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Exclusive Demo Releases

by Steve Gibson, Nov 14, 2002 4:29pm PST
Related Topics – Demo

Ourselves at Fileshack, the guys at 3DGamers, and many other file pages have received a cease and desist order from Ubi Soft authored by GameSpy asking us to remove the Raven Shield demo. GameSpy has a signed exclusive arrangement with Ubi Soft so the Ubi Soft community manager is stuck with the job of trying to enforce this. We would like to apologize to Shack readers for not being able to serve the demo to the public until the 21st. Exclusive demo releases have always been a sore spot for gamers online, and luckily for us we have made some very tremendous strides in eliminating this practice. I have in fact just finished talks with EA games today and we will be sporting files such as the Sims Online playtest and Earth & Beyond playtest among many other files. (You may recall the Spearhead demo was slated as an exclusive demo release, but we got to EA and got that changed) I have gotten similar commitments from other major publishers. Exclusive file arrangements hurt companies, hurt gamers, and only feed bitterness among communities and between enthusiast websites and publishers. We are working very hard to share with publishers the frustrations of gamers that practices like this cause. Well the rough ride is nearly complete, and you almost certainly wont see something like this from Ubi Soft or many other publishers much longer, if at all.


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108 Threads | 300 Comments*
  • #282
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    By: Cpt. Baseballbat x
    Reply
    Thank you Shack. I was just talking to a friend a couple days ago about how utterly stupid all of these "exclusive" demos that Gamespy/Fileplanet have been grabbing up are for both them, and the game companies. I don't know about the rest of you, but when the wait times are an hour or more, I'm not gonna wait by my computer to download a demo. And if I don't download the demo, I'm likely not going to buy the game. ASE not being able to support certain games because they are exclusive Gamespy games? Good thing they aren't games I plan on playing.

    My opinion, if Gamespy/Fileplanet keeps it up, they'll be the next ones in court for anti-competitive acts.

    Just more reasons for me to get out the crowbar, pry open my wallet, and put some money toward ASE and Fileshack.

    Thanks again guys.
    Nov 15, 2002 8:52am PST
  • #277
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    By: V0lk x
    Reply
    This is an official cease and desist notice. You are in direct violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

    The demo file for Ubi Soft(r) Entertainment's Raven Shield is owned exclusively by Ubi Soft(r) Entertainment, and by distributing the demo file to the public you are jeopardizing an exclusive agreement between Ubi Soft(r) Entertainment and GameSpy Industries.

    Ubi Soft(r) Entertainment orders you to immediately remove the file from your site, Shacknews, as you are in violation of statutory digital copyright laws and liable for fines of up to $100,000, in addition to financial ramifications stemming from breach of contract commitments between Ubi Soft(r) Entertainment and GameSpy Industries.

    This file will be exclusive to Ubi Soft(r) Entertainment and GameSpy Industries through November 21st, when you may again post the Raven Shield Demo.
    Nov 15, 2002 6:49am PST
  • #227
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    By: teluial x
    Reply
    I have an even better idea! How about if we just don't see another Ubisoft demo ever again! I have a distaste for a lot of the crap demos that have been popping up lately… fileshack shouldn't have to waste disk space on low grade products like Raven Shield. I've yet to see a good Ubisoft game... there's just a lack of grey matter in their offices — minus the lead paint.

    This sounds like a great time for a feature request! Can I block Ubisoft news? I figure that'll cut 1/3 of the crap demo/crap screenshots/crap Q&A/crap gamespy articles that I thoroughly enjoy ignoring already.

    Now, I love fileshack and shacknews. They're the last bastion of honourable news, reviews, and file hosting. I suppose I'm simply being snobby. Shacknews covering Ubisoft is kind of like CNN covering timecube.
    Nov 14, 2002 8:21pm PST
  • #159
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    By: cacktrot x
    Reply
    I think we all agree that exclusive demos are bad, but they don't have to be. Having an exlusive demo for one week should be the culprit. That's a long time for the internet. One week is way too much time for people to set up other channels to distribute the demo, like personal mirrors that can vanish without a trace or even p2p solutions that will likely give less than desireble download speeds. Which can reflect poorly on a publisher and the game they are trying to promote. I would like to see exclusives that last no longer than twenty-four hours. By the time the 24 hour exclusive has expired, other sites would be ready to start serving the file, if there is even a need to do so. The publisher will be happy that people will be able to get their demo from a trusted site, the community would be happy because they can find out initial impressions and then decide to download in the first 24 hours or wait until more sites have the file available, and the website that has the exclusive would be happy because they're serving the file first and possibily increasing their membership numbers. Plus people, hopefully, won't hurl stones at them because the time of exclusitivity isn't that long.

    yeah, who am i kidding?
    Nov 14, 2002 6:09pm PST

    Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.