Gaming subscriptions not the way forward say developers

Larian Studios founder and CEO Sven Vincke hits out at the recent comments made by Ubisoft’s Director of Subscriptions Phillippe Tremblay.

Tremblay made the headlines for all the wrong reasons after comparing digital gaming ownership to that of Netflix or Spotify subscriptions.

This would mean gamers could only access the titles laid out by the platform and not directly own the titles in a standalone personal library.

Get comfortable

Tremblay said gamers would need to “get comfortable” with the idea of subscriptions overtaking the direct ownership of gaming titles.

Tremblay continued in an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, “You don’t lose your progress. If you resume your game at another time, your progress file is still there. That’s not been deleted. You don’t lose what you’ve built in the game or your engagement with the game. So it’s about feeling comfortable with not owning your game.”

Developer direct

Wicke, an award-wining head of Larian, has other thoughts about the comments made by the Ubisoft head. He took to X to say,

”Whatever the future of games looks like, content will always be king. But it will be a lot harder to get good content if subscription becomes the dominant model and a select group gets to decide what goes to market and what not. Direct from developer to players is the way.”

Whatever the future of games looks like, content will always be king. But it’s going to be a lot harder to get good content if subscription becomes the dominant model and a select group gets to decide what goes to market and what not. Direct from developer to players is the way. https://t.co/wEUvd5adt0

— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) January 17, 2024

Vincke would go on to elaborate in a series of posts that set out the Larian chief’s stall.

“In such a world, by definition, the preference of the subscription service will determine what games get made.” He said of the subscription service driving the development of games, “Trust me – you really don’t want that.”

Vincke has been adamant that the Game Awards 2023 winning Baldur’s Gate will not appear on Game Pass.

Last month, Vincke spoke to IGN about the possibility of Baldur’s Gate 3 appearing on game pass. Vincke said, “Oh, we always said from the get-go, it wasn’t going to be on Game Pass, it’s not going to be on Game Pass. We made a big game, so I think there’s a fair price to be paid for that, and I think that that is okay.”

Two titles hitting Game Pass are Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2, as announced via an incorrect social media notification to Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

So, at least one or two adventures in Faerûn will be accessible on the platform, but according to Vincke, the latest installment never will.