Ubisoft Will Prevent Third-Party Digital Stores from Selling "The Division 2" after Release

Megalith

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According to a statement issued by Gamesplanet, Ubisoft and Epic Games have decided to ban third-party game-key vendors from selling The Division 2 after its official release. Post March 15, the title will only be available for purchase on Uplay and the Epic Games Store, so fans who want to save a bit of money may want to visit their preferred vendor straight away. The Division 2 will have a 50GB day-one patch for disc buyers, and the PS4 version weighs in at 100GB.

Needless to say that we are against this anti-consumer move from both Ubisoft and Epic Games. It’s one thing securing a game to launch exclusively on your launcher but to prevent all third-party digital stores from selling keys? That’s a new low in our opinion. Bad move Epic Games, especially when your boss, Tim Sweeney, was whining about UWP and how anti-consumer it was compared to Win32.
 
First off... I haven't played most of these games butt... They all look the same to me. Some guy running around in camouflage shooting an automatic rifle in a post apocalyptic world. What's the difference? What compels someone to buy a new game when it is only marginally different from the current game?

Don't flame me... This is a serious question.
 
Seems fine, this is an attempt to cut down on gray market keys being used on money laundering sites like G2A.
 
People keep saying Steam needs competition, but this is the farthest thing from competition. If Epic really wanted to compete, they would make a better store front and maybe sell at a cheaper price. Purchasing third party titles to keep them from going to superior digital stores is complete BS.
 
Am I the only one that doesn't care?

If it's over $20 I'm not buying it.
If it's over 10, It better be good enough I put 100+ hours into it.
Over $5, I want to get 20+ hours.
Anything under $5 if I get a few hours out of it, I'm good.

I don't like store exclusives. I want to see multiple games in multiple stores so everyone can have CHOICE.
 
Seems like it'll just keep the price of used games higher.

Step 1) Buy game on a new uPlay account.
Step 2) Play game until you're done with it.
Step 3) Reset game/uplay profile and sell account.
 
First one was the same 30 minutes on repeat. Same guns, same enemies, same environment, same everything. It was amazing just how little variety and content was in that thing.

I was ignoring the sequel even before all this BS.
 
Seems fine, this is an attempt to cut down on gray market keys being used on money laundering sites like G2A.

It is not even remotely close to "fine". Gray market sites can still sell game keys from retail copies, this does fuck all to "cut down" on them. The only thing this does is prevent people from buying keys from legit 3rd party sellers for less money than Ubisoft wants people to pay.
 
Remember this is not simply about reducing keys to be sold through "grey or black marketplace style resellers" , but also preventing sales via not only Steam directly (which Epic also moved to keep the game off entirely, in the past), but from "legit" keysellers such as GreenManGaming, Fanatical, Humble Bundle and others. This is a new low for several reasons not the least of which is that these sellers are the most likely places to both pick up pre-launch discounts, but for games to go on sale on larger discounts post launch as well!

This is absolutely no accident given that many users, watching the "Removed from Steam, now on Epic and UPlay keys" issue with Ubisoft titles figured "Hey, you know what? Most of those UPlay keys activate directly on UPlay anyway, so I can avoid supporting Epic's shitty policies and do what I do anyway - buy a UPlay direct key on my favorite keyselling site, probably at a discount!". This new policy is maximum anti-competitive, meaning that all The Division 2 purchases post launch will have to come from either the UPlay store itself (which doesn't allow the UPlay Club Point Discount to be used on "new or pre-launch titles", so its unlikely you'd get a big discount here until much later) or via Epic Store (which also uses UPlay as a launcher surely, and likely has even less potential for sales).

Epic just keeps stacking on the anti-competitive, bad for the consumer nastiness on at record speed! In a way I'm surprised that Ubi, who has had such success with selling their games both on Steam and a wide variety of UPlay key resellers, agreed to this; I can only assume that Epic pushed a dumptruck of "Fortnite" money big enough to even sway one of the gaming meta-publishers and/or has spun stories of future control, lockdown, and profitability enough to make them enter into an experiment with Epic. This momentum is why we, if we care at all for the overall health and value of PC gaming , have to actively oppose the Epic Store and its policies. Doing anything less than causing their efforts to fail and those they've brokered deals with to feel they lost money because of said policies, and it becomes the new normal where we have to worry about 3rd party store exclusive agreements, reduction of key sellers (you know, actual competition), and everything else that Epic has blighted since they opened their Store.
 
First off... I haven't played most of these games butt... They all look the same to me. Some guy running around in camouflage shooting an automatic rifle in a post apocalyptic world. What's the difference? What compels someone to buy a new game when it is only marginally different from the current game?

Don't flame me... This is a serious question.

It's a sequel to a title which some folks seem to enjoy. Is it really unthinkable someone would like the same core gameplay but with a new setting, new art, refined gameplay, new quests, etc?
You could make your same argument against Fallout. Or System Shock. Or Mass Effect. Yes, the basics are the same - that's why people buy the sequel. They liked the basics.

Now whether or not this specific title differentiates and improves enough remains to be seen. But the idea of a sequel is not usually to do something completely different.
 
Am I the only one that doesn't care?

If it's over $20 I'm not buying it.
If it's over 10, It better be good enough I put 100+ hours into it.
Over $5, I want to get 20+ hours.
Anything under $5 if I get a few hours out of it, I'm good.

I don't like store exclusives. I want to see multiple games in multiple stores so everyone can have CHOICE.

Are you saying this applies to store exclusives or all games? Because expecting 100 plus hours for every/any 10 dollar game is frankly ludicrous in any circumstance. A total loss industry if there ever was one.

Of course you’re fine to do this, I’m not going to try and change your mind but just....wow.


On to the topic. Doesn’t much matter to me I very rarely ever get 3rd party keys. The occasional humble bundle really. I’d much prefer the game wasn’t locked to Tencents store though as I want nothing to do with that.
 
Are you saying this applies to store exclusives or all games? Because expecting 100 plus hours for every/any 10 dollar game is frankly ludicrous in any circumstance. A total loss industry if there ever was one.

Of course you’re fine to do this, I’m not going to try and change your mind but just....wow.


On to the topic. Doesn’t much matter to me I very rarely ever get 3rd party keys. The occasional humble bundle really. I’d much prefer the game wasn’t locked to Tencents store though as I want nothing to do with that.


He probably doesn't play many games than.
 
Remember this is not simply about reducing keys to be sold through "grey or black marketplace style resellers" , but also preventing sales via not only Steam directly (which Epic also moved to keep the game off entirely, in the past), but from "legit" keysellers such as GreenManGaming, Fanatical, Humble Bundle and others. This is a new low for several reasons not the least of which is that these sellers are the most likely places to both pick up pre-launch discounts, but for games to go on sale on larger discounts post launch as well!

This is the reason. I am surprised it took this long to be honest. Doesn't amaze me that more companies going forward will do this and cut out middlemen like Green Man Gaming. Valve and Epic still get their cut even if sold elsewhere, but I assume the percentage is lower than selling directly on their stores. Selling a game for $40 likely means less profit for Ubisoft than selling one at $60, even if Green Man is the one taking in the smallest margin. I assume GMG must only be making 5% or so per sale. So Ubisoft will certainly get more money, but I can't imagine it will be that much. But we all know Ubisoft will do anything to save a few cents.
 
It's a sequel to a title which some folks seem to enjoy. Is it really unthinkable someone would like the same core gameplay but with a new setting, new art, refined gameplay, new quests, etc?
You could make your same argument against Fallout. Or System Shock. Or Mass Effect. Yes, the basics are the same - that's why people buy the sequel. They liked the basics.

Now whether or not this specific title differentiates and improves enough remains to be seen. But the idea of a sequel is not usually to do something completely different.

From what I played in the open beta and what I've read. This is more in tune with being what the developers envisioned but didn't have time to polish for the first title. It's a hybrid genre game that may not appeal to everyone. TheDivision had a lot of problems at launch, but was a fun title.

I've also heard that Red Storm Entertainment still has some members from the original core Rainbow Six team (impressive with the turnover in the games industry). RSE was involved in development of this title, so I like to support them. I think there's even a head Clancy writer who oversee's any story that has his name attached.
 
Id just be happy if digital stores had a used section, or section you could sell back the game when done. What is the player base drop off by 90 days, 90% or more?
 
Are you saying this applies to store exclusives or all games? Because expecting 100 plus hours for every/any 10 dollar game is frankly ludicrous in any circumstance. A total loss industry if there ever was one.

Of course you’re fine to do this, I’m not going to try and change your mind but just....wow.


On to the topic. Doesn’t much matter to me I very rarely ever get 3rd party keys. The occasional humble bundle really. I’d much prefer the game wasn’t locked to Tencents store though as I want nothing to do with that.
I never said that was what the new price should be. I just picked up shadow of war (gold) for $15, and although it's been on sale under $10, I will get 100+ out of it.....

Meanwhile my best friend has over 2000 hours in dota2 and he paid $0.

New AAA titles are competing against free 2 play & indie devs. That is just how the industry is right now.
 
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First off... I haven't played most of these games butt... They all look the same to me. Some guy running around in camouflage shooting an automatic rifle in a post apocalyptic world. What's the difference? What compels someone to buy a new game when it is only marginally different from the current game?

Don't flame me... This is a serious question.

They are different across genres, aka the division is a TPS with a RPG skill dev system. There is little to no vertical traversal, and the setting and enemies are based on reality (New York and humans).
And
Destiny is a FPS in the vein of Halo with almost no RPG mechanic outside of gear. It takes place across the solar system and some of the environments are quite creative. It features a double jump and plenty of odd traversals.

Where they are the same is the loot grind and bullet spong aspect.

Some do actually have a plot, the division was actually pretty fun and a good looking game. The main problem they suffer from is the plot being cut up into DLC, which means you get the best experience buying the old one while waiting for the new one to release all the content.
 
Am I the only one that doesn't care?

If it's over $20 I'm not buying it.
If it's over 10, It better be good enough I put 100+ hours into it.
Over $5, I want to get 20+ hours.
Anything under $5 if I get a few hours out of it, I'm good.

I don't like store exclusives. I want to see multiple games in multiple stores so everyone can have CHOICE.

I personally think that’s a bit harsh. $10 or even $20 for +100 hours of fun is bloody cheap. I’d gladly pay 2 or 3 times that for a game that gave me that much enjoyment.

I understand the sentiment though. Far too many half rate games out there.
 
Wow, buying a disc still requires 50/100GB's worth of data download? Fuck that, what's the point of the disk except DRM?

Actually, I think that's what it is. The disk will just have DRM + junk data, and the full game is downloaded as a "patch".
 
100gb? Wow.
Time for some compression or something?
Getting fat and lazy when most likely the device is going to will have a lot of storage huh? Wouldn't do this if it was for a cellphone, would we now?
 
Well, I have a free key (AMD Ryzen promotion), but doubt I'll be using it. Steam and Origin are about one too many game stores installed on my PC already.
 
Wow, buying a disc still requires 50/100GB's worth of data download? Fuck that, what's the point of the disk except DRM?

Actually, I think that's what it is. The disk will just have DRM + junk data, and the full game is downloaded as a "patch".
Does the PC copy even come with a disc? I know Battlefield V physical copies were just a piece if paper with a CD key on it that you redeemed on Origin. There is hardly any reason to buy a physical copy now, at least for PC anyway.
 
Bought it on XBOX, doesn't matter to me about patches and what not. Physical medium cant' die soon enough. This game is jam packed with enough content to make Anthem look like a Demo and Destiny2+DLC"s look like a beta version. Those of you craving a true looter shooter are going to be playing this game for the next 18 months with FREE DLC and it'll be glorious.

I really hated ubisoft for their shit products but the last 2 AC have been packed to the brim with content and the beta of Div2 had more to do in that small snippet of gameplay than anthem did at full release that I threw money at Ubisoft and said "Let's do this".
 
Why they make game on console . If games whit weapon isunplayable slow on that shit ps4 controler. Ea is even worse mor bugs in ther games. In multiplayer they put everyone in same room even if you haw diferent hardware. Acouint is easy to lose.that means the whole spy full game will be lost.
 
Played beta and had a good time with it. picking it up this week to play. I enjoyed the first one, maybe not all of it but enough I got my moneys worth from it.
 
I personally think that’s a bit harsh. $10 or even $20 for +100 hours of fun is bloody cheap. I’d gladly pay 2 or 3 times that for a game that gave me that much enjoyment.

I understand the sentiment though. Far too many half rate games out there.
I'm done paying $40-$60 for a new title that crashes on startup, has broken SLI out of the box, etc.

I'd rather pay 1/2-1/4 of that for an 1-2 year old product that is mature, has had 7 patches, and has working video drivers. Don't care of the cool kids aren't playing it anymore.
 
I'm done paying $40-$60 for a new title that crashes on startup, has broken SLI out of the box, etc.

I'd rather pay 1/2-1/4 of that for an 1-2 year old product that is mature, has had 7 patches, and has working video drivers. Don't care of the cool kids aren't playing it anymore.

When a company like CDPR (for example) puts out a great game that has tons of content, isn't trying to nickel and dime me and works right out of the proverbial box, I have no problem forking out full price.

If it's some annualized throw away title like FarCry/AC/CoD then I won't pay full pop.
 
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