Ubisoft: PC has Piracy Rate of 93-95%, F2P the Future

[CybrSlydr]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/...f2p-the-future

Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot has revealed that the percentage of people who pay in free-to-play games is roughly the same as those who buy boxed games.

So high are the rates of piracy (5-7%), Ubisoft is actively looking to the F2P model as an important way of making money from the PC market going forward, especially in territories badly affected by piracy.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online is one of Ubisoft's latest titles to take advantage of this model.

"We want to develop the PC market quite a lot and F2P is really the way to do it," said Guillemot in an interview with GamesIndustry International. "The advantage of F2P is that we can get revenue from countries where we couldn't previously - places where our products were played but not bought. Now with F2P we gain revenue, which helps brands last longer.

I'm confused...

Title says 93-95 but the article says 5-7 - which is it?

[AruisDante]

The article is wording it strangely, but what he's trying to say is that 5-7% of players who play a free-to-play game actually wind up spending money on it, but that's about the same rate as people that pay for a retail copy currently. So the F2P strategy makes sense in those territories especially, because at least then everyone playing has a chance to decide to spend money, vs. no chance at all on 95% of people that would play with a traditional boxed copy.

But note he's talking about very specific territories (like China/Russia), not the US.

[Namtaro]

I think F2P is very hard to pull off and I've only seen a few examples where it worked properly. The only game I can remember off the top of my head where it worked is LoL... they make the game fully playable without buying stuff and there's no real advantage other than saving time if you buy stuff.

I think Ubisoft would be more like the F2P of mobile platforms where it's F2P, but you can't actually enjoy the game unless you pay for stuff.

[Witchdoctor]

The % of people playing boxed games that actually paid for them is very low in the US as well, with all the torrent servers the only reason to pay for games anymore is if you actually have a conscious. I pay personally because I truly believe it is the only way the industry will put the money into the R & D that is required to push the envelope. Consul knock offs are getting old and with the limitations of that hardware if PC games continue to be a second thought people will sooner or later curtail to the consul if you can get the same experience with a $ 300.00 piece of hardware. This is an interesting approach and have to wonder when it will be tried in the US

[WordMasterRice]

Originally Posted by Witchdoctor

The % of people playing boxed games that actually paid for them is very low in the US as well, with all the torrent servers the only reason to pay for games anymore is if you actually have a conscious. I pay personally because I truly believe it is the only way the industry will put the money into the R & D that is required to push the envelope. Consul knock offs are getting old and with the limitations of that hardware if PC games continue to be a second thought people will sooner or later curtail to the consul if you can get the same experience with a $ 300.00 piece of hardware. This is an interesting approach and have to wonder when it will be tried in the US

I'm getting really tired of being accused of things just because I like to play PC games. This is the same viewpoint that the companies take, somehow their customers are the enemy. I bet if I stop playing games all together they would find a way to make it into me doing something wrong.

(I'm not saying that you are accusing gamers as a whole, but these companies sure do)

[CybrSlydr]

I'm sorry, I flat refuse to believe that 95% of all PC games are pirated.

[Urbanfox]

Originally Posted by CybrSlydr

I'm sorry, I flat refuse to believe that 95% of all PC games are pirated.

+1. That number is ludicrous and unfounded.

[AruisDante]

I certainly do in certain countries. And even in the US, for non-console games the majority of the market is 18-24, which means they're probably low on disposable income and high on technical knowledge. Meaning piracy is a legitimate value proposition to them

[Deluded]

Originally Posted by CybrSlydr

I'm sorry, I flat refuse to believe that 95% of all PC games are pirated.

I can believe it. In my country (Iran) about 95% (and I'm being very generous) of all games are pirated. China, Russia and a few other countries can be the same way.

Mostly it's the income.

[Witchdoctor]

it is not just games, all software security is a joke and easily worked around.

I personally do not use suck software but it is right in front of every one to use if they choose to

[Clone of 501]

Originally Posted by Deluded

I can believe it. In my country (Iran) about 95% (and I'm being very generous) of all games are pirated. China, Russia and a few other countries can be the same way.

Mostly it's the income.

They have computers in Iran?