[Update: Ghost Recon: Future Soldier IS coming to PC!]

Based on their obsession with DRM and franchise-wide online passes one could assume that Ubisoft is a big proponent of anti-piracy measures. They’ve provided a few inconveniences here and there, and even backed down in a few cases, but ultimately the UPlay Passport is here to stay. But what if Ubisoft’s fear of piracy is preventing one of its more highly anticipated games from reaching the widest range of gamers possible? Such is the case with Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.

While Ubisoft has long since known to be a publisher/developer who likes to cater to both console and PC gamers, they have decided not to go that route with Future Soldier, citing piracy as the biggest reason. In their mind, the PC port wouldn’t even receive the full amount of development attention it needed, and then would end up being spread around the Internet — a lose/lose situation.

Part of this discovery on Ubisoft’s part comes because of their findings with Ghost Recon Online — a free-to-play PC-only experience. With that game, Ubisoft discovered that if you give people a game for “free” then they are less likely to find it on torrent sites — essentially it keeps the barrier to entry low.

But with a fully-fledged release like Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, there is no way Ubisoft could eat those costs. Instead they figured it would be best to forgo the wasted effort, and potential disappointing sales, and focus on the console versions of the game.

“When we started Ghost Recon Online we were thinking about Ghost Recon: Future Solider; having something ported in the classical way without any deep development, because we know that 95% of our consumers will pirate the game. So we said okay, we have to change our mind."

Now that doesn’t mean that, if after it releases next month Future Soldier sells well, that Ubisoft might change their tune, but for now a PC port just isn’t in the cards. Future Soldier does seem like it is a game developed for a controller, but that’s never stopped PC ports before.

In reality, it seems like piracy and used game sales have really got to Ubisoft’s head, and they will do anything to combat them — even segregate or, in this case, cut off parts of their audience.

Are you disappointed to hear that Ghost Recon: Future Soldier won’t be receiving a PC port? Do you think that Ubisoft is getting out of hand with this piracy and used games sales prevention?

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier releases March 6, 2012 for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, and PSP.

Source: PC Gamer