Visions of Mana, Square Enix's forthcoming action-RPG, will reportedly release on Game Pass on day one.
17.01.2024 - 12:37 / eurogamer.net / Ed Nightingale / Philippe Tremblay
You won't find any Larian Studios games on a subscription service, said its CEO Swen Vincke.
In a thread on X, formerly Twitter, Vincke shared his views on subscription models in response to yesterday's news that Ubisoft is evolving its service. Ubisoft's director of subscription Philippe Tremblay said players need to be «comfortable» not owning games when discussing the range of consumer behaviour.
«Whatever the future of games looks like, content will always be king,» said Vincke. «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.»
To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Manage cookie settings Baldur's Gate 3 for dummies: Basics for EVERYTHING You Need to Know (But Were Afraid to Ask)Watch on YouTubeVincke believes subscription models «will always end up being cost/benefit analysis exercises intended to maximise profit».
He continued: «There is nothing wrong with that but it may not become a monopoly of subscription services. 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.»
As a result, the «preference of the subscription service will determine what games get made».
He concluded: «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. I don't have an issue with that. I just want to make sure the other ecosystem doesn't die because it's valuable.»
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. I don’t have an issue with that. I just want to make sure the other ecosystem doesn’t die because it’s valuable.
— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) <a href=«https://twitter.com/LarAtLarian/status/1747562748781731850?ref_src=» https:>January 17, 2024 To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Manage cookie settingsOther members of the industry have also shared their opinions on subscription service.
In response to Tremblay's view, Josh Fairhurst, CEO of Limited Run Games, said: «I absolutely hate this, but I think the unfortunate reality is that within the next ten to fifteen years, cloud streaming and subscription services will be the primary distribution method for games. We'll continue releasing games physically until the bitter end, though.»
Samuel Deats, director of the Castlevania Netflix series, compared games and video. «I need the gaming industry to understand that the whole monthly subscription
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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.
Larian Studios' games won't be made available on subscription services, according to founder and CEO Swen Vincke.