Gaming Distribution Platforms

Steam

As I’ve grown older, I’ve found less and less time to devote to video and computer games. With so many demands on my time, it’s hard to find more than half an hour or so to sit down and actually play through a level or two.

That’s why it’s frustrating to me when I have to deal with the current gaming landscape.

For example, I recently downloaded Anno 2070. I’d purchased it on Steam a couple months ago, and hadn’t had a chance to play it. I found myself with a couple hours of free time, so I hit the big “play” button in steam and….

Well, not exactly nothing. The game had to install a DirectX redistributable, in order to properly run. I can understand that. However, then it started telling me all about Ubisoft’s custom game delivery platform. It has its own community! Your games are available wherever you go!

“Oh, that’s not so bad,” I thought to myself. “They’re just hedging their bets against Steam causing them trouble.”

But the adverts continued, and became something more. “You need to register your game with us! You can’t play our game unless you create a username! Oh, lost your internet connection? Come back and talk to us once you are ready to deal.”

I spent 45 minutes from clicking play in Steam – a DRM-protected game distributor with a vibrant and prolific community – to actually attempting to start the game. By this point, I was decidedly soured on the whole experience. Their client didn’t work properly until I updated it, then once I updated the client I had to update the game again, then I had to validate registration, I think at some point I even had to whistle for them. What was supposed to be two hours of gaming fun turned into 45 minutes of frustration and hours of resentment.

And don’t get me wrong, I’m not just picking on Ubisoft. EA is of course notorious for this kind of garbage, with their Origin feces being smeared all over the gaming landscape like a baboon with a stomach flu. Never mind that I bought a physical copy of the game, that I chose a different distribution platform, or that I simply don’t want yet another corporate database to have more of my information. No, if I want to play these AAA blockbusters, then I need to toe the line and fork over my firstborn.

Listen to me closely, publishers: I DON’T WANT YOUR DISTRIBUTION PLATFORM. If you can’t trust your vendors in the first place, then don’t do business with them. As a consumer, I should not be punished because of your paranoia.

After this experience I’m loathe to purchase another Ubisoft game, which is sad because I know some people who work there. They are decent people, and don’t deserve to have their livelihoods impacted negatively by the choices of executives who have no clue whatsoever about how to do their jobs.

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