I wrote this letter to Mary Beth Hesnon, Corporate Media Relations Manager at Ubisoft's Worldwide Headquarters.
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Hello,
I apologize if English is not your first language, but it it the only language in which I am fluent.
I am writing you today in the hope that you are somehow not completely buried in work and just happen to have the time to read this message with a sense of leisure and at a relaxed pace. Please bear with me as I often take my time getting to the point of the matter. But also please believe me when I say that understanding the point I am trying to communicate to you today will add immensely to Ubisoft's success for years to come. I hope that through you this message will reach the people upon whom the notion I am trying to express will have the most impact.
I am writing you today as an average video game consumer. I'm 32 years old. I'm a father. And I have little to no hair. I own a car. My wife stays at home and and I am a professional. I enjoy music, the arts, and of course video games of various genres, one of which happens to be naval warfare simulation. I'm telling you these things about myself, not because I'm reaching out into the cyber dark for a long distance affair (joking, in case it wasn't otherwise obvious
). I'm telling you this because, like everyone out there, yourself included I'm sure, who has responsibilities beyond himself, herself, I need an escape. My escape happens to be in the hull of a U-boat.
We all need that place we can go to where we can innocently play out a facet of our personality that reality leaves no room for us to pursue. It is at that place, where our desire to be somewhere else, if only for the briefest of moments, that the video game gives us our satisfaction.
There is no role in life that compares to parenthood in its ability to so completely occupy our time. And rightly so. Our children deserve every minute we can spare, to love, nurture, and to introduce them to the world.
The same role is unmatched in the financial investment demanded of, and undertaken gladly by parents on behalf of their children, for the very same reasons. Briefly, time is tight and money is very tight. Both are valuable, hard earned commodities and parents do not pass them out freely, nor on a whim.
It is in those rare moments, when the kids are asleep, my wife is perhaps out for the evening with friends, and work starts late the next day, that I dare to load a game and escape to my chosen fantasy realm. The games I choose to play have been vetted, through articles and message forums, by game "experts" and average users. Titles do not randomly appear on my computer's hard drive. They are carefully selected investments. And like any prudent investor, my money and time follow my research.
A while back that research led me to Silent Hunter 3 and 4. WW2 naval combat was a well worn game genre when Silent Hunter 3 was released, more so for Silent Hunter 4. Silent Hunter 3 however contained a number of elements, many of which seem intangible, which gave the title its longevity. In other words, the desire and ability of the creators to produce a fantastic player experience emerged as the most dominant characteristic of the game, as opposed to the publisher's intention to profit from the title. I have played this game consistently since its release. Less so Silent Hunter 4 since the balance of the game seemed to favor both the player and Ubisoft's investors equally.
The characteristics of each category can initially be hard to define. But an afternoon spent perusing the major online communities devoted to a particular title would results in a list that cover's the highlights.
It is safe then to assume that a fair percentage of articulate video game consumers who enjoy sharing their experiences in an online community feel that it is in their best interest, and in the best interest of those who may not yet have purchased a particular title, to give an honest assessment of their gaming experience and suggest areas where patches or future addons or sequels may improve the user's experience and presumably increase sales.
Unfortunately, it appears that the Silent Hunter 5 project was a step in the other direction. Based upon Ubisoft's own media releases, and subsequent online reviews, it appears that Silent Hunter 5 failed to meet my criteria for a good entertainment investment. It's not that the game was overpriced per se. It simply seemed that the balance of the qualities described above favored profit, rather than user satisfaction.
That impression alone likely would not have been enough to prevent this brand loyal, genre loyal game fan from purchasing Silent Hunter 5. Sadly the only thing preventing me from purchasing the game right now is the DRM requirement to have a permanent online connection to play the game. Though this tool seems to have become the industry standard in piracy protection, users have complained about (admittedly rare) difficulties in communicating with Ubisoft's SH5 servers. The prospect of waiting for a clogged server to clear in order to play a SINGLE PLAYER game is simply unpalatable.
If this message were written by someone else, it might end here, perhaps with an expletive laden sign off and a promise to never purchase another Ubisoft product again.
Instead I offer something else. A way for your company to re-establish a relationship with the now aging generation of gamers who helped turn your company, and your entire industry into the great arena of opportunity that it has been for the past 15 years or so.
I'm not a sociologist, nor am I a professional statistician. But I am member of the first great video gamer generation. And now I'm a parent. And as more of your fans grow and mature, become professionals and get married, they too will learn how to balance parenthood with work, money, time, and of course, play. But their appetite for the escape afforded by gaming will remain.
Ubisoft stands at the threshold of an immense opportunity, to recognize and build a relationship of mutual interest with an emerging and growing demographic: mature gamers.
These people are smart, and incredibly savvy. They are responsible and financially prudent, but will invest their hard earned income if they genuinely feel it's worth it. They appreciate the efficiency and simplicity afforded by honest quality and inspired creativity. And people listen to them.
These people despise dishonesty, efficiencies motivated by cost cutting or any other marketing "tricks" that are often used to by corporations to compensate for a product's inherent or perceived weaknesses. And of course people listen to them.
What it all boils down to is trust. We, the mature gamers of the world, will gladly pay you millions of dollars in exchange for your video games. We simply ask that you trust us enough to be willing to do so, as we trust you to take our money and invest it, along with ALL of your heart, soul, creativity, ingenuity and inspiration, into every title you publish. You have the power to draw resources together to create amazing and exciting game experiences. You've done it before. Make sure the balance of your interest in producing your next title always falls on the side of inspiration, intelligent creativity and user satisfaction and you ought to see that profit will follow as a matter of course.
Mature gamers around the world want to play engaging games that challenge their intellect and let them escape to their "other places" if only for a little while. Simply make their investments of time and money worthwhile again and again and you will have a loyal consumer demographic locked in for decades to come.
I guarantee it.
Cheers
Me
Committed U-Boat Skipper