If Ubisoft gets their way, I fear for gaming

"Ubisoft Exec Says Gamers Need To Get Comfortable With "Not Owning Your Games"

Me: Well that exec can "Get comfortable" with gamers not buying their games.

This kind of anti-consumer shit is why piracy is on the rise, and some of the most successful indie studios right now have DRM free options, physical editions, and consumer friendly practices.

https://www.thegamer.com/ubisoft-plus-subscription-exec-gamers-need-to-get-comfortable-with-not-owning-your-games/

In the article they speak at length about gamers getting used to not having physical editions to store on their shelves, then jump straight into telling gamers to get on board with Netflix style services etc. Xbox Games Pass. With all save data still being viable even if you drop the game.

Now anyone who has seen the reports, or been on any of these Netflix styled services might know, content hosted on these services is subject to removal due to a variety of reasons. Licencing agreements can run out, weather it be between the platform and the publisher, or licenced music within a game that couldn't get patched out, or even the collapse of a studio/publisher. And in some cases a low player count which we have seen a few times.



When many of us in the retro spheres talk about game preservation and having physical copies of games. We don't always mean the typical boxed versions that that desire for physical copies can sometimes be pictured as. There are many different ways of having physical backups. DVDRs, CDRs, USB sticks, HDDs, and SSDs are all forms of physical media that "digital only" games can be stored on to have a physical backup. I have many games backed up on HDDs that have no DRM, many of them are console games I use to keep for future play when my original copies finally bite the dust. 



Please keep these terrible ideas about the future of gaming from becoming the only method. Support DRM free options that you can back up, support emulation, physical media where possible, and keep gaming as something you can do more than just pay for.
Otherwise you might just find gaming become just as homogenised and washed out as TV currently is, while being unable to experience any of it without an internet connection.