Ubisoft announce PC and Stadia subscription service Uplay+
Coming in September for PC and 2020 for Stadia
Yesterday, Google's Phil Harrison teased that publisher subscriptions were coming to Stadia "in relatively short order", and he really wasn't kidding. Tonight, Ubisoft announced Uplay+, a $15 / 15€ per month subscription service that's coming to both PC this September and Stadia in 2020 - although if you sign up before August 15, you can try it for free for its first month.
With Uplay+, you'll get unlimited access to over 100 games in Ubisoft's back catalogue as well as new releases and all their accompanying DLC. That also includes any expansions released further down the line, plus everything included a game's premium editions, such as extra item packs and early access to beta trials before release. Here's a trailer showing it all off:
There's no word just yet on UK pricing, but given the parity of dollars and Euros so far, I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being £15/month as well. That's quite a lot for a monthly subscription - especially compared to something like Xbox Game Pass for PC, which is just £10 / $10 per month - and will be a particularly hard pill to swallow on top of a Stadio Pro subscription as well.
I mean, that's £180 a year, which is roughly the same cost as three full-priced Ubisoft games. Do you buy three full-priced Ubisoft games a year? I know I certainly don't (especially when Ubi games end up being discounted so quickly after launch), although I guess Tom Clancy fanatics may well say otherwise.
The idea of dipping in Ubisoft's back catalogue might be appealing for a bit, too, but when the only confirmed games of that ilk stretch to Child of Light, Prince of Persia Classic, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Rayman Legends and Beyond Good & Evil so far - a good handful of which I already own and have played as much as I'm ever going to - Ubisoft are going to have to show a much stronger hand to tempt their existing fans to buy into it.
Still, if you've got your eye on Watch Dogs: Legion, Ghost Recon Breakpoint and Ubisoft's newly announced Roller Champions coming out this year, a Uplay+ subscription might just make a bit of sense.
Personally, I'm still holding out for that Square Enix subscription I mentioned yesterday. While I've played a lot of Ubisoft's back catalogue, Square Enix has a much deeper well of potential indie gems that I've yet to explore. I guess we'll find out in just a couple of hours time.
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