Dragon's Dogma 2's director thinks less fast travel in a game can be a good thing, and if traveling by foot is boring, that's the game's fault.
17.01.2024 - 14:23 / techradar.com / Philippe Tremblay
Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke has said that the studio's games won't ever be found on a subscription service because he wants «to make sure the other ecosystem doesn’t die.»
The Baldur's Gate 3 director was responding to recent comments made by Ubisoft’s director of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, who said in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that players need to start getting «comfortable» with not owning their games as the subscription service business grows.
In a discussion on Twitter / X, Vincke shared his stance on the paid service model and explained why he thinks this isn't what gamers want.
«Whatever the future of games looks like, content will always be king,» Vincke said. «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.
»Getting a board to ok a project fueled by idealism is almost impossible and idealism needs room to exist, even if it can lead to disaster. Subscription models will always end up being cost/benefit analysis exercises intended to maximize profit.
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/wEUvd5adt0January 17, 2024
«There is nothing wrong with that but it may not become a monopoly of subscription services,» Vincke continued. «We are already all dependent on a select group of digital distribution platforms and discoverability is brutal. Should those platforms all switch to subscription, it’ll become savage.
“In such a world by definition the preference of the subscription service will determine what games get made. Trust me — you really don’t want that,” he adds, referring to gamers.
As Ubisoft gears up to launch two brand-new tiers for its Ubisoft+ subscription service, called Premium and Classics, Tremblay said in the GI.biz interview: „Gamers are used to owning their games. That's the consumer shift that needs to happen.“
Vincke doesn't agree with this sentiment, and added that he has no issue with other developers using the model as an opportunity to make their games, but Larian Studios won't ever make that move.
»TLDR; you won’t find our games on a subscription service even if I respect that for many developers it presents an opportunity to make their game," he said. «I don’t have an issue with that. I just want to make sure the other ecosystem doesn’t die because it’s valuable.»
Vincke previously revealed that despite Baldur's Gate 3's release on Xbox Series X|S, it was
Dragon's Dogma 2's director thinks less fast travel in a game can be a good thing, and if traveling by foot is boring, that's the game's fault.
Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox
Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox
The CEO of Larian Studios, Swen Vincke, has said that the developer has no intention to bring its titles to subscription services.
Earlier this week, Philippe Tremblay, Ubisoft’s director of subscriptions, made a comment in an interview stating how video game fans would need to get comfortable with not owning their games. Today, Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios’ CEO responded, calmly explaining his opinion that “direct from developer” is best.
The Baldur's Gate 3 creative director, Swen Vincke, stated that acquiring good video game content might be more challenging if subscriptions become the dominant model in the industry. The Baldur's Gate 3 creative director's comments were in response to recent statements from a Ubisoft executive who suggested that gamers may need to adjust to not owning their games as video game subscriptions gain popularity.
Larian CEO Swen Vincke has been reading Ubisoft director of subscriptions Philippe Tremblay's thoughts from yesterday about how players need to "get comfortable" with renting their games as a package, rather than "having and owning" an individual copy. His broad takeaway is: that ain't it, chief. In a social media thread today, Vincke wrote that "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". He feels that "direct from developer to players is the way". As such you shouldn't expect Baldur's Gate 3, Divinity: Original Sin 2 or any other Larian RPGs to join the Game Pass bandwagon anytime soon.
Over the last decade or so, the entertainment industry has seen many rises and falls across all brands. These changes have affected music, TV, movies, and even video games. Things “for sure never going to fail” started to fail. Then, things that “could never work” have done well and made many wonder if things could go further down that path. One such path is that of the “game subscription service,” which was punctuated by the Xbox Game Pass, which has done wonders for Microsoft. However, Larian Studios isn’t on board with this notion, nor with notions of such services made by fellow game developers.
The director of Baldur's Gate 3 has discussed the possibility of their games heading to subscription services, sharing: "Direct from developer to players is the way."
Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke has said the company won’t be putting any of its games on subscription services.
With the debate around the future of video game subscriptions heating up, one high-profile developer has come out strongly on the side of the traditional method of selling games.
You won't find any Larian Studios games on a subscription service, said its CEO Swen Vincke.