Ubisoft will attach greater importance to the free-to-play segment in the future. The offer in this area is to be expanded. In view of the latest quarterly results, the step is logical: Microtransactions continue to drive sales up.
The company announced the move to investors. The change is the next step towards a line-up that is “increasingly diverse,” said Chief Financial Officer Frederick Duguet. Part of this diversification concerns the business model. In the long term, free-to-play high-end titles in triple A quality are to be added to the portfolio. These are to be developed across all platforms for the company's largest brands. The Heartland Division is the start of this journey.
Add instead of replace
At the same time, Duguet made it clear that games with the “premium model”, ie a purchase price concept, would continue to be offered. After headlines to the contrary in the last few days, Ubisoft reiterated this statement: The new investments in free-to-play games were neither at the expense of the classic AAA games, nor would their number be reduced.
RE: F2P from the call:
“This is purely a financial communication evolution and doesn’t change the fact that we continue to expect a high cadence of content delivery including powerful premium and F2P new releases.”
& mdash; Shonboppin (@shonboppin) May 11, 2021
Ubisoft is primarily concerned with tapping new sources of income by tapping players through alternative monetization on the one hand, and new brands on the other Generate fans who can get a taste of the respective game worlds and concepts through these games.
It is not really new territory. In some series such as Far Cry or Rainbow Six, the publisher is already blurring the boundaries between full-price and free-to-play models, and the battle royale shooter Hyper Scape also relied on this type of revenue generation. In this respect, Ubisoft can draw on experience and at the same time use the pull of established brands. A free-to-play far cry attracts more players than a new, unknown name like Hyper Scape.
Others are more diverse
Ubisoft has role models for the new strategy. EA shows with Apex Legends how Titanfall can successfully open up new sources of revenue, Activision operates highly lucrative free-to-play offshoots of Call of Duty. In both cases, the core brands have won new players while the balance sheets show record sales. The fact that Ubisoft is now following suit in order to skim off comparable profits seems imperative from an economic point of view.