What follows is just some random thoughts before walking away from SH5, I had decided before the DRM/OSP debate that I will watch and shoot as far as buying it goes..
I think that the concept of blaming anybody for this develpment is entirely out of place. UBISoft has made several decisions concerning SH5 that are unpopular with some of the hardcore subsimmer cadre but appear to be entirely in line with their corporate philosphy. Being as how they are, at least for now, doing extremely well, perhaps the management is neither as dumb or as blind as some here might believe.
Checking some of the gaming business sites out there (as opposed to the gamer sites) indicates that although overall sales by UBISoft have declined some, they remain high compared to competitors, evidence that management might be doing right by their shareholders who, from a corporate standpoint are the only ones they need to please.
Although the PC has the largest stable of titles it seems that the console market is where the money is and the target demographics for the big bucks are younger than average for the SubSim community. Aiming SH5 at young males with disposable income who live on the Internet every waking hour probably makes good businees sense and we have seen a number of posts throughout the SH5 topics from Forum members who fit this demographic to a tee.
It is possible that there may be some corporate affection for the Silent Hunter franchise, even if not a huge money winner it carried a loyal following and could probably be counted on to make some money. Now though, with sales in the billions, some money is probably not enough so re-imaging SH should not be unexpected.
By producing a truncated SH5 they can look to create longer term cash flow by introducing future add-ons at intervals, the major development costs for which have in all likelyhood already been expended. If the initial title tanks, little has been lost and they still own the Silent Hunter copyright, code and probably a number of other related copyrights to boot. Hanging on to these makes good sense since it prevents corporate rivals from producing a PC based sub sim without starting from scratch... Unlikely since it would involve big bucks for limited return.
If any of the above is accurate what we see in this SH5 saga is the way of the future for computer gaming. Others have pointed towards the tech issues but most seem so intent on casting the UBISoft management as evil incarnate that they forget the first duty of management is to create a return on investment for their shareholders. That's capitalism at work whether one agrees with it or not.
There's no blame for anybody in any of this. If you think you will like SH5, buy it and enjoy. If the OSP scheme sticks in your craw, suck it up or walk away, no harm no foul. SH3 and SH4 still have lots of life in them in my opinion.
Must admit though, the Das DRM flicks are well done!
Good Hunting
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