Ubisoft: This is why your PC game sales are bad

Insight: Even after the holiday sale discounts, is the PC version of Splinter Cell: Conviction worth the troubles it contains? Can Ubisoft continue to blame piracy for poor PC game sales even if they release a product that isn't worth buying at a dirt cheap price?

[Darth Stewie]

No the big problem for Ubisoft is making games exclusive when all their franchises that actually sold well was because they were released as multiplatform.

[showtimefolks]

if the game is really taking advantage of their console and we are getting a really awesome game but all you get is a good game that has potential but how far can potential carry you.

and SC:C will be on ps3 but even if it does come out on ps3 it won't sell because it will be a year old game in 2011 when we don't need more games

[evrfighter]

seriously I would buy AC2 for 12 bucks on steam right now but I couldn't get SC:C and PoP working because of their DRM so i stay away from Ubisoft games.

[Rush]

Why SC:C certainly wasn't a bad game I do believe it under delivered.

And sure it's easy to blame piracy for poor PC sales but nowa days it's more of an excuse for developers to say "it wasn't are fault" games can and do sell well on the PC you just have to appeal to the PC gamer.

Blaming Piracy all the time for bad game sales is as stupid as Capcoms stance on J-RPGs.

They make an awful game that nobody likes it doesn't sell so apparently J-RPG's don't sell when that's not true it's just bad games that don't.

[Theonik]

I passed on it due to the DRM. If Ubisoft believes that the should punish me if i choose to support them by buying the legitimate version then they will not see any of my money. I want to be bale to play it on my platform of choice. Not missing much anyway.

[TheGameFoxJTV]

Was Conviction a bad game? No.
Was it a true Splinter Cell game? No.
Would I buy yet another generic 3rd person shooter? Hell no.

[imvix]

Passed on it due to DRM and again its a very generic shooter thats about it.

[HolyOrangeCows]

"Splinter Cell": Conviction wasn't a true Splinter Cell title, the DRM was BS, and the game in general was less than average.

I'm not surprised that it sold so bad. And I'm not at all surprised that it sold well on the 360; they shooter-fied it and people flocked.

[Sarcasm]

It's almost as bad as the amount of effort Square Enix keeps trying to shove down the Xbox 360. Waste of time for everyone.

[JsonHenry]

I just want a decent Rainbow Six game. (Raven Shield anyone?!)

[showtimefolks]

2nd they just rushed it and it was the same as first with little or no improvement

[BattleAxe]

Ubisofts biggest problems on the PC are their online servers. Rainbow Six vegas 1+2, Splinter Cell Conviction and Call of Warez: Bound in Blood have all had big problems with their online connectivity, and I"ve even heard of problems with Assassins Creed games because you have to login to the Ubi servers to play because of DRM.

They make some great game, but they don't seem to care how well the run after they go on sale.

[IaMs12]

Give consumers a good reason to support you then.

[MajestieBeast]

If it was 9.99 i would have bought it simple as that. Also 29,99 for mw2 activision is crazy and that people pay so much for it is even crazier.

[multipayer]

Considering Bad Company 2 was like $7 a few days ago on steam, I'm just going to say it. Anyone who bought an even older and buggier game (mw2) for $29.99 has rocks for brains, they need to be sent off in a rocketship to live amongst other mindless rocks.

[TheGameFoxJTV]

$6.47 I believe. and BF2 was 5 yesterday. I still prefer BF2.

[ct03]

And 29.99 for MW2 is actually a 50% off sale. It's ridiculous.
People must be buying these COD games like there's no tomorrow.

[showtimefolks]

you wanted to know why brotherhood's sales were down how about not making the same game every year.

when was the last time a decent POP game made? I will tell you when the HD remakes think about that

BGAE is HD smart we will buy and we need the 2nd

I am alive where is it?
a great rayman game like old days?
where is RAINBOW SIX VEGAS?

UBI have so many Ips but they have become a one game pony in this industry. either make good game or there won't be great sales

and SC:C was a CASUAL the next SC game that will be good will be on a bluray and its called HD remakes think about that
..........................
we as gamers are a lot of thing but most of us are not dumm you make great games we will buy them you want to keep making one i will keep skipping and in the coming years many will follow

AC needs a new engine,location,story,online elemets

so if you can put all of that into next year's game i will buy it otehrwise in a month the game will be 39.99 than 29.99. and i DARE you to bring out the next AC game next fall YEH I SAID IT DARE YOU if its the same old it will be lost in shuffle with about 10 AAA games

peace out disagree all you want UBI use to be so much better with their games but they have become capcom(money whores)

PrimordialSoupBase

thank you
...................
mrcash

OH please you kdding me right. early on this gen they had awsome games but now its like when they show you the trailer it has all the potential but when it comes out its a good game at best.

i am looking forward to future soldier it looks awsome but let's see. and just waite if they bring out a new AC game in fall 2011 on the same engine with same story line we will see if that sells millions.

and maybe they are not as big of money whores as that capcom but they are not that far behind either

redDevil87

funny thing is SC:C started out as a pc game if i am not wronf so for it to be bad on pc is just unexplainable

[mrcash]

haha, No they haven't, they actually delay their games to try and get the best quality, (money whores) put out games no matter what the quality is, wether you like their games or not, is another matter but UBI definitely puts in good effort.

[TheGameFoxJTV]

I agree in part, but the last Splinter Cell game ruined everything I liked about the series, and they did the same thing to the Ghost Recon series. It went from a semi-army sim series, to 3rd person CoD.

[mrcash]

It seems that UBI is trying to evolve, but doesnt know which way to go, I hope they find their way. SC wasnt anything like its predecessors, however I still thought it was great, it was like playing through a jason bourne movie which i've always wanted to do.

[DigitalAnalog]

But I just finished playing POP: TFS on Steam. If it wasn't for the sale, I would've been really pissed knowing I got only 6 hours worth of gametime. Pity the previous versions were nearly twice as long. Graphics were sub-par for a PC game (I can only imagine worse for consoles).

-End of Line

[Theonik]

If it's worth anything they are making a 2D Rayman now for the DL services. But not much news on that yet. I am interested in it. The new PoP was also a step in the right direction but they rushed it to be a movie tie in and it ultimately failed to deliver because of that. Btw Brotherhood sold faster than ACII did.

[NCAzrael]

@showtimefolks

I'll admit up front that I'm a bit of an Assassin's Creed fanboy, but even putting my love of the series aside, I don't think you fully grasp what the game is all about. AC: Brotherhood isn't AC3. Brotherhood is a continuation of Ezio's story. Altair's story was spanned several games, and obviously Ezio's is meant to be just as important, if not more important since it is Ezio's memories that serves as Desmond's training, and it makes sense that Ezio's story would need to be told in further games as well. AC:B serves as that continuation.

AC, AC2, and AC:B are all part of one big story, so your whining about how the story needs to change is just asinine. Granted, I agree that it needs to focus on a new character, but the storyline itself is a very broad thing.

As for your complaints that the game needs a new engine, I don't really see the issue with the current one. While I'd love to see improvements, such as the improvements made from AC to AC2 and Brotherhood, I think the overall look and feel of the game (which I assume is what you mean when you say "engine") is fine. If you haven't played Brotherhood you can't really judge it for yourself.

Splinter Cell: Conviction was developed for the 360 and then ported to the PC, as is pretty much the standard practice for most console-centric games.

[PrimordialSoupBase]

The bigger issue is simply that it's a pretty poor game.

[soundslike]

in b4 tween know-it-alls rage

[supaflypriest]

I would have to disagree, actually one of the better games i played this past year...

[redDevil87]

I heard the game had a proper shit port. If i were a PC gamer why would you buy a game that runs crappy on PC?

[ct03]

Modern Warfare 2 is a fine port, it runs great even on lower end systems.

[TheGameFoxJTV]

Yea, this isn't about MW2. It's about Conviction and Ubisoft-in-the-head.

[mrv321]

If a guy can sell a 64x64 block game, which only just got out of alpha. How come Ubisoft one of the larger third party studios can't?

BTW That guy has made 10 MILLION!

[MajestieBeast]

Yep i dont see the fun in minecraft probably like many others but its selling like crazy.

@ slugboss so true i mean i bought bfbc2 for what was it 13 euro then the day after activision comes with the joke of cod4 for 20 or something that game should be 10 euro by now its 3-4 years old.

[TheGameFoxJTV]

I assume you are referring to Minecraft. Kappa

[jillthornton]

Because minecraft rewards people who buy the legit version with added features, updates and online components.

[GSpartan777]

"This is why your PC game sales are bad"

This is based on what exactly? Just a mere guess?

[jillthornton]

Way to miss the point. It is actually explained in the article. If I didn't buy it because of the stupid DRM, then many others probably did not either.

Read before you respond.

[Baka-akaB]

based on what ? Maybe the fact that the publisher with the most aggravating drm protection is seeing diminishing sales on pc , while the other equivalently sized publishers are seeing growth for a change ?

And with games that arent even necessarily better .

Yup like said above you are missing it

[poopoojames]

I was gonna Splinter Cell Conviction on steam sale until I realised that you have to be online at all times to play it. I'm not supporting a game that does such a thing. Take note Ubisoft.

[kramun]

Splinter Cell hasn't been good since Chaos Theory.

[dkgshiz]

The worst one out of the series either goes to Double Agent or Conviction. Conviction was basically just purely an action game.

[visualb]

agreed.

[GrilledCheeseBook]

I didn't buy it because of the DRM. I didn't buy AC2 because of the DRM. As long as that DRM is present I won't buy the game.

[fight4love]

i didnt buy it cause i pirated it.

[dkgshiz]

Because it was a 4-6 hour experience.

[LMS]

i got splinter cell conviction free and still only played an hour....the black and white when in stealth was so fu@kin lame i could not complete it....for me, the last great splinter cell was Chaos Theory, on PC of course....lots of areas look better than SC C!

[kagon01]

I wanted to buy a physical copy of Darksiders for PC, but I checked the game's requirements. "steam online account"

Do I have to be connected to the internet in order to play it?

If that the case I wont bother with this version...

[madmanden]

Steam has an offline mode. So no you do not have to be online to play Darksiders on PC.