Ubisoft Keeping An Eye On The "EA Access" Plan

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By Kevin Parrish
published

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot admitted during a recent interview with Game Informer magazine that the game publisher is keeping a close eye on Electronic Arts' "EA Access" subscription plan for the Xbox One. He said that gamers typically focus on one brand by a specific publisher and ignore the rest. But with a program like EA Access, the same player can discover the publisher's additional games for free.

Electronic Arts announced EA Access just weeks ago, a subscription service costing $4.99 per month or $29.99 per year. This subscription provides access to the company's "Vault" of games including FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, Peggle 2 and Battlefield 4. This plan also allows gamers to play titles five days before they're shipped and provides a 10 percent discount when buying digital content from EA on the Xbox Games Store.

Ubisoft's Guillemot compared this service with a TV station, saying that gamers could one day switch between EA to Ubisoft to Activision and so on as if flipping through pay channels on a television. This could be a way to not only attract gamers to a particular console, but a way to increase diversity altogether. However, Guillemot said that the company is currently only studying what a program like EA Access can do.

"We are open to any way that can give players access to our games. It has to work well and be a smooth experience," he told the magazine.

One of the services Ubisoft has tried is Steam's Early Access, which allows customers to purchase games before they go retail. The positive aspect about this model is that customers provide feedback before the game goes retail. The drawback is that the actual launch day is uneventful because a lot of customers already own the game.

Guillemot also talked about the company's relationship with the Wii U, reporting that customers aren't purchasing games like Assassin's Creed but rather titles such as Just Dance. Ubisoft still plans to launch Watch Dogs on the Wii U because the company already promised it to the fans. However, it will be the only mature game Ubisoft will publish on the Nintendo console, Guillemot said.

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Kevin Parrish
8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • srap
    Some say rats never appear alone.
    Reply
  • thechief73
    Didn't I just read very recently that Ubisoft was trying to make amends with their customers and turn over a new leaf? How does all this fit in there?
    Reply
  • jasonelmore
    nah in all seriousness, if i had to pick one Publisher who's access plan i'd buy, it would no doubt be Ubisoft. Between the Assassin's Creed Series, Far Cry Series, Tom Clancy Series, and Raymen Series, there would be a lot of value.
    Reply
  • tobalaz
    No way I'm messing with Uplay on a console, its bad enough on a PC to begin with.
    Reply
  • xenol
    Ubisoft is trying too hard to be like EA and failing at it miserably.
    Reply
  • dextermat
    What about offering games we can enjoy, not the same old stuff with a better graphics.
    Where the innovation gone to.
    Reply
  • alidan
    ill be honest here, if they put rocksmith on a monthly plan and add in some other games, i would have very little problem paying a few $ a month for it, however, all dlc must be included, and nothing held back.

    that would be 6~$ a week and 24$ a month ish to buy the dlc, or a 5-15 to have access to it all, now and prior, allow with a large amount of the catalogue...
    Reply
  • Abricalio
    Didn't I just read very recently that Ubisoft was trying to make amends with their customers and turn over a new leaf? How does all this fit in there?

    They say that every time they release a shoddy PC port... which is almost every time. With high odds they're likely trying to lull you into their confidence.
    Reply