Ubisoft continues its return to Steam with a clear strategy. Also selling next week on Valve's platform is the open-world adventure Immortals Fenyx Rising, which mixes ideas from Nintendo's legendary Zelda with Assassin's Creed. However, Ubisoft continues to rely on its own services for the DRM system.
The attempt to only sell games through its own shop Ubisoft Connect and the Epic Games Store ended in November with the return of the first title. Since last month, Assassin's Creed and Anno have been back on Steam. Postponements and delays, scandals and Valve's market power appear in detailed analysis as logical reasons for the return.
Return with clear image
In November, however, it was not yet clear how much Ubisoft would be back on Steam. At the time, it seemed conceivable that the publisher would only offer selected titles. Just a month later, the picture is clear: almost all Ubisoft games can be bought via Steam. Only The Division 2 is missing, a quick look at the offer shows. In addition, it is not possible to pre-order upcoming titles such as Assassin's Creed Mirage, the forever-delayed pirate adventure Skulls and Bones, the next Settlers game that went astray or the Prince of Persia remake. Here, Ubisoft continues to clearly rely on Epic and its own shop.
The procedure follows a clear strategy. Full-price sales are transacted where margin can be maximized. This is logically the case on their own platform and at Epic Games. Older titles, on the other hand, are also sold at Valve for the benefit of greater visibility. The Division 2 would be an exception to this, but seems to be continuing to make good profits based on the development of new “seasons” with more content – and as an MMO it has a different starting point anyway.
New life for Immortals
Immortals Fenyx Rising, available from April 15 On the other hand, being available for purchase again on Steam in December falls into the category of games whose visibility has decreased a year after release. According to Metacritic, ratings remained average. Although the unusual setting in Greek mythology is generally praised, it is also noted that the gameplay is based on Ubisoft's usual open-word concept and does not add anything new to the genre.
In other words, it's a good pastime, but it didn't become a highlight of its genre, putting it alongside many similar products. In this case, increasing the target group is worthwhile, especially before Christmas and the upcoming discount weeks for a publisher who wants to improve his balance sheet.