It has been around a day since Ubisoft pulled their most recent games from Steam, to the frustration of fans who don’t like Ubi’s own DRM platform, Uplay. Now, however, Ubisoft seems to have taken a serious power play.
Ubisoft’s games have now appeared on EA’s DRM/digital distribution service, Origin. This extends beyond the three games pulled from Steam, Far Cry 4, The Crew, and Assassin’s Creed Unity, and now includes earlier releases, such as Watch Dogs, Rayman Legends, Trials Evolution Gold, Splinter Cell Blacklist, Splinter Cell Conviction, and earlier Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed games. Even things like the Assassin’s Creed 3 Season Pass, and Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon are now available on EA’s servers.
Ubisoft still has its older library available to buy on Steam, and whatever happens, it’s more than likely that whoever has bought Ubisoft’s games on Valve’s platform will get to keep them there. This move is also a partial recognition from Ubisoft that their Uplay service is not popular, if not functional, and they are willing to let it go to keep their presence on PC gaming.
However, Ubisoft putting their games up on Origin hints at a sea change in their relationship with Valve and EA, and could break up the virtual (if not actual) monopoly Valve currently holds thanks to Steam. Would other publishers start shifting away from Steam to Origin if they are unhappy with Valve’s terms? Will fans follow these developers if they move away?
What would you do if developers started moving away from Steam, towards Origin, or even other DRM/distribution platforms? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
