servers
Nobody is asking for indefinite support. Stop twisting what this is about and focus on making good games.
So they’re still missing the point then
Lol I dont think anyone is asking for this on current game models. Online games just need to be built from the ground up with an end of life cycle plan in place.
Just when you thought the sewer pipe has stopped spewing hazardous chemicals..
You can’t expect me to believe a company this size completely misrepresented the movement.
If they no longer wish to support the game all they have to do is relinquish the copyright and everything will be peachy. Bonus points if they release the source code.
They don’t want to do that though. They want the game to die after they’re done milking it which is not ok
“Support for all games cannot last forever” – that’s the point of the initiative.
Final patch & source code for unsupported play.
Can we say Ubisoft is worse than EA?
#NOT WHAT WE ASKED FOR
They aren’t asking for it to last forever. Why not actually read what the initiative is asking for?
Company is so tone deaf. From the devs to those in higher positions. I cant wait for them to sell.
Many online games have released offline standalone version at the end of service so they don’t need to support it forever.
Stop buying/playing live service games and devs will stop making live service games.
Ubisoft is seriously running for “the most hated game company” at top speed. Really Leroy Jenkinsing it.
You set them up so they dont need support… like a single player game or self hosting.
Didn’t even realize XDefiant died already lol
That is a blatant strawman argument; Stop Killing Games isn’t asking for games to be supported forever, just for users to be given private hosting tools. It’s really not that complicated, and there is really no legitimate reason for a company to deny doing it beyond not wanting their new games competing with their old games.
Make shit that doesnt need support
“Support for all games cannot last forever”
Yeah, no shit. No one asked for that.
NEXT!
If the industry continues to fail to meet customers expectations, that a product for SALE can be enjoyed by the new owner in perpetuity. Then the customer will use the power of the vote, and law to compel the industry.
Sure, it can sell the rights to somone
“Support for games cannot last forever.”
That’s the point. That’s why we want it to be legal to do what we can, as fans, to support them.
I used to think it would never be possible for fans to upkeep MMO servers, but what’s been done with SWG is just amazing. And without all the server software either, they had to build most of JTL server from scratch if I remember correctly.
And neither will your company lol
Bro just go back and make good games again before you talk
I love how these fucking millionaire CEOs just can’t seem to grasp the concept that if they make complete games, then they don’t need perpetual support (outside of online features).
Like no one cares if game was designed the way your online features and EShop were add-ons. Sure you can take down those when it’s not profitable for you anymore. Allow people to host the games themselves, this tech has been around +30 years and sure it brings in cheaters but what would they care at that point? The mentality of groundup online first and then build game around it is just stupid and unsustainable.
Again, no one is asking for support forever.