Ubisoft has recently announced a significant expansion of its Ubisoft+ subscription service, following a deal with Microsoft. The agreement grants Ubisoft the perpetual cloud streaming rights for all current and future Activision Blizzard games for the next 15 years, now that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is closed. Without a doubt, this puts Ubisoft as a big player in the cloud gaming space.
Chris Early, Ubisoft’s SVP, Strategic Partnerships & Business Development, explained that the decision to take on the streaming rights of Activision Blizzard’s games was driven by the desire to expand access for more players across streaming services. This allows Ubisoft to add Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft+ and bring even more value to their offering.
As Ubisoft was a big player during the Stadia’s days, Early also discussed Ubisoft’s long history of supporting cloud streaming partners. He also shared his views on the future of the cloud streaming market, stating that streaming will continue to grow over time, and that the quality of the internet infrastructure will play a crucial role in this growth.
So what does this mean?
As for the subscription side of the business, Early stated that Ubisoft believes in the longevity of this model, which is why they launched Ubisoft+. He emphasized that the company’s primary function is to make great games and then get them into the hands of as many people as possible, offering a variety of means of access to their games.
The operational element of the deal is set to kick off now that the deal is closed. Ubisoft will take the necessary time to ensure that the back end fully supports the experience they want players to have.
Right now, Ubisoft+ is available in the cloud via Amazon Luna. This means that potentially, Amazon Luna users who are subscribed to Ubisoft+ will be able to play titles like Call of Duty and Diablo in due time. Of course, Ubisoft will also add said games to services as Xbox Cloud Gaming, GeForce NOW, and others. There are also rumors of Ubisoft starting their own cloud gaming streaming platform.
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