Ubisoft's Live-Service Success Means You'll Be Playing the Same Games for Longer
Annual releases give way to annual content roadmaps.
We know that live service games are the hot trend in the video game industry, but it's not until we see how these games affect a video game company's bottom-line do we realize, "holy crap live service games are popular." Take today's Ubisoft earnings call for its most recent quarter where CEO Yves Guillemot praised Ubisoft's live-service approach. The charts don't lie, as they show how well these games have done for Ubisoft.
According to some charts Ubisoft released as part of its earnings call, the revenue for live service games can be more than half of what the game made in its first year, versus the 13 percent for traditional games.
With this model, Ubisoft can release fewer games a year, but thanks to the live service model, keep games like Rainbow Six Siege and Ghost Recon Wildlands in the conversation for far longer. Years after the games first release even.
It's telling that Ubisoft refrained from confirming a new, annual Assassin's Creed title at this year's earnings call, instead confirming its commitment to release further content updates to Assassin's Creed Origins.
This live model isn't necessarily a bad thing mind you. Rainbow Six Siege is probably better than it's ever been. But for those of you accustomed to an annual Assassin's Creed or Far Cry game, it's clear that Ubisoft is in on the live-service model which will keep games like For Honor alive much longer than they used to be.
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