Ubisoft’s Discounted Game Strategy Explained

It might infuriate you when a game goes on sale after you just bought it for a higher price. This could happen to any consumer buying something that isn’t on sale. Many stores have a policy, but that’s a major headache to deal with. Plus, the policies usually only cover up to 14 days. It’s no wonder some strange Ubisoft discounts are angering fans paying full price for the studio’s games.

If you purchased Watch Dogs: Legion, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, or Immortals: Phoenix Rising at launch, then you paid $60. It’s crazy, but within weeks of all three of these games coming out, discounts slashed prices by up to 50%. Valhalla didn’t drop much lower than $40 but Legion and Immortals: Phoenix Rising hit $30 regularly throughout the holiday season. I’ve seen a lot of people mad about it online, so I’m hoping we can break down why this is happening.

Essentially, the people who buy a game within the first few weeks of a new release are a sub-sect of consumers. These are people relatively interested in the game who desire to play it. They usually know the series well or have seen enough marketing around the game to convince them. Then, the next sub-sect of people are those who only purchase a certain game if it is on sale. This second group is monumentally larger than the first. So, it begs the question, why pay full price for a game?

Overall, if you want to play a game right away, you probably have a vested interest in the title. I don’t know many people trying games with little knowledge of them by paying full price. I pay full price for a select few games at this point. Otherwise, I wait for a discount. I fall into the category for Assassin’s Creed titles, for example, of consumers who wait for a discount on the Gold Edition which includes DLC. This means I might have to wait up to a year to buy a game, but hey, it’s the price you pay for waiting. Or, I guess in this case, the price you don’t pay.

Do you buy certain games as soon as they release? If so, then let us know in the comments which series or game was a must-have on day one.