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Are you a PC gamer who's excited to get your hands on the upcoming survival action game I Am Alive? Oh, well I'm sorry but Ubisoft just doesn't think you're that interested in buying it...and you can thank 'Piracy' for that.


Speaking to IncGamers, creative director Stanislas Mettra stated that there are currently no plans to bring the game to PC because of fears that only Pirates will steal the game, and the last thing he wants to hear is any of your incessant 'bitching' over the issue.


"We've heard loud and clear that PC gamers are bitching about there being no version for them...But are these people just making noise just because there's no version or because it's a game they actually want to play? Would they buy it if we made it?"


Though on one hand it's a breath of fresh air to hear a developer not blame used game sales for once, I simply cannot accept that piracy is so bad that developers are now in the mood to just abandon the platform altogether.  In fact, just thinking about how much money I'll probably be spending on the upcoming Steam Autmn sale leads me to believe that Mr. Mettra is probably talking out of his ass on this one.  Especially when he lays out this gem.


"It's hard because there's so much piracy and so few people are paying for PC games that we have to precisely weigh it up against the cost of making it," he said. "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 would like to put that "so few people are paying for PC games" next to the Steam Autumn sales numbers if they are ever released. I bet that even Blizzard would like to weigh in on this one.


If Ubisoft Shanghai simply doesn't have the resources to make a proper PC port then fine, but man-up and state that. Say that 'it's not in the cards right now' or, if you feel the need to dangle a carrot out there, say that a PC port is probably dependant on sales numbers for the console versions. But to simply abandon the platform under false pretenses, and then tell disappointed gamers that they are 'bitching' for not being able to buy your product is just dishonest cowardice, plain and simple.


Maybe if Mr.Mettra did a little less 'bitching' of his own he could find a way to bring his product to the people who wanted it.  Of course, sometimes it's just easier to blame the boogeyman.

Comments

  • Avatar
    republictiger
    12 years, 4 months ago

    Piracy is bad, really bad. You just don't know :V
    How about start a paid subscription for the 4PP podcasts and then lets see how many of us pirate it :D

  • Avatar
    Mete
    12 years, 4 months ago

    Pretty sure their pants-on-head retarded DRM is just as bad for sales as piracy is.

  • Avatar
    CrossOutlaw
    12 years, 4 months ago

    Theres a lot of piracy because fucking ubisoft games are usually horrible pc ports with drm up the ass. Everyone whose has ever bought a legit pc game from ubisoft knows how thier "anit-piracy" measures only really hurt ppl with legit copys. Ppl who pirate can still find ways to pirate ubisoft games without all the hassle from the drm's. The drm alone is a incentive to pirate the game even more because when u buy a legit copy u get fucked. Which is why i never bought AC2....i still played it, but buying legit is never a good thing with ubisoft games for pc

  • Avatar
    J52
    12 years, 4 months ago

    I can understand that. I'm not big on pirating, but on the other hand, I don't want to give U-B-Dicks any money.

  • Avatar
    hitheresunshine
    12 years, 4 months ago

    Initiate damage control sequence!!

  • Avatar
    erumaro87
    12 years, 4 months ago

    “We’ve heard loud and clear that PC gamers are bitching about there being no version for them…But are these people just making noise just because there’s no version or because it’s a game they actually want to play? Would they buy it if we made it?”

    Yes, if it's on Steam for a decent price (and I'm not broke), I WOULD buy that game if it looks interesting.

  • Avatar
    ninjaclown
    12 years, 4 months ago

    He's right, you know. Thousands of people prefer to pirate games instead of buying them . Sure, you people say you would buy them, but there's nothing forcing you to prove that, game producers can't just listen to you and take your word that you will buy it.

  • Avatar
    Questionable
    12 years, 4 months ago

    He's right that people pirate games. He's dead wrong that it makes PC games unprofitable. Steam games sell buttloads. That's all the "proof" needed. And FYI Console games are not only pirated too, they are usually pirated first.

  • Avatar
    WingZero
    12 years, 4 months ago

    "If only 50,000 people buy the game then it’s not worth it.”

    I dunno...For a PC port, that is a pretty good number. No doubt that PC games have piracy issues. However, it is not like developers/publishers are immune to it on consoles. Last I checked, you could play copied games on consoles (well...less likely on PS3, I think).

    As for this game, I don't care if it is on PC or not. I got many other better games on my "Must-Play" list.

  • Avatar
    lemith
    12 years, 4 months ago

    Thanks for the article!

  • Avatar
    Zladko
    12 years, 4 months ago

    PC game sales have never dropped because of piracy, they have even risen because of steam. It only seems low when compared to the amount sold on consoles.

    If Ubisoft would just stop fucking over the people who legitimately buy their games with DRM, maybe THEY wouldn't bitch so much.

  • Avatar
    Mr. Grim
    12 years, 4 months ago

    Maybe I'm not getting it because I hate PC gamers as a whole. Nine times out of ten they have this over-zealous pride over playing their games on the PC, as opposed to playing on consoles. And what's worse is piracy is much more rampant in PC gaming, so these people are saying they're proud to be part of an industry that they do not support as a whole. I'm not saying all PC gamers are like this, but I'm actually glad that Ubisoft had the balls to tell them what's up. Maybe if they spent less time pirating their games while spending thousands upgrading their PC every year, and more time actually supporting the market, this wouldn't happen. Bravo Ubisoft, I applaud you.

  • Avatar
    CrossOutlaw
    12 years, 4 months ago

    STEAM sale started ppl!!!!!! Portal 2 for $10?! Go! Go! Go!

  • Avatar
    Setho
    12 years, 4 months ago

    Piracy is bad m'kay.

  • Avatar
    Macsen246
    12 years, 4 months ago

    “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.”
    Let us see. That would mean the only major costs there are paying the 12 guys porting this. They need 3 months worth of pay. 50,000 times 50 (the price pc games seem to be averaged at) divided by 90 (the days in the three months) Divided by 12 (for the guys) we get... 2314.81 dollars per person per day. Now I know their salary ain't gonna be quite that good so there is massive potential for profit there. He should have come up with a smaller number for that line. 50,000 is a good number anyway.

  • Avatar
    Iki Iki Tchikiriupow
    12 years, 4 months ago

    Legit copy of Ubisoft game... can't play because of drm.
    Pirated copy of Ubisoft game... can play crystal clear.
    Hmmm... choices... choices... difficult chocies...

    Seriously, Ubisoft's campaign against pirates did, and still do, more damage to their clients than to the actual said pirates, meaning the former is shrinking while the later is blossoming. Why hasn't anybody in this offices thought of changing their approach to a plan that clearly doesn't show the expected results?

    Maybe they aren't putting efforts on the right variables of the problems...

  • Avatar
    Vespero
    12 years, 4 months ago

    And this is why I have no respect at all for Ubisoft. Punishing current, legitimate customers as well as vilifying both current and potential ones, all the while placing red targets on their games in their so-called attempts to combat piracy, which only serve to encourage it. Not to mention their abilities - or lack thereof - regarding criticism. I already knew they couldn't take it; now I know they can't dish it out very well, either. (In reference to the "lack" of PC game purchases)

    Ubisoft? More like n00bisoft.

    I might even decide against buying Far Cry 3 if they've still kept up that moronic roadblock they call their DRM/Online Services Platform. Or at least, I'll abstain from obtaining the game until there's a version that lets rightful players avert those roadblocks available.

  • Avatar
    Wasse
    12 years, 4 months ago

    A free2play module combats pirating games. Probably why it's so successful because pirating it would make no sense.

  • Avatar
    Comradebearjew
    12 years, 4 months ago

    Well Ubisoft really shot themselves in the foot with this one.

  • Avatar
    Actionreplay
    12 years, 4 months ago

    It seems that Ubisoft thinks we have control over what the pirate community does.

  • Avatar
    Ducknow31
    12 years, 4 months ago

    It's not like this is shaping up to be a good game anyways. Besides, PC gamers, it's not like everygame has to go your way. Sure, the reasoning this guy gave isn't top notch, but come on. console gamers don't get every game, you don't have to either.

  • Avatar
    CrazyDude927
    12 years, 4 months ago

    Love how no one sees this from the manufacturers perspective. If they make it for PC and lose money because too many people pirate it, then they lose out. If they don't make it for PC and make solid profit they look like idiots to everyone. Don't whine just because they are making a decision to benefit the company, keep in mind they are trying to keep from losing money. If they do this instead of making online pass codes or millions of DLC's that cost 15 dollars per then you shouldn't complain, and especially not call them all "idiots" and "retards".

  • Avatar
    Vandell
    12 years, 4 months ago

    The Ubisoft director backpedaled faster than a kid on a pedalboat just recently, but by this point, I couldn't give less of a fuck if I tried. I've taken to simply not buying Ubisoft products any longer, because it's pretty clear they couldn't give a single fuck about PC.

    Let alone shoddy ports and restrictive DRM, their developers also seem to carry spite towards anything PC related. Since the guy was being grilled by media, he spoke without PR restrictions.. and it was clearly something he genuinely believes to be true, regardless of the facts.

    (The facts being that piracy helps advertisement and sales of great games that are reasonably priced via word of mouth. But if your game is junk, expect it to be downloaded.)

  • Avatar
    sonnythegreat
    12 years, 4 months ago

    i would buy it if it was on steam or something. but now i have no other choice then call it a shit game.

  • Avatar
    TheFlameLurker
    12 years, 4 months ago

    Fuck you Ubisoft, I just want to through out there that I bought a legit copy of Assassin's Creed 2 when I saw it go on sale despite my better judgement. You know what the issue is with that? I can't even fucking play it because your shitty DRM will not even allow me to boot up the game. Know what I did to solve that problem? I pirated the shit out of it.

  • Avatar
    shortbus
    12 years, 4 months ago

    I would pirate it just to spite them after that comment.

  • Avatar
    Kakashi1090
    12 years, 4 months ago

    I won't lie. Piracy is a pretty big deal. God only knows how many people pirate large releases like Skyrim and COD. However, It is not like everyone does it. In fact a whole lot of people buy these games because Steam has so many sales on games it isn't even funny. I do not know much about specific developers and what they do. But I do know that piracy is not so big it should be the ONLY reason not to release a game to a console. It isn't like people don't mod their xbox or PS3...

  • Avatar
    Rob
    12 years, 4 months ago

    ubisoft sucks a fat meat pole anyway, all their high end "AAA" game are completley boring and i wouldnt expect anything less from "i am alive". assassins creed= repetitive and boring gameplay, spinter cell conviction= gimmicky limited steath options,and repetitive and boring gameplay, Far cry 2= repetitive and boring, it goes all the way down the line and i have yet to play a ubisoft, especially ubisoft montreal, game that kept my interest for more than an hour or 2. They are just saving us money on something that will most likely follow thir boring formula.

  • Avatar
    Lazysitter
    12 years, 4 months ago

    Way to go Joseph!!!!!! Tell it like it is!

  • Avatar
    Sickbrain
    12 years, 4 months ago

    Every time I make a decision to support developers and buy a game for PC I'm getting burned by shitty, buggy, unfinished console port. Even Skyrim falls in to that category (thanks to moders it looks like a true PC title now). I pirate usually because I know I'll be bored of a game in 2 hours. Pirated Duke Forever, played for an hour maybe before uninstalling. Pirated Mass Effect and ended up purchasing it. Maybe they need to release more demos on PCs.
    As for I Am Alive (never heard of this game before), why they fuck is anyone even trying to make a new survival horror games after Amnesia release?