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Ubisoft+ rebrands its $18 premium tier and adds an $8 Classics option

Activision Blizzard games will eventually join the lineup.

Ubisoft

Ubisoft is revamping its games subscription service by rebranding its premium multi-platform plan and adding a less-expensive tier on PC. The company is merging Ubisoft+ Multi-Access and PC Access into Ubisoft+ Premium. The new PC tier is called Ubisoft+ Classics. Ubisoft says there will be no automatic changes for existing PC Access subscribers, whose plan will remain the same at current pricing.

Ubisoft+ Premium will still run you $18 per month (that's $1 more per month than Game Pass Ultimate, fact fans). It includes access to the premium versions of Ubisoft games, all expansions and monthly rewards. Most importantly, you'll be able to play new Ubisoft games on the day they drop. Select games will be available in early access too. For instance, if you sign up now, you can immediately check out Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which Ubisoft won't officially release until January 18.

What's more, an Ubisoft+ Premium subscription works across Xbox, PC and Amazon Luna. So you might chip away at Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on your PC during the work day (we won't tell your boss), continue where you left off on your Xbox after dinner and then wind down for the day by flying around on the back of an ikran on your phone when you're in bed.

Alongside the Ubisoft+ Premium shake up, the company has unveiled Ubisoft+ Classics on PC. This includes access to a collection of "popular back-catalog and live games" for $8 per month. Titles available include Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Siege and Watch Dogs: Legion. It's worth noting that PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers have access to the Ubisoft+ Classics lineup at no extra cost.

Ubisoft's head of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, says that Ubisoft+ has outperformed the publisher's expectations in terms of membership numbers. "We've seen millions of players since launch, and they've enjoyed over 600 million hours of play," Tremblay told the Ubisoft blog. Tremblay added that the company decided to introduce Ubisoft+ Classics as "we think it's a strong offer at the price point, and the catalog will only grow as we keep adding games to it as time goes on, so players can discover even more of our worlds.”

While the pricing of the respective services may be off putting for some, it's worth bearing in mind that Microsoft sold the cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft in an attempt to appease regulators (it worked). Back in August, Ubisoft said the agreement meant that its subscribers will eventually be able to stream Activision Blizzard games. Ubisoft hasn't yet shared a timeline for adding those titles to its service. "We're working on the offering right now to make sure it's the best possible experience for our subscribers, and we'll have more to share later," Tremblay said.

Update 1/18 9:50AM ET: This story and its headline have been updated to make it clearer that Ubisoft already offered two Ubisoft+ options and that the Premium price hasn't changed.