Ubisoft was confronted at a latest shareholder assembly about its stance on Cease Killing Video games, a preferred petition calling for regulation that may cease fashionable video games from being made inaccessible after help has ended.
Cease Killing Video games is difficult lawmakers to introduce laws that may cease publishers from having the ability to “destroy” video video games they’ve offered to customers. The motion was, partially, motivated by final yr’s shutdown of Ubisoft’s The Crew.
The Crew’s shutdown sparked a backlash from gamers, together with authorized motion, and led to Ubisoft saying plans to launch offline modes for The Crew 2 and The Crew: Motorfest.
At a latest annual assembly highlighted by Sport File, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot was confronted by an “aggressive questioner” who confronted the exec concerning the Cease Killing Video games motion, and pushed on its plans for sport preservation going ahead.
Guillemot responded: “Relating to the petition, we function in a market. And, each time we launch a sport, we offer numerous help for that sport. We additionally present numerous providers to be sure that the sport is accessible and stays playable 24/7.
“So, we offer data concerning the sport and the way lengthy the sport will be performed. And gamers and consumers are forewarned that ultimately the sport could also be discontinued.”
On The Crew, Guillemot famous that Ubisoft launched a two-week promotion in September 2024, that provided the sequel for simply €1/$1 throughout a number of on-line marketplaces, and in addition introduced plans to make the sport obtainable offline sooner or later.
“So this is a matter that we’ve been coping with,” he stated. “However this type of difficulty shouldn’t be particular to Ubisoft. All online game publishers are confronted with that difficulty.
“You present a service, however nothing is written in stone and sooner or later the service could also be discontinued. Nothing is everlasting. And we’re doing our greatest to be sure that issues go nicely for all gamers and consumers, as a result of clearly help for all video games can not final eternally.
“However that’s a difficulty that we’re engaged on. That’s one thing that the trade at giant is engaged on, to attenuate impression on gamers. However clearly that’s one thing you’ll want to think about.
“The lifespan of a bit of software program, each time there’s a service part, ultimately providers could also be discontinued, as a result of ultimately the software program could change into out of date over time. Plenty of instruments change into out of date 10 or 15 years down the road. They’re not obtainable. And that’s the reason we launch a brand new model. And so we’ve got model two after which model three. However clearly this can be a far-reaching difficulty, and we’re engaged on it.”
A petition launched by Cease Killing Video games aimed on the EU has gained practically 1.4 million signatures on the time of writing, which has prompted lobbying group Video Video games Europe to reply.
