Recently, we covered that The Crew is getting another expansion, and it seems some of our readers lament that Ubisoft always want to sell DLC after DLC.
Well, good news.
In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Ubisoft’s vice president of live operations Anne Blondel-Jouin plans to support their games up to 5-10 years.
Let that sink in. Some companies like Activision offers one year support of their titles before a sequel comes in. But going up to 5 years? Even 10?
The key here is to stop making DLCs that feels compulsory to the experience. Take The Crew. With The Wild Run expansion, everyone gets something in the update, but those that don’t own Wild Run also gets to see glimpses of the expansion’s content.
The problem here is twofold- one is separation of playerbase, like how DLCs for maps just makes the pool of players separate and less in general affecting its longevity. Another is the feel of being forced to buy the DLCs. All the features in The Crew Wild Run can be accessed by base game players, but you’ll be pointed towards the store. That sends a lot of wrong messages to the player: you’re not having the full experience right now.
It seems Rainbow Six: Siege’s success is the inspiration to this new direction. The game gives free maps and monetise the characters (operators) and cosmetic customisation. Now it has a growing playerbase even after a rough launch and a promise of another year of support.
“It wouldn’t work if it was about making it compulsory for gamers. No more DLC that you have to buy if you want to have the full experience. You have the game, and if you want to expand it – depending on how you want to experience the game – you’re free to buy it, or not,” Blondel-Jouin adds.
So, expect new games from Ubisoft to not do DLCs like The Division and The Crew, but something along the lines of Siege. We have seen this direction of Ubisoft going for longer support in their current games, glad to hear them acknowledging this upfront.
Maybe Steep will be getting such support as well?