Well this* could be interesting even though it looks like a mixture of
facts, opinion and speculation and I can't find any other source for it. There's a lot about finances/shares but the parts I found interesting are:

- Day 1 for Steam: I can see why companies look at the share that Steam
takes compared to other digital store fronts but you've got to ask how
much does it hurt their overall sales even for the real big hitters.

- Paid early release to go: That's got to be a good thing and I find it
really irritating that they are just look for another way to try and get
more money out of you. The irony is it's quite possible that you pay to
be a free tester and then when there's an emergence patch after a week
for the main release you lose all the progress that you've made.

- Battle passes to go: This one seems a bit more sketchy on the details
but it looks like it's going to be replaces with DLC's that you can buy
when you want and pre-orders get the first one free.

If this is really what's happening then I think it's a good thing as
even though I have very little interest in their games maybe it's the
start of big companies seeing trying to screw money out of your
customers at every turn isn't a great strategy and selling games that
people just enjoying playing is. Of course it could be more just to get
the share price up in the short term after it tanked this year.

Here's a quote** "Our second quarter performance fell short of our expectations, prompting us to address this swiftly and firmly, with an
even greater focus on a player-centric, gameplay-first approach and an unwavering commitment to the long-term value of our brands."

*with an even greater focus on a player-centric, gameplay-first
approach* - well that's a pretty low bar to meet!

The slightly depressing part is that if this is what's going to happen
as a longer term strategy I'm basically pleased that a company isn't
trying to wring as much money as possible out of people.

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2nc4C4nYL4

** https://staticctf.ubisoft.com/8aefmxkxpxwl/5U6140Jg0IaqobyAIIEawC/af3b587a1c81f379d57bc64eefdd0285/PR_Trading_update_25092024_final.pdf

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