Well I think we can all agree that to some extent none of us own anything anymore, if we ever did, and the only thing really changing is the extent to which we can use it. I will say that is why I too, like
@DrezKill mentioned, try to get everything I can on GOG and like
@Grimlakin also mentioned, I will not pay for a gaming subscription service.
It's worse than you think. We are not just not owning software anymore, we do not even own the hardware sometimes. All the devices that phone home and lock you out of functionality or become completely bricked without connecting to the internet, you don't technically own them.
Buying and not owning, that's a no go for me, this is why before Netflix the only streaming service I ever signed up to were the ones where I could rip the content. They say but that's illegal, well then recording from linear TV was illegal too.
I get what Ubisoft is refering to with the obvious rise of Netflix, Disney, Max, etc. but the gaming community isn't quite ready, and may never be, to do a full on switch. However for physical movie/t.v. discs, the writing sure seems to be on the wall but I too am one of those who will fight it.
It's not a readiness question it is outright rejection, just as we rejected NFTs, another thing ubisoft was keen on pushing.
I'm well aware of this as its happened to me on Amazon Prime. Video I've "purchased" is suddenly no longer available in North America.
I once saw a movie that I've been hunting for years listed as "available on prime" so I signed up, and then it disappeared completely from the listing due to it not being available in my region. Because until I actually signed up it was showing everything regardless of region. Amazon is garbage tier these days anyway, I'm more confident ordering from aliexpress than from there.
The same can be said about some physical media, if it needs a server to run you are done playing if the servers go down. or if they ban your product key.
This is why some of us were vocal against online activation in single player games since its first inception with securom in the early 2000s.
I would consider a sub if they could cranck out enough games I would like to play but Ubisoft only makes a couple games a year and most are of no interest to me buying the ones I want is cheaper.
I'd never consider it for two reasons. First you'd need a subscription for every major publisher, second normalizing subscription instead of purchase gives them free reign to shut down less successful games even faster than they are doing now. I care about game preservation, especially for titles that I like.
I would think the greater danger would be churn - getting as many “flavor of the month” shovelware titles out as fast as possible
Basically what the mobile app stores have become
Yes, exactly this. There is always a catch, if everyone got on to the program and subscribed instead of purchasing games, that means they'd focus even harder on secondary monetization like in game purchases or god forbid ad breaks in games. I know PC gaming has been written off many times by many people over the years, but going to a subscription only model would actually kill it.
