Uplay
Uplay was created by both Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment in July 3, 2012, as a digital store, DRM, multiplayer, and communications service. It was released alongside Assassin's Creed 2, and replaced the Ubisoft Game Launcher Launcher. The client allows players to connect with others and earn units for awards while playing, which can be used to unlock game related rewards and vouchers. This can also be used to buy from the store to a certain degree. It's provided across numerous consoles, platforms, and mobile. It's primarily used for Ubisoft games, though Uplay store also sells a few non-Ubisoft games there. Responses to this new platform is generally negative, usually being compared with its competitors.
Uplay +
Uplay + was announced in E3 at June 10, 2019, it's an optional subscription fee to pay $14.99 monthly, just to get bonus perks of seeing games before release, accessing and automatic inclusions to beta programs, early access, and additional DLCs, and accessing over 100 games, including most of the premium editions. For the time being, it's being beta and tested on PC. The games can be downloaded for free at no additional cost, saved the monthly price. Fortunately, gamers can end their subscription at any time and to prevent from being charged.
Ubisoft Club
Ubisoft Club replaces Uplay Win, which clarifies what its role is and how it relates to Uplay. It's a reward program were gamers can earn rewards by just playing the games that are published by Ubisoft. Completing in game actions, like challenges, gives units, which are used for rewards and getting discounts from the Uplay Store. The mobile app has some features that differ, like the personal gaming assistant known as Sam, unlocking more awards, the ability to add friends, and getting alerts to weekly challenges/special events. During when Uplay Win was transitioning with Ubisoft Club, there is no major changes.
Ubisoft Store/Ubiworkshop
Both of these stores manages and sells The Merch and video games pertaining to all things Ubisoft, mostly, since non-Ubisoft games even appeared to being sold as well. Buying things from Ubiworkshop also gives customers "Units" to use for digital rewards. The Ubiworkshop is a separate branch that also makes short movies, comics, artbooks, and other media and merch that are inspired by their games.
- 100% Completion: When players complete the game 100%, they get an award that's called "Show Me the Money!" [1]
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: Played straight.
- Allegedly Free Game: Sometimes Ubisoft offers games for free for special occasions, like during their 30th anniversary.
- Can't Drop the Client: Played straight for recent PC versions of Ubisoft games, beginning with Assassin's Creed 2.
- Averted with their console games, where Uplay is just demoted to being optional, unless one wants to get those achievements and socialization perks.[2]
- Averted for very few of their games, like Brothers In Arms: Earned in Blood, the first Assassin's Creed game, and indie games are release in other pc clients without Uplay.
- Averted again when buying a third-party title from the Uplay store, they do not need the platform.
- Cosmetic Award: Most of the games have achievements which also gives these.
- Averted. Some of the older games found within Uplay don't have achievements to unlock.
- Digital Avatar: Images or customizable images that can be chosen for the profile.
- Digital Distribution
- DLC: Comes with the territory, being a Steam clone and all.
- Though some are exclusive only to Uplay.
- DRM: The client is similar to Steam, Blizzard Battle.Net, and Origin, where the player buys and launches games from the application.
- Everything Is Online: Played straight when Uplay first came out, one needs the client if they want to play a Ubisoft game, even if they're single player games at times.
- Averted. When Ubisoft quietly lifted the always online part, they changed it to a single validation upon launching a game.
- Expy: Of the Battle.net client.
- Good Bad Bugs
- Game Breaking Bug
- Going Mobile: Ubisoft Club has a mobile version.
- Hacked by a Pirate: In 2012, it was discovered by a Google Information security Engineer that Uplay poses a huge security risk.
- Idiot Programming: See Uplay's entry on this page.
- Internet Backdraft: When it first came out.
- Justified Trope: Uplay is a extremely buggy mess, even to this day.
- Also, there was little to no customer support back then.
- Always online, which includes not starting games without an extremely good internet connection.
- Uplay's early days which includes the March denial of service attacks, which rendered some games unplayable, like Silent Hunter 5 and Assassin's Creed 2.
- Uplay Passport, which was introduce in Driver San Francisco, is a $10 online pass to access online multiplayer, bonus content, and a whole lot more.
- Until it was discontinued starting with Black Flag.
- And then there was the alleged rootkit aspect of the program.
- Uplay+, gamers are already in droves attacking the paid subscription, stating that its too pricey compared to its rivals and worst, most gamers are too broke to afford paying monthly. Or in a milder sense, "Where's the console version?!?"
- Justified Trope: Uplay is a extremely buggy mess, even to this day.
- Indie Games: Uplay has these games in their store as well, like "Child of Light", "Sundered", and Grow Up."
- It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY": It's "U" then "Play," not "Uhplay."
- The Lancer: Today, usually regarded as the annoying one to Steam's The Hero. But to some gamers, Uplay is more of a questionable token evil teammate.
- Memetic Mutation: Both of Uplay's old and new flaws, like those mention above, are now memes.
- "U(Can't)Play"
- Two relevant words: Potato servers.
- "Ubisoft fix your shit!"
- All Sales Are Final: Buying video games digitally from the Uplay store is this.[5]
- The Merch: Puts new meaning to Fanservice.
- The Nicknamer: Players can nickname those on their friend list. This can result in Embarrassing Nickname, Only Known by Their Nickname, Ironic Nickname, and many others.
- No Export for You: Certain skins, missions, weapons, and even video games, like Ode, are only exclusive to Uplay.
- Any lock content that used to be behind Uplay Passport, now the latter is a thing of the past and patch out, resulting in players not needing it to get access of Uplay Passport's previous lock goodies.
- For the time being Uplay+ won't be available on consoles, until Google's Stadia gets theirs in 2020 as its earliest.
- Uplay+ isn't available in certain countries, until in the foreseeable future, some examples are Thailand, Peru, and Uruguary, to just to name a few. Other countries won't even have Uplay+ at all due to regulatory reasons that are beyond the French company's control, like Crimea, Sebastopol, Sudan, and South Sudan.
- Online Alias: Gamers' used these as their alias.
- Retro Gaming: Any game known as part of the Ubisoft Legacy counts, like Brothers In Arms: Road to Hill 30, I Am Alive, and Beyond Good and Evil.
- Revenue Enhancing Devices: Uplay Passport was basically an online pass that costs $10 and has players enter a code, just to access the multiplayer mode, bonus features, and other cool stuff.
- Obvious Beta: Gamers can test out new and never before release games to help Ubisoft test and fix the bugs that are found within them, these are called Playtest, Beta, and Alpha.
- Uplay's actual early days can also count as this, though now there's an official forum on how to make Uplay better.
- Oddly-Overtrained Security: Ubisoft's reasons for using Google Authenicator for most things Uplay security-wise.
- Socialization Bonus: Achievements in certain games, like Assassin's Creed III for example, are unlocked when one plays in the multiplayer.
- Scoring Points: Uplay's Units are this, gamers can get them by playing games and buying merchandise. The Units are used to redeem rewards, like skins, weapons, and the like.[6]
- Stat Grinding: Inverted. The newer games has stats now, so players can keep track of their progress.
- Swiss Cheese Security: Played straight, when Uplay first came out.[7]
- Unlockable Content: The Ubisoft Club Rewards are these, some are free, others need to be unlocked via Units, some need to complete activities in game(s).
- In Game Currency: The Club Units, which functions akin to points or tokens. They can be used to redeem stuff like free yet exclusive rewards.
- We Sell Everything: Averted, since Uplay and Ubiworkshop only sell Ubisoft games and merch.
- Somewhat averted, since some games, like Sundered, and earlier games by EA, Warner Bros, IC Company, and such are being sold there.
- What Do You Mean It's Not Cosmetic?: Invoking this heavily, since the redeemable items are usually the Cool Sword, BFGs, and such, which can be used in game.
Tropes Pretaining to Sam
- Computer Voice: Sam is this.
- Cosmetic Awards: Some of the cosmetics and skins are ONLY "talk to Sam" exclusives, they can only be unlock and obtain by socializing with the bot.
- Also, not pertaining to Sam, in general, just having the Ubisoft Club app installed and link to one's gaming account results in unlocking exclusive cosmetic awards.
- Embarrassing Nickname: The devs sometimes call Sam "Clubby."
- The Jeeves
- Lighter and Softer: The "LOLZ protocols," which are designed to be funny and to lightening things up a bit, especially in a serious game (like "Tom Clancy's The Division.")
- Robot Buddy: Ubisoft describes Sam as this and a gaming assistant. [8]
- The Matchmaker: Ever since Sam was given a Tinder-like feature called, Ubimine, she can pair players with Ubisoft characters.
- Though hilarity can ensure.
- Meaningful Name: Sam, the friendly AI, was named in honor of Sam Fisher.
- No Export for You: Sam's only available in the mobile version of the Ubisoft Club app.
- Obvious Beta: Sam, the AI bot, is going through this.
- Unlockable Content: See Sam's "Cosmetic Awards" examples.
