Ubisoft recently signed a major deal with Microsoft for cloud-streaming rights, and Ubisoft’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, sounds pretty bullish on the prospects for game streaming in the future. Speaking to FT, Guillemot said streaming in the video game world could follow a similar path that film and television did with Netflix.
Guillemot pointed out that Netflix’s big bet on streaming did not pay off right away, and that might be similar for games.
“When Netflix first said it was going to go into streaming, their shares fell a lot and they were widely criticized,” Guillemot said. “Today we see what they have become. It’s going to be the same with video games but it will take time. But when it takes off, it will happen very quickly.”
In the next 5-10 years, so around 2028-2033, Guillemot said he believes “many games will be streaming and will also be produced in the cloud.” This belief is what helped convince Ubisoft to sign the deal with Microsoft, he said.
Ubisoft’s deal with Microsoft gives Ubisoft the non-exclusive cloud streaming rights for Call of Duty and every other Activision Blizzard game for the next 15 years. Ubisoft owns and operates a game-streaming service called Ubisoft+ Cloud Gaming, which starts at $18/month.
Many other companies in gaming are invested, or investing more, into cloud gaming. Microsoft has its own cloud streaming service that lets you play Starfield on your iPhone. Sony also streams games over the cloud, and recently began streaming PS5 titles. Nvidia has its GeForce Now streaming service, and numerous other companies are getting involved or ramping up.
This was part of the reason why the UK’s CMA originally rejected Microsoft’s bid to buy Activision Blizzard. The concern was that Microsoft could make its games exclusive to its own cloud streaming services, but Microsoft has said it would not do this and now CMA has given the deal a provisional OK.
Beyond game-streaming services, in 2022, Ubisoft announced a new, cloud-powered game development technology called “Scalar” that the company says will allow developers to create “limitless” worlds. The company believes Scalar could change how games are made in the future, and some of its teams are already using the technology to build games.
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