No Ghost Recon: Future Soldier on PC

By Robert Purchese Published 24 November, 2011

Free-to-play Ghost Recon Online instead.

Somewhere down the line, Ubisoft transformed Ghost Recon: Future Soldier on PC into the free-to-play game Ghost Recon Online.

The publisher told Eurogamer this afternoon that "Ghost Recon: Future Soldier has not been announced on PC", and that "Ghost Recon Online is the PC equivalent".

However, Future Soldier was announced for PC in 2010, albeit partially - specific details were to follow (but never did).

An official forum for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier on PC supplies further evidence that a multi-platform release was once Ubisoft's intention.

Ghost Recon Online senior producer Sebastien Arnoult, to PC Gamer, explained: "When we started Ghost Recon Online we were thinking about Ghost Recon: Future Solider; having something ported in the classical way without any deep development, because we know that 95 per cent of our consumers will pirate the game.

"So we said okay, we have to change our mind.

"We have to adapt, we have to embrace this instead of pushing it away. That's the main reflection behind Ghost Recon Online and the choice we've made to go in this direction."

"To the users that are traditionally playing the game by getting it through Pirate Bay, we said, 'Okay, go ahead guys. This is what you're asking for. We've listened to you."

Sebastien Arnoult, senior producer, Ghost Recon Online

He added: "We are giving away most of the content for free because there's no barrier to entry. To the users that are traditionally playing the game by getting it through Pirate Bay, we said, 'Okay, go ahead guys. This is what you're asking for. We've listened to you - we're giving you this experience. It's easy to download, there's no DRM that will pollute your experience.'"

Ubisoft Singapore is making Ghost Recon Online. The PC game doesn't look dissimilar to Future Soldier on PS3 and 360 but won't, by the looks of things, feature a single-player campaign.

"I don't like to compare PC and Xbox boxed products because they have a model on that platform that is clearly meant to be €60's worth of super-Hollywood content," said Arnoult.

"On PC, we're adapting our model to the demand."

Ghost Recon Online is in closed beta in Germany and France. The closed UK beta test is schedule for the next few months, reported PC Gamer. You can apply for the Ghost Recon Online beta on the game's website.

Ubisoft is a publisher synonymous with problems regarding piracy on PC. The publisher tried to combat piracy with DRM, but ended up alienating legitimate PC game buyers in the process. Those legitimate buyers tussling with restrictive DRM had to wait weeks after console release for their port, too.

The result was angry backlash for Ubisoft. And things seem to have come to a head with downloadable XBLA and PSN game I Am Alive, which isn't being offered on PC at all. Can we presume that Ubisoft has had enough?

"Perhaps it will only take 12 guys three months to port the game to PC, it's not a massive cost but it's still a cost. If only 50,000 people buy the game then it's not worth it," I Am Alive creative director Stanislas Mettra explained this week.

Ghost Recon Online.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or getting whupped at FIFA.

You may also like...

Comments (125) Latest comment 2 hours ago

Log in or register to post a comment!

  • bad09 #1 2 days ago

    All together PC gamers:

    Fuck Off Ubisoft.

  • uknortherner2000 #2 2 days ago

    Ubisoft still around? Why don't they GTFO of the PC gaming scene already. Nobody will miss them.

  • sethsez #3 2 days ago

    "we know that 95 per cent of our consumers will pirate the game."

    Go fuck yourselves.

  • nemesisND1derboy #4 2 days ago

    Wow, that is not going to be popular.

    Of course PC gamers will be less likely to buy their products if they keep screwing them over like this, so their logic is inherently flawed from the get-go. I just wonder what kind of an idiot at Ubisoft is making these arse-ways decisions.

    Edited by 1 at 24/11/11 @ 16:25

  • Screenpi #5 2 days ago

    Honestly I can't blame them - Piracy on PC is ridiculous. Yes you can pirate on Xbox 360 and PS3 and Wii but it's far more difficult and a lot of the time not worth it.

    PC gamers have an incredible air of arrogance around them.

    It must feel pretty shitty to spend 3 years of your life working on a game only to have it pirated by a good proportion of people who then continue to whine on pirate bay that it's only "8 hours long" as I saw somewhere in the comments for Crysis 2 on TPB. Or incessant whining that the graphics suck - which you can see on just a perusal of MW3's TPB page.

    Believe it or not if you download something and don't pay for it - it is immoral, it might not be theft in the classical sense, but it is wrong - your taking something without giving it's creator it's due.

    Whilst DRM is intrusive - it is a pain in the ass and everyone hates it, it's totally and utterly understandable - we bring this on ourselves for the most part, and if we keep pirating games and not supporting developers then eventually this is what we are gonna end up as.

    This isn't my whole thoughts on piracy - in some regions it's understandable, in countries where games aren't translated by the publishers it's understandable that you would go for the pirated translated copy.

    For the most part - when we do it, it is totally immoral, unjustifiable and reprehensible.

    You reap what you sow.

    (This was written on a fairly powerful gaming PC - which is my main gaming platform, whilst several games where downloading in the background on Steam)

  • Spunkweazle #6 2 days ago

    I wouldnt get too upset, its not like its coming out on consoles anytime soon

    Still got my copy of splinter cell, still waiting for my beta entry

  • Cpt.Underpants #7 2 days ago

    Oh why does Ubisoft even bother making PC GAMES, go console exclusive to save yourself from your retarded argument Ubisoft.

  • FanBoysSuck #8 2 days ago

    Are Ubi forcing their devs to talk shit?

    Between the I Am Alive guy and this dude I've got a sneaking suspicion that there's a guy in a nice suit in the background holding a roll of cash wagging his finger. "Make something up quick or we pull the funding!"

  • gotyourmoney #9 2 days ago

    we know that 95 per cent of our consumers will pirate the game.
    Trolls to the left of me, pirates to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with Ubisoft.

  • ISmoke #10 2 days ago

    Well fuck you then.

  • oceanclub #11 2 days ago

    Honestly, good riddance to Ubisoft. Their whining and hideous DRM meant that for Assassin's Creed 2 and AssBro - two games I would have bought full price on release, no questions asked - I just didn't bother til they were a tenner.

    Frankly, I'd rather support companies who spend less time accusing their customers of being crooks. (And Ubisoft, I purchased three full-price games this month alone, on top of the various indie/Steam sales games I've bought (total of around €200 this year), so please don't use the excuse I'm a pirate and would have downloaded them from Pirate Bay anyway (is PB even still going?)

    P.

  • paketep #12 2 days ago

    "On PC, we're adapting our model to the demand."

    Bwahahahahahahaha!!!. Hey, Ubi, take your shitty P2W MMO and shove it up your ass.

    THAT, we demand.

  • TheTingler #13 2 days ago

    I was reading this and thinking "wow, that can't be a real game developer, that must be some troll pretending to be one".

    Let me spell this out to you very clearly Ubisoft, and all the guys at Ubisoft: the reason no one is buying your games on PC is because you crippled them with a flawed DRM system that stops legitimate purchasers from playing, and which the pirates can play perfectly.

    I bought Splinter Cell: Conviction when it came out on PC. It took me THREE MONTHS to legitimately get that game working, and I STILL can't play it co-op without someone getting kicked to the menu screen. With the crack that removes the DRM however it ran flawlessly. I'm prepared to bet that 95% is mostly made up of people who just couldn't get the game running... or who weren't ever going to buy it anyway.

    With that DRM, pointless unrewarded delays, and comments like this, you destroyed your market on the PC Ubisoft. And because you can't accept that, you blame the piracy scapegoat - and further hammer that increasing-growing market into the ground. Is there any purchases to be made in Ghost Recon Online? Because if you continue to treat your market with such blind contempt you won't see any users at all - at which point you'll pull out of the market altogether, "because piracy".

    After that, well, see bad09's comment.

  • arcam #14 2 days ago

    This is what you're asking for. We've listened to you - we're giving you this experience. It's easy to download, there's no DRM that will pollute your experience.

    LOL, thanks for listening. I don't remember anyone asking for a free-to-play Ghost Recon game.

    Ubisoft suck so hard. Please, just leave PC gaming altogether, I will miss Anno but at least then you can shut the fuck up about it. I'm fed up of hearing it, I buy games all the time, I can't control what anyone else does.

  • oceanclub #15 2 days ago

    @TheTingler "With the crack that removes the DRM however it ran flawlessly."

    And there is the _gigantic fecking flaw_ in Ubisoft's DRM strategy.

    If you going to implement DRM, folks, do it by the back door. Create a system that offers _your customers_ benefits as well as you. Like, say, Steam.

    P.

  • oceanclub #16 2 days ago

    @arcam "I will miss Anno but at least then you can shut the fuck up about it."

    I realise we sound harsh and cruel - that there _is_ piracy and that it _is_ a problem - but Ubisoft are like one of those friends who've had a bad time of it but are now locked into a spiral of self-pity that alienates everyone.

    You bring them out for a pint, and they sit sighing into their beer, rebuffing all attempts at conversation not aimed at their problems. Then, when they finally succeed in driving you away, they're actually, in a weird self-destructive way, happy: "See, I was right: they hated me all along!"

    P.

    Edited by 1 at 24/11/11 @ 16:54

  • bad09 #17 2 days ago

    @Screenpi

    Your first post here and it's a quite simply stupid post on how "we" did this and "we" reap what "we" sow. You work for them by any chance your misguided views on putting this pirating label on ALL PC gamers kinda suggests you do. ;)

    Who is this "we" anyway, the pirate or the customers now ignoring the worst company on the platform? For the last couple of years me and others have only stopped buying their game because of THEIR actions. No other reason, no pirating just not buying from a quite frankly awful, just awful, company.

    Ubisoft turned themselves into the worst company on the platfom with poor quality and late games riddled with the worst DRM on the platform. "we" had nothing to do with it, sure the pirates (I assumed that's what you mean with "we" ) may have been the root of their actions originally but Ubisoft themselves sure as hell made sure over the last few years that no one legitmate actually wanted to buy their games either.

    Edited by 1 at 24/11/11 @ 16:56

  • Hell_Toupee #18 2 days ago

    'We are giving away most of the content for free because there's no barrier to entry. To the users that are traditionally playing the game by getting it through Pirate Bay, we said, 'Okay, go ahead guys. This is what you're asking for. We've listened to you - we're giving you this experience. It's easy to download, there's no DRM that will pollute your experience.'

    Erm... you should be listening to the people who actually pay for games (you know, all 5% of em :rolleyes: ) not the ones who pirate them. Get your priorities in order Ubisoft, you're failing on the PC because you really don't seem to have a fucking clue.

    Edited by 4 at 24/11/11 @ 17:04

  • Stifler #19 2 days ago

    @Screenpi for what it's worth I gave you a +1 :)

  • mrblonde #20 2 days ago

    The death knell for the platform keeps ringing, each year getting louder still.
    I think consoles do and will offer everthing in one nice package indefinetly

  • rojjer #21 2 days ago

    the free to play version doesn't look too bad tbh, still - annoying

  • FireMonkey #22 2 days ago

    "we know that 95 per cent of our consumers will pirate the game."

    Because it's the only way to actually play your games without the hassle of DRM!

    Your awful DRM made the pirated version of the game better then the official. You encouraged people to pirate your games by including it. Remove the DRM and the amount of your games that are pirated WILL drop drastically.

    EDIT: Just wanted to point out that I am not against DRM's to protect the developers and publishers but there are right ways about it and wrong ways. Everything Ubisoft have done with theirs is wrong! The user experience SHOULD be better for the non-pirated version NOT the other way around.

    Edited by 1 at 24/11/11 @ 17:17

  • Canyarion #23 2 days ago

    Future Soldier is the game that will be released on Wii U, right? I wonder how it will turn out. :)

  • oceanclub #24 2 days ago

    "The death knell for the platform keeps ringing, each year getting louder still."

    Weird, since I don't even have time to play all the games I've bought this year.

    "I think consoles do and will offer everthing in one nice package indefinetly"

    Funnily enough, more people are talking about the death of consoles now.

    P.

  • FireMonkey #25 2 days ago

    @oceanclub - Yup, when things like OnLive really take off why would you need a console to play games?

    PC's however are useful for other things AND can run games use OnLive.

    Edited by 1 at 24/11/11 @ 17:19

  • bad09 #26 2 days ago

    @oceanclub

    Ignore Blonde he always pops into to tell everyone how great the consoles are, he doesn't seem to notice consoles (even admitted by Ubi!) are stagnating, quite badly here in the UK apparently as well.

    Just ignore him, we have better things to worry about like throwing money at the next round of Steam deals in 40 minutes....hope Ubi aren't looking for some revenue out of the autumn sale :)

    Edited by 1 at 24/11/11 @ 17:24

  • superstu1337 #27 2 days ago

    Crying PC Gamers above ^

  • Machetazo #28 2 days ago

    :|
    Fuck You-bisoft.

    because we know that 95 per cent of our consumers will pirate the game.

    "So we said okay, we have to change our mind.
    :rolleyes: This is the same kind of rubbish that set codes in to boxes, and account-per-company for all.

    They will not, they categorically refuse, to identify and address the underlying problem - while throwing around hand-picked data samples, just right for headlines, in shambolic effort to convince readers of their point's validity - the problem in this case being, their repugnant attitude and incompetent communication, and a failing to realise that if people customers were to be offered games in a way that they were appealing to purchase, then perhaps those would be more likely to occur.

    I don't even know how much of a ... you have to be to come out with a comment like the one I quoted, when you are in position of conveying publicly, the company intention like Arnoult was.
    because we know that 95 per cent of our consumers will pirate the game.
    That's just horrible to read, from this person who is determining a game's direction day-by-day, but I'll return to it because of one point: consumers.

    What about customers what do they get...Why would someone actually want to be an Ubisoft customer, given the choking greenhouse they're treated to being contained within. When will they pull their heads out of their asses, and remember that. Ubisoft is spending far too many resources and time on something that should NOT be their priority in the first place. How can they be doing things so wrong? :(

    Edited by 2 at 24/11/11 @ 17:44

  • v.profane #29 2 days ago

    How about this Ubisoft: don't do PC games at all and shut the fuck up. Sounds like a mutually satisfactory solution.

  • Yeoung #30 2 days ago

    Honestly from a business perspective it makes sense. The free-to-play model has been a turn-around for many struggling mmo's and multiplayer-oriented games, while piracy is a very real problem on the pc.

    Their DRM policies were, shall we say, less than effective as well as the cause of frustration to loyal customers. It was an unfortunate strategy with many innocent victims, something they're trying to prevent with this approach.

    I actually think this is the lesser of two evils, being a gamedev myself, I really hate piracy and the difficulties of protecting the software you've worked hard for. This may be Ubisoft we're talking about, and they may blow it a little out of proportion (95%, seriously?), but the problem is very real, and any solution that tries to spare loyal customers of a product while still reaching good margins, gets applauded in my book.

    It's a learning process, and you musn't forget that Ubi has to please stockholders as well as gamers, and stockholders usually care very little about long term effects as opposed to short term effects.

    Every new business model presents an opportunity for other devs to learn and study its effect and consumer reaction. Small devs can learn from the big boys, but only if the big boys keep playing

    Edited by 1 at 24/11/11 @ 17:50

  • makariel #31 2 days ago

    "[...] we know that 95 per cent of our consumers will pirate the game."

    Honestly: Fuck You Ubisoft.

    If you don't want to port because it's not financially viable is one thing, but outright saying 95% of your target audience on one platform consists of criminals is just a disgrace.

  • Silvervein #32 2 days ago

    Looks like ubi guys forgot that they are asking for people's money, not the other way around. A small reminder in form of decreased profits might serve as a wake up call, especially during their next investor meeting.

    PS.
    I'm curious where did he get the pirated copies number from. Because my strong suspicion is, it was his own rear end.

    Edited by 1 at 24/11/11 @ 18:04

  • mrblonde #33 2 days ago

    @Bad09 Yeah igmore me, just like nearly every publisher and dev is doing to your chosen platform. Why not give in and buy a 360 (OR wait for the next box), all you get are ports anyway and late to boot.

    Even the sony fanboys have shut up "about how 360 exclusives arnet really exclsuive as they buy em on their pcs, bollocks"
    Will someone please name me one or two. p.c exclusive since CRYSIS 4 YEARS AGO, that takes advantage of a higher end, pc gaming rig.(god paying the bragging pc elitists back maybe)

    Consoles stagnating ? rubbish , some games beat any entertainment out there in revenue and consoles have took the industry to the stunning gameplay heights we have seen these last 5 years.
    Come on ,even microsoft, games, Epic, crytec have virtually abandoned pc gaming, look in edge or other sites/mags , virtually no pc reviews or news. Upgrades, pirates etc.. has killed gaming pcs off, for the best now imo.

    Ill state it simply THE XBOX BRAND HAS NOW DONE AWAY WITH PC GAMING AND INDEED THE NEED FOR A GAMING P.C..

    Edited by 3 at 24/11/11 @ 18:20

  • Screenpi #34 2 days ago

    @bad09

    I don't necessarily disagree with much of what you're writing here. Bad ports and DRM that doesn't work well surely is a problem, and I'm open to the argument that companies need to offer something more to the buying customer rather than the same service a pirate gets.

    I get it.

    But the PC platform is still rife with piracy, they have to combat this - Ubisoft are famous for the rather draconian DRM they chose.

    I'm ok with this.

    I'm not sure that it works all that well, but if that's what they feel they have to do in a last ditch effort to try and claw back some of the money they lose to piracy then I'm ok with that.

    We live in a world where a lot of gamers (around 25% according to Jeffrey Rosen of Wolfire Games)on our platform won't even spend 1 damn cent on a humble bundle - instead going to TPB and downloading it for free.

    Pretty disgusting IMO. Especially when you consider that all games in the bundle are free from DRM ( And no I don't really see people not having credit/debit cards or any other method of payment as an excuse for this - no ability to pay - no game)

    I have to conclude then that no matter what steps you take a game will be pirated on PC, intrusive DRM or no DRM at all - your game is going to get pirated on PC to a large extent, and you just need to suck it up - three years of your life getting taken for free by pirates.

    So if this is the state of PC gaming - it's fairly reasonable to conclude that until there is a reasonable level of piracy on the platform - Devs/Pubs will chose not to publish on it in the same form as the consoles.

  • Silvervein #35 2 days ago

    @Screenpi
    What you say is true, but not full, picture. There's exactly as much piracy (if not more now) going on both xbox and ps3 as there is on pc. However, consoles are more lucrative market due to bigger consumer costs involved.

    When some suit starts throwing the argument that they are not bothering with pc due to piracy I always get that itch that tells me it's just smoke screen. Notice how they never give any numbers you can verify when it comes to piracy, and just throw random, dire sounding words around?

  • UncleLou #36 2 days ago

    @Screenpi
    You reap what you sow.

    No, I don't, because I haven't pirated a game in more than 20 years.

    I see your general point, but claiming PC gamers are arrogant, then tarring them all with the same brush regarding piracy? Hmmm.

  • Screenpi #37 2 days ago

    @Silvervein

    Whilst I don't know the exact figures for Piracy on the PS3 and Xbox360 - I would take an educated guess that due to the difficulty in actually pirating software on both consoles and getting it to play it's not as high PROPORTIONALLY as PC piracy.

    I don't think that Console developers would be complaining that:

    "out of every three legitimate game buyers who are accessing the video game serves, there are one hundred attempts to access multiplayer games from pirated copies."

    As Bohemia interactive did earlier this year.

  • arcam #38 2 days ago

    Will someone please name me one or two. p.c exclusive since CRYSIS 4 YEARS AGO, that takes advantage of a higher end, pc gaming rig.

    You ask this same question every single time.

    Red Orchestra 2, Anno 1404/2070, the Witcher games, Arma 2, various Total War games, the STALKER games, Supreme Commander, Starcraft 2, Dawn of War games, Civilization V etc. etc.

    I will allow you to ask this question again when you have completed all these games and shared your thoughts with us all.

  • UncleLou #39 2 days ago

    What you say is true, but not full, picture. There's exactly as much piracy (if not more now) going on both xbox and ps3 as there is on pc

    I don't believe that for one second.

    Notice how they never give any numbers you can verify when it comes to piracy, and just throw random, dire sounding words around?

    It's not possible to publish any numbers, there's no hard evidence, let alone any you or I could verify.

    What is regularly done though is, for example, compare piracy numbers (based on snapshots of TPB and similar sites) of PC vs console versions vs sales on the respective platforms. And believe me, that does not make PC gamers look good at all.

  • arcam #40 2 days ago

    I also agree that proportionally there is more piracy on the PC than consoles, certainly in the UK, but you have to remember that most console piracy isn't done through torrents, it's done through bootlegs (which IMO is worse, because there are thousands of people getting rich off it). There are countries whose entire gaming industries are based on black market console games sold in shops and market stalls.

    Edited by 1 at 24/11/11 @ 18:27

  • Screenpi #41 2 days ago

    @arcam

    This is true - I remember way back in the 90's where everyone would get there PlayStation one's modded (or chipped as we called it). In Glasgow you could go down to the Barra's (an open air market) and buy literally hundreds of Psone games for a pound a piece.

  • UncleLou #42 2 days ago

    Scary how people like mrblonde become like corporate robots, fooled by marketing. No real gamer would crave the death of a platform that's part of the variety of gaming and development options. That's the one real problem of consoles: the competition of global corporations breeds ignorant fools with no deep interest in gaming.

  • arcam #43 2 days ago

    @Screenpi

    And that's in Scotland. Now imagine that scenario in China with a population of 1.4 billion, or India with 1.2 billion, and you start to realise that there is a massive console piracy culture that Western companies rarely if ever mention.

    Edited by 1 at 24/11/11 @ 18:41

  • geox30 #44 2 days ago

    Fuck you,fuck you,fuck you.Can't stress enough how low you have been.Again,fuck you.You keep proving that you are thinking with a finger in your ass.I had this game preordered from Play.com for PC months ago.Thanks for making it easy for me.You have just become the #1 fucked up developer in the world(before that,you were second,behind Capcom).Ubisoft NEVER AGAIN.Oh and Screenpi FUCK YOU TOO.

    Edited by 3 at 24/11/11 @ 19:03

  • BloodSaint #45 2 days ago

    hahahaha if you think any1's gona play that shitty ghost recon online then u are most horribly wrong.

  • TagemandBagem #46 2 days ago

    I can only imagine the suits at Ubisoft furrowing their brows in a vain attempt to understand why 95% of Bethesda's PC customers aren't pirating Skyrim.

  • bad09 #47 2 days ago

    @Screenpi

    Again you sound like Ubi with that kind of of reasoning.

    Basically you're saying piracy if rife so sod it we'll piss off legitmate customers by ignoring the platform or DRMs or just plain sloppy work because people are "stealing" from us and then blame piracy when our actions means no one buys our games but the pirates still pirate. It's a self fulling prophecy that ultimately destroys more sales than they actually might get.

    You are right games WILL get pirated no matter what, but (and here is the kicker that seems to be forgotten) that happens on ALL platforms and even happens on all media not just games. I'm not even talking internet now piracy has always been there, these are luxury entertainment products enjoyed across the whole bloody planet of course some will want it either cheap or free, that is life in the entertainment industries. Even if they shut the whole net down tomorrow, it would simply crawl back to markets and under counters of shops or that bloke down the road who sells games for cheap.

    Now there is an assumption that the reason the PC platform is singled out in this sea of piracy is people are not buying as well as the piracy...but why is that? It's certainly not the case for everyone, EA predict more PC revenue than 360/PS3 combined (although that does include all avenues of PC gaming like MMOs and their casual stuff t be fair). Valve seem to be doing extremely well, SEGA are happy with their earnings on the platform and others like Capcom and THQ are sorry for previous bad treatment and have a newfound focus on the platform, indeed Sven from Capcom has said they see PC as one of their main areas of growth in the near future. Hell if you ask the PCGA they'll tell you revenue is up and piracy is down (reverse on the consoles currently by the way)

    I'm not saying piracy isn't a problem (although looking at studies and more importantly where a great deal of the piracy is coming from I honestly don't see great amounts of damage the industry does by comparing torrent downloads to actual real sales) but certainly in Ubisofts case it's a scapegoat. Piracy is the least of their worries on PC as no one is BUYING their games. Of course they'll go own insulting the base using pirates as a cover for their own arrogance with regard to the platform and the customers, but the reality is no one seems to be having the problems they are with piracy.

    A very wise man once said "there are a lot of misconceptions about piracy" and that very wise man holds a monopoly building 75% of the total download market on PC now and a piracy riddled country everyone else wrote off is one of his biggest markets...

    Edited by 3 at 24/11/11 @ 19:27

  • Drygore #48 2 days ago

    @Screenpi
    I don't give a shit that you felt you had to mention that you own a gaming pc and had games downloading from Steam as you wrote that piece of crap down. You're massively wrong about your statement about piracy. Funny that several big (and small) developers never whine about piracy, but instead make great games that (hey!) sell really well.

    Just look at Steam, who sells shitloads of PC games. No, trust me, the reason more ppl (no 90% haha, srsly, come on..) pirate Ubi games must be because how they continue to screw PC gamers over, time after time.. Then at the same time basically call all of us pirates! No. Fuck UbiSoft. God damnit.

    I must admit though, i did buy AC: Revelations today. But that's because i just can't get enough of AC. Still hate what they're doing though, almost as much as i hate your clueless statement.. Trust me. It's not as bad as you think.

  • Valland #49 2 days ago

    That's alright; I'll just pirate it for PS3 instead.
    Oh, and that free-of-charge PC version? I'll pirate that too, somehow.

  • LaseRad #50 2 days ago

    now thats a big pile of ....
    didnt UBISOFT say their DRM on PC was a complete success?

  • Timotei #51 2 days ago

    I don't want you to make games for the PC any more Ubisoft, all you give us these days is half-baked ports with ridiculous DRM anyway.

    Just fuck off you vampiric wankers, but just remember which platform made you the studio you are today. PC.

    Thanks for nothing.

    Bye bye.

  • aphex187 #52 2 days ago

    Scum.

  • Trigg3rHippie #53 2 days ago

    Wow, what a fucktards. People will pirate your game because you're don't respect them. Now take well-deserved hate and GTFO of PC market.

  • uninspiredcup #54 2 days ago

    But they said DRM was super succeful? Wait... it wasn't? People who were actually buying your games ceased to do so? I guess thats what you get for being a bunch of arrogant french cunts.

  • gortran #55 2 days ago

    PC Gaming is dead!!!
    League of Legends surpasses 10 million active players
    Starcraft 2 has 3 million players
    WoW has 6 million
    Skyrim 300 000 active players
    PC Gaming is dead!!!

  • svenjl #56 2 days ago

    @Screenpi I hope you stick to your guns and ignore the negs. The end reward for piracy is that it screws all PC gamers. To all the people who negged this comment - are you really gonna say that piracy isn't stealing?! Put yourselves in the situation of having developed a game and then getting diminished returns from it because a whole bunch of cheapskate a$$holes thought it would be cool to pirate it instead of buying it.

  • svenjl #57 2 days ago

    @Drygore I hope you're not really as naive as you sound. Whatever you and others feel about Ubisoft, piracy is a legitimate problem. Bohemia have also talked about huge numbers of pirated copies/downloads of their games in the region of 98% for some of their games. So are you going to shout them down too? No wonder they've coded "surprises" into their games in the form of degrading visuals for pirated copies.

  • bad09 #58 2 days ago

    @svenjl

    You misundertstood the Bohemia article to eh? :)

    They made no mention whatsoever of "copies" or indeed the number of actual pirates in the interview. If you read it correctly you'll see they compare the number of legitimate users to ATTEMPTS to log in with a pirated copy. For every 3 legitimate users they claim 100 "failed" attempts to log in. "Failed" so actually they are "beating" the pirates by locking them out of the game.

    Now it could well be only 3% paid for the game but they did not actually say that in the interivew and their figures do not actually say that either so you should not claim they did, and their "surpises" are actually the correct way to deal with it. Anti-consumer companies like Ubi would do extremely well to look to these guys on how to at the very least actually attack the pirate rather than the consumer.

    Edited by 3 at 24/11/11 @ 22:23

  • Lunatic4ever #59 2 days ago

    "because we know that 95 per cent of our consumers will pirate the game."

    YES! CONSUMERS! BUT NOT YOUR CUSTOMERS!!!

    They still dont fucking get it!

    CUSTOMERS will buy the product and the others had no intention to do so anyways.
    What the fuck are you bitching about???

    Saying,we won't produce for pc anymore...is that the way you deal with piracy?
    What about your loyal customers? Why do you punish them?
    ESPECIALLY when you say that a port wouldn't take much effort?

    Ah...seriously go fuck off. I won't buy your game because you're idiots.

  • Gein #60 2 days ago

    Well, I don't know about any of that.
    Just that my Skyrim is good to go on Steam, together with many folks.
    And that's why your franchise will not never get close to CoD sales, Ubisoft.
    No PC = No free marketing, countless videos on YouTube, and many people hating on you.

  • jpau2t #61 2 days ago

    @Screenpi I buy my games legally so fu.

  • WinterMute78 #62 2 days ago

    @bad09 all together Ubisoft "fuck off pc gamers"

    With the way all you pc gamers wine and moan about everything maybe Ubisoft are just sick of trying to keep you happy so figure they have nothing to lose by pissing you all off

    Instead of all shouting at Ubisoft why not rant at the people pirating the games who are in fact the cause of all this. Maybe because 95% of you are pirates

    Edited by 3 at 25/11/11 @ 01:45

  • svenjl #63 2 days ago

    @bad09 Let's accept for moment that your interpretation is correct. Do you actually think that makes it better? Why don't we as gamers and customers just push this problem under the carpet, right? That'll make all better. My argument is simply that piracy is wrong, and if far less people did it gamers wouldn't cop the shit end of the stick. I'm not supporting Ubisoft or other publishers who pull dumb moves.

  • azic #64 2 days ago

    Why do the same idiots like Superstu etc keep posting the same shit about PC's?

    Are you guys retards or something? It's like you hate what you can't have.

    Again I tell you, if the PC dies as a gaming platform consoles will be badly affected.
    The new Xbox is off the shelf PC parts, parts that have done the rounds in the PC arena already, developed off the back of US PC gamers paying the premiums for the better experience!!
    If that drys up, consoles will be the same price as an expensive gaming PC so look to 700-1000 pounds, because there will be no off the shelf stuff.

    Ok so you don't like the PC, fine fuck off don't worry about what happens on the platform.

    Consoles are good, I own them all myself, but PC wins every time if you want the best FPS etc. and when games are done right.

    Console lovers are the idiots, you pay more per game and get compromised graphics, still looks good, but nothing to a PC as every DIgital foundry explains.

    And because you pay more, that's why UBI et al want it to die.

    Yes piracy is bad, but sorry don't deny it on PC and don't think that it's worth it any less on PC as if you do download a console or PC game you can't go online so downloading for example CODMW3 on PC or console cuts you out of the multi player aspect on both sides, so the ignorant person who said piracy on consoles isn't worth it is talking out of their ass, it's not worth it on any platform if you want the full experience.

    Please people lets keep to facts and not bandwagon things, I bet half the twats on here who hate on PC all the time, don't even know what it's like to see a PC game running full tilt and then seeing really how shit it looks on a console.

    And mark my words, if the PC dies as a gaming platform, the remember you read it here first.... Save up, because consoles will be a very expensive hobby.

  • azic #65 2 days ago

    @svenjl
    Your a loon.. Your comment gets Neged because your talking rubbish, not because piracy is condoned!

  • azic #66 2 days ago

    @arcam
    I agree about the bootlegging.
    A famous tech street in London, any given Saturday.
    30 quid and 15 mins later your XBOX is ready to play backups, oh and you can buy them too....tener a game.

    And no i haven done this, but I Know where and who.

  • bad09 #67 2 days ago

    @svenjl

    I don't think it's better but you are spouting figures pulled from your arse by misunderstanding an article and I'm pointing that out to you.

    No one is saying piracy isn't wrong anyway, although there is evidence that some of it is customers now and that is largely down to DRMs and lack of demos to try the game or test your system, something the industry itself is responsible for, I know the arguments but they have themselves played a part in increasing piracy through anti-piracy measures no demos and generally pissing off PC gamers through bad business attitudes.

    At the end of the day I'm just a customer with money to spend on games I can't do shit about their piracy and neither can all the other legitimate customers out there, that's why companies who look after customers do better saleswise than companies like Ubi who don't. Customers should not be punished for the "crimes" of people who are not your customers plain and simple. As I said no one else is suffering the severe SALES problems of Ubi (90% drop in revenue is just an amazingly bad, a drop in actual revenue not even "lost sales" of torrent downloads) and they are still making money even in the face of piracy. To use Bohemia as an example they are still making ARMA 3 and just released a heliopter sim, things can't be that bad in terms of actual income.

  • talhamid #68 2 days ago

    I tend to agree with @Screenpi.

    See, I don't know about that figure of 95%, which might have been a back-end special to justify laziness, but the fact remains that most PC games are pirated.

    I, however, believe that some of the blame goes to publishers.

    First, EG readers must realize that games are NOT available everywhere in the world. In many less developed countries, there are simply NO places where you can go and buy original games.

    Secondly, broadband is not uniformly fast and available across the world as well. Downloading a 16 GB game simply is not an option for majority of gamers.

    Thirdly, the game pricing. What might be a reasonable 60 USD will translate into horrendous, salary-busting figures if converted into Thai Bhat or Indian Rupee or such. It is a tragedy that most games retain a large portion of their launch prices for years.

    So in order to curb piracy, game publishers need to do a couple of things:
    1) Ensure that there are ways and means to buy their games legally before complaining about piracy.
    2) Stop trying to milk a games for five years - it doesn't work anyways thanks to piracy. Sell at full price for 6 months - 1 year, then offer the game at 30% discount to third world countries.

    THEN you have a right to complain if piracy still continues.

  • svenjl #69 2 days ago

    @bad09 Uh huh, so my local car dealership has increased anti theft measures, introduced a fixed price policy with no free extras on a purchase, and they're not allowing potential customers to test drive their cars. So I'm gonna go and steal the car I might want to see if it's all it's cracked up to be. No? Of course not, because it's a highly visible crime (i.e. car goes missing) with severe criminal consequences. But just because people can get away with piracy doesn't make it ok, and your attempts to excuse those who do it are weak.

  • Turrican_Freak #70 1 day ago

    Wow, having a blast reading the comments.

    I love pc because I love building it, upgrading it, playing lan with friends.
    If a big company decides to screw up things it's their loss. I mean, I will not buy games with restrictive DRM and no lan.

    But there are so many games that come out from smaller companies or even from the bigger ones (like ubisoft with their anno games) that keep my interest very high, and also I keep having lots of fun!

    If I have to consider consoles games I have to say that the panorama gets rather thin. There are two games that I'm interested in for the xbox: halo and far cry predator. there are two games for the ps3: motorstorm and wipeout. All the rest is the same formula over and over again. The games are getting more refined, yes, but is a more refined game also a more entertaining one?

    Oh, and on pc, please look at the back catalog, and at the emulators that you can legally use.

  • davisorle #71 1 day ago

    I am just glad I didnt purchase Brotherhood and that ive canceled my preordered new AC from Amazon.. dumbf*$#s

  • Turrican_Freak #72 1 day ago

    @svenjl illegally download a game is not stealing. I'm not going to the developers and steal their computers, or the car they use to drive to go to work.
    Stealing a physical copy of a video game from a shop, now that is stealing a game!

    When you illegally download a game without permission you are doing a crime, which is not stealing, but it's doing something without having the rights to do it. You know what is also a crime? Playing an original copy of a game that you borrowed from a friend.

    But in both cases you are trying out the game, and if you like it and have some good sense, you'll buy it because buying games that you like and collect them is good.

  • Jorendo #73 1 day ago

    WTF is this for a bullshit. Is this the thanks for supporting the Ghost recon series all those years? Being shipped off with a free to play crappy multiplayer game while a epic singleplayer tactical shooter was promised? Is this why i keep paying for Ubisoft pc games with terrible DRM protections? YOu keep fucking us Ubisoft, first your terrible DRM that makes it near imposible for PC gamers to play your pc games flawless (Rainbows six Vegas 2 couldn't be played online by legal buyers, ubisoft had to use the crack from the pirated game as patch before legal players could play online and Assassins creed 2 wasn't playable the first weekend cause their DRM server was down).

    And screenpi get your facts right for fuck sake. Consoles get pirated like shit too. Between the PC and xbox their is hardly any difference with pirates and Nintendo got desperate cause most DS games where pirated instead of bought. Also american researgh proofs that the PC gets pirated allot...yet they only include games sold from the shelves and excluded the digital distribution like steam and even trough orders online from stores. PC isn't as much pirated as they make you believe. Also can a console fanboy please shut up okay? Cause the publisher say one thing is worse then pc pirating, namely the second hand sales of games. Thats hurting the sales allot more and guess what, that only happens on the console.

    Don't be stupid by saying pc gamers deserve this bullshit cause a group of them pirate. If you consider yourself a true gamer you will feel this is bullshit to punish all the pc gamers. Every gamer no mather what system should be able to enjoy games.

    Also mister noob Screenpi, The witcher 2 came out with any kind of protection and the sales where massive and the devs where very pleased with the sales of the game.

    But you know what Screenpi, i'm against piracy but here goes:

    ALL PC GAMERS UNITE, LETS PIRATE THE SHIT OUT OF UBISOFT FROM NOW ON. THEY MADE IT IMPOSIBLE FOR US TO PLAY PC GAMES BY THEIR DRM THAT ONLY HURTS THE GAME EXPERIENCE FOR LEGAL BUYERS WHILE PIRATES HAD NO PROBLEMS AT ALL PLAYING. UBISOFT NOW EVEN TAKES IT A STEP FURTHER TO KICK PC GAMERS IN THEIR BALLS. WHO THE FUCK DO THEY THINK THEY ARE TO GET AWAY WITH THIS. YOU WOULD THINK GAME DEVS KNEW STUFF ABOUT GAMES, BUT I GUESS NOT CAUSE NO PC GAMER IS WAITING FOR FREE TO PLAY SHIT. PIRATE THE SHIT OUT OF UBISOFT AND FUCK THEM AS HARD AS THEY FUCKED US WE NO LONGER HAVE TO ACCEPT BULLSHIT FROM BALLKICKING ASSHATS. UBISOFT THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU DO YOUR BEST TO BETRAY YOUR LOYAL CUSTOMERS. DID YOU REALLY THINK WE WILL ACCEPT ALL OF YOUR BULLSHIT? YOU ASSUME WE PIRATE ANYWAY EVEN THOUGH PEOPLE PIRATE ONLY TO BE ABLE TO PLAY THEIR LEGAL BOUGHT GAME, THEY HAVE TO PIRATE IT OTHERWISE IT WON'T EVEN START. BUT SEEING YOU ACCUSE US ALL FOR PIRATES THEN WHATS STOPPING US FROM DOING SO FROM NOW ON. YOU SAY WE ARE ALL TERRIBLE ANYWAY, GOODJOB UBISOFT YOU MADE PIRATES OUT OF US. IN THE MEAN TIME I WILL INVEST MY MONEY IN STUDIOS THAT KEEP SUPPORTING THE PC

  • SlackMaster #74 1 day ago

    I've been so excited about another GRAW game as I thought GRAW2 was excellent and very underrated, but the more I hear about this game the more I'm put off.

    Not only do they keep delaying the game but I'm not sold on the far future setting, with optical camo and all that. The games for me were best when they were set a few years in the future using tech in the game that is currently under development and believable.

    The squad based play and more realistic and tactical approach is what I enjoyed the most about GRAW, as well as the fantastic co-op online play. This far future setting and ridiculous weaponry detract from what the game is to me.

    I know they have to try and set the game apart from Modern Warfare/Battlefield, but they should be doing it with its squad based tactical game play not futuristic setting.

  • Turrican_Freak #75 1 day ago

    @jorendo let's not even play their games.

  • Jorendo #76 1 day ago

    WinterMute78 must be nice to be a naive idiot. Sorry but no not 95% of the pc gamers pirate, its far far less then that. Get your facts right. Just because Ubisoft shout things doesn't make it true. Ubisoft uses the DRM protection. A protection system thats hated by allot of developers and gamers. DRM makes it allot of times imposible to play a legal bought pc game where the pirate doesn't have the issue. People pirate ubisoft games cause well lets Rainbow six vegas 2 wasn't playable in multiplayer for half a year for legal buyers cause ubisoft couldn't fix the DRM protection seen all legal buyers as pirates while the real pirates where playing online. So ubisoft had to implant the crack in a patch to make it work for legal buyers. You think they learned a lesson? Nope they keep including it. Allot of times you can't start your ubisoft game while bought legal so yeah you gonna download it as well as pirate just so you can play the game you paid 50 euro's for. You as console fanboy aren't gonna accept either that you can't play your game most of the time cause of a offline DRM server or because the DRM sees you as a pirate even though you play it legal.

    Also the company who made DRM keeps trowing out false numbers, thats a fact. There is a european game magazine who done researgh about the pirates. The number of console pirates and pc pirates wheren't that differen. No most console gamers do have a pc as well and guess what they pirate too..infact a pc gamer probally pirates less then a console gamer who now and then plays on the pc. But the fact remains that between the pc and the xbox where not even half a million difference in pirates. This while more people own a pc. So if we gonna be fair we have to say the xbox gets more pirated cause if there are 100 pc gamers there are 80 xbox gamers....of the 100 pc gamers 40 pirate, of the xbox 30 pirate.....this is simplified but it comes to that.

    I wish you console fanboys for once, just for once wouldn't be ignorant turds who only live for their own machine and love to burn down everything that different. Im gonna create a new word here now "platform racism". I own a power full pc and all consoles. I love all of them even though pc has my preference that just has to do with being able to multitask on the pc while playing games and have them look better and play cheaper (pc game 50 euro console game 70 euro). But i see it allot that console gamers love to hate the other platforms. See the console wars for example, its just bizar you people do that. YOu don't see pc gamers go like "OMG you have a ADM while i have Intel you suck" yet console gamers (read my words fanboys nothing wrong with console gamers who don't mind what others play) always seems to live for hate.

  • Jorendo #77 1 day ago

    @Turrican_Freak but we already couldn't play their games so we aren't punishing them with that ;)

  • FireMonkey #78 1 day ago

    @svenjl - " Uh huh, so my local car dealership has increased anti theft measures, introduced a fixed price policy with no free extras on a purchase, and they're not allowing potential customers to test drive their cars. So I'm gonna go and steal the car I might want to see if it's all it's cracked up to be."

    Umm... I worry about you. Your logic is fucked!

    No, in the situation of not being able to test drive a car, most customers would NOT steal it but would just not buy it (at least from that dealership). Therefore the dealerships theft prevention measures are actually punishing, valid non-theiving customers and pushing them away. This gives the dealership a bad image and a severe drop in revenue. Just like Ubisoft.

  • bad09 #79 1 day ago

    @svenjl

    Car theft isn't the same now is it :) Before you start I'm not getting into the whole "theft/stealing" debate on piracy it's old, in no way constructive and down to your own opinion and besides I go with the LAW which says it's not theft but copyright infringement as no actual goods were "stolen" whether you or corporations like it or not, that's the law and thats how it's treated by the law.

    I'm not excusing anything anyway just using my brain to understand at least some aspects of the problem and how the industry might actually reduce the size of the problem by stopping screwing customers over and offering a better service in terms of their products, when a pirated version of your product is so much better that legitimate customers who spend money in the industry now take advantage of it to you are doing things so wrong it's untrue, they can ignore that all they want but it's a fact they need to face up to.


    I find people like you are funny, you jump up and down for the industry demonising people you don't know and have no idea the reasons for any of them to download a game and when people like myself take the Gabe Newell approach of actually trying to understand and think about it instead of grabbing pichforks shouting "THIEVES!" you say we defend the pirates.

    Said earlier in this thread yesterday, Gabe took the understanding route now he doesn't care about piracy. Funny that....

    Edited by 2 at 25/11/11 @ 09:47

  • FireMonkey #80 1 day ago

    @Turrican_Freak - "illegally download a game is not stealing. I'm not going to the developers and steal their computers, or the car they use to drive to go to work."

    Yes it is stealing. The definition of 'steal' is: "To take (the property of another) without right or permission."

    The code and art assets are the property of the developer / publisher. When this data is copied the ownership of that data does not suddenly change, so any copies made are still owned by the developer / publisher. So, when you take a copy of a game, that copy is still owned by developer / publisher, but you have taken it without permission. That is theft.

    This sounds like the old excuse I hear pirates chuck up all the time to try making themselves feel better about it. Are you sure your not a pirate?

    EDIT: Although, by the definition of theft, it IS theft, I have just looked into it a bit further and by the legal definition it is currently classed as copyright infringement and not theft. My bad.

    Edited by 1 at 25/11/11 @ 09:44

  • Jorendo #81 1 day ago

    @bad09 And like Gabe there are others as well. The Devs from the Witcher 2 don't see piracy as a problem either, they are glad with each copy sold of their game and didn't include any anti piracy protection.

    And then there are the guys from Sins of a solar empire who shouted "we aren't gonna put anti piracy measures on our games, if people wanna pirate it so be it cause even so a % of them end up buying the game anyway while most pirates wouldn't even bought the game in the first place so its not even a miss that they pirate. We know our fans buy our games anyway and we can't punish them for what pirates do" and guess what this studio has great sales numbers. Ubisoft how ever uses the most hated anti piracy measure possible that isn't working cause all their games get pirated still. And they blame pc gamers for pirating their games while pc gamers have very good reasons to do so. They ask money for broken products, and you pirate it after you bought the game so you can actually play the game. Ever tried to contact ubisoft cause of DRM problems? They just don't reply or send you a auto generated mail in reply, they aren't helpful. They alienate their pc gamers and then blame the pc gamers for abandoning them. They steal from legal buyers to begin with. 95% is a super high number and only based on their own faulty system. If it was that terrible why don't we hear that steam gone bankrupt...offcourse steam is lying when they say that each year they sell more and more games. Cause thats the logic both ubisoft and console fanboys use right now.

  • mrblonde #82 1 day ago

    @arcam mostly RTS titles u mention there,Stalker is buggy and old, plus rpg the witcher is coming to 360.(i.e end of pc focus), Im talking about higher budget fps, tps,adventure titles etc.. Give you arma but thats it in 4 YEARS since crysis
    also the pc platform hasnt pushed visuals for 4 years,high sttings battlefield 3 looks ok if it was a for a next gen launch title maybe, but hardly what we expect visually from the ps4/360 2

    Edited by 1 at 25/11/11 @ 10:05

  • bad09 #83 1 day ago

    @Jorendo

    Yeah Ubi are so shit it's untrue on customer service, I still can't buy Tintin because a simple question about which DRM they used has been ignored.

    True Gabe isn't the only ray of common sense and indeed the industry so badly needs more companies like CDproject, they respect the customers and now enjoying good sales for Witcher 2. Avalanche have a good outlook on piracy vs customers, countless indies embarrass companies like Ubi even when Capcom attempted an Ubi with SSF4AE they stopped and listened when customers complained and acted accordingly to the customers feedback on such a terrible DRM before the game even came out.

  • Turrican_Freak #84 1 day ago

    @FireMonkey "To take (the property of another) without right or permission."

    so you are saying that when you buy a game you become owner of the arts assets and code?
    If you want to do this you should go to the publisher or developer and pay them. Something around the millions of pounds if we are talking about big budget games.

    when you buy a game you have the rights to play it, to modify it, but you don't own the art assets and code. in the case of physical copies you'll own the box.

    Please FireMonkey, use valid arguments, and don't accuse people of being criminals just to make your point.

  • ELECTROMA_23 #85 1 day ago

    FUCK U BISOFT
    U CUNTS

  • Turrican_Freak #86 1 day ago

    It's like saying that if you drive and exceed the speed limits by 5 miles per hour you are a criminal.

  • lollage #87 1 day ago

    "It's like saying that if you drive and exceed the speed limits by 5 miles per hour you are a criminal."

    Eh? Firstly, how is this like that? Secondly, if you break the speed limit, you are a criminal in the eyes of the law. That's why speeding fines and points on licenses exist.

  • azic #88 1 day ago

    @mrblonde
    You make me laugh... PS4 Next Box will not be able to do PC Ultra BF3.
    You will still be playing 640x480 Up scaled on the next gen.

    Consoles are great, they do have really good graphics, but they are not near the best by a long shot, and they never will be.

    Your are deluded and you buy into all the marketing bs they spit out.

    See you on here in 2 years, having the same conversation!

    Edited by 1 at 25/11/11 @ 10:36

  • Jorendo #89 1 day ago

    Also i want to ask something to those who defend ubisoft here and keep shouting all pc gamers are terrible pirates and we deserved this. Who of you ever downloaded a movie? Anime? Music? those who claim now they never done so are lying because they don't wanna look bad after their rant on pc gamers.

    Don't be a hypocrite, pirating in any form has been there since the beginning of the media. Games and music have always been pirated and they always survived. Im not justifying pirating but everyone does/done it with any form of media. So please before you shout all pc gamers are bad pirates you might wanna check your own pc for illigal music/movies. And look at your Anime folder and do tell me how much you actually bought of it. And don't say its different cause its not. Don't hate when you are doing it as well but then with another media.

    If piracy was really 95% as ubisoft claims then steam would be offline by now and CDProjekt wouldn't have claimed their sales gone great for the witcher 2.

    I buy all my pc games, but yes i do pirate games somtimes. You know why? Cause unlike console games we as pc gamers hardly get any demo's these days. And seeing that you need to register your pc game these days before you can play it you can't bring your game back to the store anymore either if you don't like it, like you can with console games and could a few years ago. With some games im doubting if its worth my money so yeah i pirate it then to try it. But im fair, i play for a bit and if i like it i buy it at once no mather the price. Ifi don't like it i trow the game off the pc again just like with a demo. Im not playing trough the entire game but im not gonna waste money on a shitty that i can't return. Console games can be brought back in 24 hours after purchase without problems or once finished being sold second handed. Stuff pc games can't.

    But i think we pc gamers have the last laugh soon. See, 80% of the publisher stated that second hand sales of the console games is more harmful then the piracy for pc games. And now the consoles see measures as well to prevent it like the online pass you need to have. I didn't liked SOCOM on the PS3 so i brought it back after 24 hours and the store told me i was lucky that the PS network was down (was during the hack) otherwise i couldn't return it to pick another game cause they couldn't be sure i hadn't been online yet. It starts with that but soon they go further.

    I don't aprove on pirating of pc games. But they need to see that they can't ditch the pc market either. Bring out demo's again that will decrease piracy a bit again. And make more quality pc games, cause pc gamers aren't console gamers. Most pc gamers are used to more harder games that take a while to play trough while console games tend to be a bit easyer (not all of them) and shorter. 20 hours is long for a game these days. 10 years ago 20 hours was a okay lenght for a game but everything below it was considert way to short..now you have games of 5 hours and people still cheer for it and say "it has a long campaign" when they have to invest 10 hours in it.

    The sales are less on the pc then on the console. True, but the market has changed allot. Before the PS2 there where way less gamers. PS2 came out and there was a explosion in the growth of gamers. And back then games where ported from the pc to the console instead the other way around. These days console gaming is more populair so as devs you need to know that if a game sales 3 million times on the consoles combined it won't sale 3 million times on the pc but 1 million times perhaps. And seeing most console games get ported to the pc and the pc gets the games later its no wonder there are less pc sales. I own all the consoles as well. Somtimes i have to wait 3 to 6 months before the pc release so yeah i buy it on the console then and not on the pc by then. Means they lost me as pc buyer for that game.

    So how to stimulate pc sales?

    1. Give back demo's for pc games again, we pay allot of money as well for the games (console games are more expensive cause a x % goes to microsoft/sony per sold game) and we can't return a game if we don't like it. SO bring back demo's so we can try before buy the legal way.

    2. Test this, with multi-platform games start releasing the pc version 3 to 6 months earlier then the consoles you will see suddenly that the pc sales more. Not because its better but people don't wanna wait that long when they also own the other platform that can already play the game. I know the excuse is "but pc games get pirated anyway so we release on console first for the money".

    3. Don't give a damn about pirates. Pirates are everywhere and even on the consoles they are in a massive form. Why do you think Nintendo made a protection that damages your DS/3DS when its a pirated game..cause it gone out of hand. But don't only blame pc pirates. Just ignore them, there are some leading PC names who just accepted that there is piracy on the pc and don't even care to deal with it and they sell their games like mad. Also many indie game studios do well on the pc. Its cheaper for them to sell it on the pc then on the consoles (less % needs to be hand over and cheaper to develop a pc game) and indie games having their high days these days.

    4. And this goes for Ubisoft especially. Don't give pc gamers a bad name. There are still many who supported you. But if you call us bitches (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114356-I-Am-Alive-Producer-Dismisses-Bitching-PC-Gamers) and compare us all to the pirates while you have the most flawed DRM protection in history then you put people on the wrong side of where you want them. Really for those who are still in school. Lets say a group in your class keeps disturbing the class while you are a good student trying to learn something and the teacher just say "All of you are pathetic bitching kids, shit fuck you all for disturbing my class each and every time" then you feel annoyed as well and you will turn against this teacher. That is human behavior.

  • WinterMute78 #90 1 day ago

    @Jorendo I only put the 95% thing in my comment trying to be sarcastic but you and others have just proved what I thought. Read the comments from all the pc players you are all trying to justify pirating because you don't like Ubisoft.
    Listen to your selves. Ubisoft has tried to protect the products that they have pored money into. I am not a pc player true and from the sounds of it the protection would have pissed me off aswell. But as a gamer I would have supported Ubisoft in helping to find a solution that worked. But all you pc players do is moan and tell them to "go fuck themselves" I'm not surprised they can't be bothers to make full games for you. If this started happening on consoles I would be sad for Ubisoft and angry at the pirates. You pc players seem to have it backwards. How many of you have ever gone on ubisofts forum and said this DRM is not working but what if you did this instead. Even an idea with a hint of being right can grow to be the right one. But instead all you do is defend pirates and slate ubi or any other company that dares to protect their business. you have all done this to your selves. And the worst part is some of you will then start to play a console to play what you can't get on pc. Then you'll fuck it up for us aswell.
    So all together now console players and Ubisoft "fuck off pc gamers"

  • Subdominator #91 1 day ago

    @bad09 Sounds to me like it is Ubisoft who says "Fuck off PC gamers". Saying it after they made clear that they don't care about PC (and seriously, who wants to blame them? PC is good for maybe 1/10 of the overall sales. But they are also good for close to 50 % of the support costs because PC gamers are bitchy little girls who mess with their system and internal commands and then complain why the game doesn't run as it is supposed to. And if recent numbers are right there are still 10 illegal copies per game sold. PC gaming is a mess financially, I don't blame them for trying to make money. But I'm pretty sure the same people that are pissed off about Ubisoft would tear them a new one if they layed off employees because of bad PC sales.

  • geox30 #92 1 day ago

    Some seem to treat their machine as they would with their girlfriend and that is a serious condition.But even this is ok from me.Why should PC gamers appologise to console freaks-not console gamers,I own several of them myself-for their platform of choice?For the sake of this discussion I say that I prefer to play FPS games on PC not for the graphics but for the keyboard /mouse controls which are unmatched.I also very much like real time strategy games like the excellent Shogun 2 Total War.Have you ever seen this on a console freaks?

  • Turrican_Freak #93 1 day ago

    @lollage ops bad example. it's just that I've been called a criminal for no reason and I lost my temper...

    Worse than that, I've been called a criminal just because I tried to reason.

    Edited by 1 at 25/11/11 @ 10:57

  • FireMonkey #94 1 day ago

    @Turrican_Freak - "so you are saying that when you buy a game you become owner of the arts assets and code?"

    What? I never said anything like that!
    It sounds as if you are actually agreeing with what I am saying. The data is still the property of the developer so if you take it without permission then that fits the definition of theft.

    I also did not call you a criminal. I said your argument sounded like one that pirates use a lot to defend themselves. I then asked if you were a pirate because you were using their usual argument. At no point did I say you were and I'm sorry if you took it that way.

    Please Turrican_Freak, learn to read before getting into an argument.

    Edited by 2 at 25/11/11 @ 11:25

  • bad09 #95 1 day ago

    "PC gaming is a mess financially"

    Yep terrible mess, revenue is down, Steam is shrinking every year and doing really badly, other DD sites are closing down, PC exclusive games are no longer made, there is no growth, piracy is increasing, EA decided opening a new download store just really wasn't worth it due to the financial mess on PC, indies are really struggling and make more money on consoles and thank god Valve made Portal 2 multiplatform as they got no sales on pc.

    Some people really don't know what they are talking about...

    Edited by 2 at 25/11/11 @ 11:29

  • Turrican_Freak #96 1 day ago

    @FireMonkey "What? I never said anything like that!
    It sounds as if you are actually agreeing with what I am saying. The data is still the property of the developer so if you take it without permission then that fits the definition of theft."

    No I do not agree. it is copyright infringement. There is not stealing in doing something you are not authorized to do. You are doing something unlawful, which is not stealing.

    Edited by 1 at 25/11/11 @ 11:36

  • Burgeri #97 1 day ago

    Firstly, I *am* a game developer, so no guessing about that one, okay? I am also an avid PC gamer, when and *if* given the choice.

    I am willing buy that 95% piracy claim on Ubi's games since Ubisoft has gone above and beyond to get rid of honest customers. I have simply refrained from buying their games but would not be surprised if the better customer experience offered by pirated cracks would have drawn a much larger crowd. The whole incident is a sorry mess but unfortunately neither the first nor the last of its kind.

    However, Ubi is right when insinuating that there exist this sub-culture of PC Piracy that not only cracks and distributes illegal copies on an industrial scale but also stimulates discussion on how it is all justified by A, B and C. It promotes the viewpoint that crackers are somehow heroes for sticking it up to the Man and anyone who actually pays for his games is a chump.

    I don't want to go into the semantics of stealing here but frankly, if you are using a product or service that has a price tag to it for free, you are doing it at the expense of someone else. With games, it is developers and publishers (and sometimes retailers) who feel the pinch. There is no real way for us to prevent piracy. But please, stop pretending that A) you have the right to pirate games and B) it is not hurting anybody.

    There are many factors contributing to the decline (I would not call it "death" and certainly don't believe it will ever fully die) of the PC as an AAA gaming platform but rampant piracy is certainly one of them. It makes both economic and psychological sense for developers and publishers to invest resources where you will get the most return out of them. The numbers on PC aren't really that bad and the revenue per unit sold is greater without all the platform licensing fees. Without piracy (and a little luck with hardware configurations) PC could easily be on par with the next-gen consoles as a release platform and the current problem of "cheap ports" would go away.

    Edited by 1 at 25/11/11 @ 12:02

  • FireMonkey #98 1 day ago

    @Turrican_Freak - "it is copyright infringement. There is not stealing in doing something you are not authorized to do. You are doing something unlawful, which is not stealing."

    I know. I also said that in an edit at the end of my original post before any other posts had come in and said I made a mistake.

    The English definition is that it IS theft but the legal definition is that it is NOT theft, but it is copyright infringement (which is still illegal)

    Edited by 1 at 25/11/11 @ 11:56

  • Turrican_Freak #99 1 day ago

    "PC could easily be on par with the next-gen consoles as a release platform and the current problem of "cheap ports" would go away."

    there were cheap ports from arcades to snes and megadrive or from megadrive to snes. And they didn't had the piracy problem.

  • Jorendo #100 1 day ago

    @WinterMute78
    Thousands of people, gamers, devs and publisher have complained about the DRM. With every game that doesn't work cause of the DRM many mails go to Ubisoft and they don't do shit about it. You defend them fine, but you don't know how the problem is.

    For example, i bought Assassins Creed 2, and couldn't play it the first 5 days cause the DRM server broke down. Now people who bought the game then downloaded the pirated version. Ubisoft shouts that its pirated. But the truth is, its not illigal pirating when you already bought the game and download the pirated version next to it just so you can actually play instead of not being able to play while you paid for it. You shout we destroy the game business. Kid the pc market is growing like mad again, its not as bad as Ubisoft says it is. Look at PC only devs, they sell like made. Yet all you see is PC gamers are pirates.

    Im not saying pirating is good. I just say that if you can't test the game and can't return it anymore either that yeah i agree on pirating the game to test it (testing is not playing trough the entire game and then don't buy it). I always buy my fucking games kid i said that before learn to read. If a game is good i buy it, if a game is bad i don't and i don't finish it either. But you are blinded by fanboyism and thats terrible cause you only see black and white. All you see is that Ubisoft is right and PC gamers are assholes. The fact remains that Ubisoft has a terrible support to the legal buyers. Making it harder and harder for them. ANd why, cause of some pirates. Are you also a person who says all black people are thiefs cause some of them steal? No cause that would be racism doesn't it? But you are doing exactly that. YOu blame an entire community for what a few do (and the real numbers are much lower then what ubisoft claims). I can't stop pirating. All i can do is make sure i support the game community, but if Ubisoft has no intrest in supporting the legal buyers then why should the legal buyers support them any longer? YOu aren't supporting the local shop owner either if everytime you buy patatoes he kicks you in the balls.

    Edited by 3 at 25/11/11 @ 12:39

  • florin87 #101 1 day ago

    i think it is for the best. better have this than some dumbed down crappy console port that would have killed the series for good.

  • azic #102 1 day ago

    The whole PC Piracy was started by none other than Cliffy-B.
    He used that as an excuse for not making GOW again on the PC.

    I guess he has set a trend for other to follow.
    When it all goes full circle we PC gamers who buy our games which Im sure most do, will have the last laugh as UBI/EPIC etc. come crawling back.

    Saints Row 3 on PC has done very well, yeah Im sure its been pirated, but its done well on PC so i hear.

    Edited by 1 at 25/11/11 @ 14:08

  • acuratebob #103 1 day ago

    @Screenpi i agree completly with what your saying here mate. The smae people who complain about this news article probably havnt paid for a game in months.

    You cant complain about this, a company has taken the time, and money, to develop some pritty good games, and people are pirating the games and complaining about them, even though they never even paid the few quid it would cost top buy it. shame on them.

    Havnt you people got a steam account? i just got some ace games, for only a couple of quid, a fiver for morrowind and all the DLC, yes please, a fiver for ALL the GTA's. yes please...

  • azic #104 1 day ago

    @acuratebob
    i agree completly with what your saying here mate. The smae people who complain about this news article probably havnt paid for a game in months.

    You fucking moron.. I got steam too and 200 games. I bought them all at full price.

    Why do you have to make sweeping statements like an ignorant prick.

    You make a statement that we dont buy our games, yet your jizzing all over your screen becuase you bought lots of games for a fiver like a cheap ass ( << Example of a sweeping statement) Im calling you cheap becuase you bought games for a fiver and are happy about it, just as you are calling me a theif for defending a platform. Stupid isnt it?

    I have bought all at full price on steam/origin

    1. LA Noire
    2. Skyrim
    3. BF3
    4. Saints Row 3
    5. Batman Arkum City
    6. Fifa12
    7. CODMW 3

    Console (SHOPTO.NET)

    1. UC3
    2. FORZA 4
    3. GOW 3

    Yeah I buy my fucking PC games you knob.

    Edited by 2 at 25/11/11 @ 14:29

  • geox30 #105 1 day ago

    @Burgeri

    You won't find many people in this post and others that support piracy.All this "whining" and "bitching" done here does not come from pirates,but from paying customers who found Ubisoft's words and actions offending.Pirates suffer the least from all this and they will find another developer to steal from,if Ubisoft abandon the platform.

    Would you be so kind to explain to us how is paying full price for a game that is inferior to other platforms(some times not even playable) and ultimately getting this,is any less stealing than pirating it?How is that justified and did DRM ever served its purpose?The way I see it,they mostly damage themselves,since me and others use more than one platform.I cannot imagine myself be their customer for any platform,given the way they treated me and the way they speak about me,even if the sell the best product in the market.

    I can understand that they run a business which must remain profitable and they have every right to stop developing for PC if they choose to.But they have no right to deny legitimate owners of any of their games,what they paid for in the first place.

  • bad09 #106 1 day ago

    @azic

    You bought LA Noire full price? Bet you weren't happy with the steam deals last night :)

  • Turrican_Freak #107 1 day ago

    @acuratebob how dare you

  • azic #108 1 day ago

    @bad09
    No but fuck it... Less we forget I had already bought it on the 360 LOL.. PC version is so much smoother :)

  • bad09 #109 1 day ago

    @azic

    To be honest the same thing happened to me with Kane & Lynch 2 (although that was not as fast as LA Noire), you just have to take it on the chin. Steam sales are bloody amazing for insane pricing but they can be cruel to :)

  • Jorendo #110 1 day ago

    @acuratebob can you please change your name from acuratebob to failbob? You just assume all pc gamers pirate who complain here. I have bought all my pc games. But i doubt you have no pirated songs/movies on your computer.

    I know i know mama is not around to read for you and explain in sesame street talk what people are saying. Otherwise you could have seen it are the paying customers who complain they get fucked. Of course for people like you who can't read that is very hard to understand. Now wait till mama is done working and has time for you to read this okay?

  • WinterMute78 #111 1 day ago

    @Jorendo I'm not saying all you pc gamers are pirates but ubi must think you all. makes no difference to me what games you do or don't get. All Im saying is people who pirate games harm the gaming industry as whats happening here shows. Of course 95% of pc players don't pirate that's just a silly comment from ubi that I put in to whined people like you up(mission complete). I have been hearing and agree with a lot of comments about DRM and how it punishes the lagit buyers and the pirates still carry on as normal. I don't buy music from iTunes because of DRM I get it from play.com which has none. But of it wasnt for people who want things with out paying for them DRM would never exist. I just don't understand how people (in this case pc gamers) can defend the very people who are fucking up your gaming experience....pirates ! I stopped buying pc games when you started getting the key code in them that stopped you taking the game back if you didn't like it so your right more demos are needed. But you think that's justifies pirating the game so you can try it. But by doing so you have just added to the statistic of pirates which is what developers are looking it makes no difference if you buy or not after that you have already caused harm to the developer who then look to defend their investment. Then you complain about how they go about it. And stop calling me kid when you seem to be the one who needs to grow up. Trying to belittle someone with silly name calling shows how stupid you must really be !

    Edited by 5 at 25/11/11 @ 16:04

  • Pokeyhat #112 1 day ago

    LMAO at the pc brigade, dry your friggin eyes.

  • Burgeri #113 1 day ago

    @Geox30, who said:

    "Would you be so kind to explain to us how is paying full price for a game that is inferior to other platforms(some times not even playable) and ultimately getting this,is any less stealing than pirating it?How is that justified and did DRM ever served its purpose?The way I see it,they mostly damage themselves,since me and others use more than one platform.I cannot imagine myself be their customer for any platform,given the way they treated me and the way they speak about me,even if the sell the best product in the market."

    Nobody, myself included, has argued that Ubi's DRM scheme would have been anything but a disaster. Indeed, for someone like me, who tries to reason against piracy, this whole episode has been like a fist to the face. I cannot morally fault anyone who bought the game, found it crippled beyond repair and then pirated a cracked version. That is a wholesale failure of the Ubi's business model but at least the developers, with whom my sympathies lie, have been compensated and the number of sales has been increased by one thus helping the entire platform to survive. If the buyer of the crippled game filed a complaint about it to Ubisoft then he is entitled to be angry about the full price as well (IMHO). If not, he becomes a part of the problem.

    However, Ubisoft was not stealing from you. They warned you about the DRM scheme, both in the media, online and in the box of the game itself. The repercussions of it were widely debated. I steered clear from Ubi products altogether after the new DRM scheme was revealed because I knew every successful sale made under those conditions would strengthen their case. I can blame Ubi for bad customer service, crappy company policies, brainless DRM implementation, antagonistic comments and generally being annoying ... about the whole thing. But none of that is stealing.

    IMHO, of course. Unless I have suddenly been made God.

  • GamingonthePC #114 19 hours ago

    @bad09 Steam sales are amazing, I get the same game that those console people payed for for less than half the price, and they say PC gaming is dying, which brings me back to the main subject.

    I just created an account to comment on the sheer ignorance and stupidity of the non-PC gamers. I agree with Bad and Azic and the others, and it seems my statistics of "95% of console gamers are complete retards with the IQ of a buffon" is right, because I too can make up accurate representations of an entire gaming community. Seriously, how did you guys have the brainpower to type all this out on your PC?There's a reason why the consoles are so simplified, so you can just sit there all day and keep bashing A .

    But I digress, and to the matter at hand. To the people that are saying piracy is at an all-time high on PC, THEN WHY THE HELL IS STEAM MAKING SO MUCH MONEY? Witcher 2 had a lot of success as a PC exclusive title thus far, and without the idiotic DRM. Also if you guys want to talk "piracy", consoles are the main reason for this. Why? Because 95% you idiots all buy second-hand or used games.
    NOT A SINGLE DIME GOES TO THE PUBLISHER. THIS IS THE SAME THING AS PIRACY. Why did GameStop just pull in a billion dollars in their last finanical quarter, none of that money went to the publishers that made the game. Giving the game to a friend, renting it, pirating it, buying it used, are so many different ways to own the game, but not one cent goes to the publisher. In PC, there are only 2 ways to have a game, buy it or pirate it. And you guys talk about how PC has more piracy, at least get your facts right kids. Now it's time for you to go sleep.

  • DAN.E.B #115 2 hours ago

    This would have been really bad news six or seven years ago
    but know ubisoft games are mostly dumbed down shit these days anyway so no great loss