During yesterday's post-earnings (Q3 2018-2019) conference call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot provided an explanation for the recent decision to only deliver Tom Clancy's The Division 2 via UPlay and the Epic Games Store on PC, leaving Steam out of the picture.
According to Guillemot, it was actually done mainly to increase exposure to UPlay.
There are a growing number of distribution platforms fighting for great content. With this deal, we saw an opportunity to increase player exposure to our own store while at the same time supporting a partner that greatly values our games and provides better terms. Early indications are supportive, as PC pre-orders are higher than for the first Division, and pre-orders on the Ubisoft store are six times higher. We believe this deal is a long-term positive for Ubisoft.
During the conference call, Ubisoft executives also boasted record user numbers during the Closed Beta event, with an average of over five hours played over the course of the weekend.
Tom Clancy's The Division 2 is set for release on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 15th. Earlier this week, Ubisoft confirmed that an Open Beta test will take place on all platforms from March 1st to March 4th, allowing everyone to get a taste of the game just one week before launch.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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