Ubisoft+ price UK: Classics vs Premium, and where it's bundled

Every Ubisoft+ tier, priced

Premium yearly (£149.99) is £29.89 less than 12 months at £14.99 (£179.88), but £80 more than Classics yearly. If you'd otherwise buy one new Ubisoft premium edition a year, compare its price with a single month or two of Premium (£14.99 each) instead of committing to a year.

Classics or Premium: the core difference

Ubisoft describes Classics as a selection of iconic games on PC, and Premium as access to most premium editions from day one. In practice, Classics is a back-catalogue library, while Premium is aimed at people who want new releases (often the deluxe or premium edition) as they launch.

On yearly plans the gap is £80 (£149.99 vs £69.99). If you are not interested in new Ubisoft releases this year, Premium's main advantage doesn't apply to you.

Ubisoft's store highlighted Premium with messages about playing across the Assassin's Creed eras and new releases at £14.99 a month on the check date. That tells you who Premium is aimed at: players who want Ubisoft's big series as they arrive. Classics suits people happy to work through older games at a lower price, especially on PC.

Where Ubisoft+ Classics is already bundled

Two big console subscriptions include a curated Ubisoft+ Classics selection: PlayStation lists it as part of PS Plus Extra and Premium, and Microsoft lists Ubisoft+ Classics as part of Game Pass Ultimate. PlayStation's own page values the selection at £6.99 a month.

That means if you already pay for PS Plus Extra or Game Pass Ultimate, check the bundled game list before paying for Classics separately. The bundled selections may not be identical to the full PC Classics library, so compare the specific games you want.

The one-month Premium approach

Because Premium is billed monthly as well as yearly, a common money-saving pattern is to subscribe for a single month when a Ubisoft game you want is available, play it through, then cancel. At £14.99, that one month can cost less than buying a premium edition outright, though you won't own the game afterwards. Ubisoft's FAQ confirms you keep anything you have bought (games or in-game items) even after unsubscribing; what you lose is access to subscription games.

Monthly or yearly Ubisoft+: the numbers

Ubisoft's yearly plans are cheaper than paying monthly all year:

• Classics: 12 × £6.99 = £83.88 vs £69.99 yearly, a saving of £13.89.
• Premium: 12 × £14.99 = £179.88 vs £149.99 yearly, a saving of £29.89.

The saving only applies if you'd actually subscribe for most of the year. Premium yearly costs the same as 10 months of monthly payments (10 × £14.99 = £149.90), so if you'd use it for fewer than about 10 months, monthly billing works out cheaper. For Classics the break-even point is also about 10 months (10 × £6.99 = £69.90).

Also consider the alternatives you may already pay for. A curated Classics selection comes with PS Plus Extra (£99.99 a year on 12-month billing) and Game Pass Ultimate (£16.99 a month), so for some households the cheapest Ubisoft+ plan is none at all.

Ubisoft+ cost per hour, worked through

Say you subscribe to Premium for one month and put 30 hours into a large open-world game: £14.99 ÷ 30 ≈ £0.50 per hour. At 10 hours that rises to about £1.50 per hour. On Classics, £6.99 for a month with 20 hours of play works out at about £0.35 per hour. These are illustrations of the method; use your own estimated hours, and remember published completion times vary widely by play style.

Compare that with owning: if you'd otherwise buy the same game and play it for 30 hours, divide its current price by 30 to get your owning cost per hour, then remember you keep a bought game for replays. A subscription month wins on per-hour cost when you finish quickly and don't plan to return; buying wins when you'll replay or play slowly over many months.

Before you subscribe to Ubisoft+

• Check whether PS Plus Extra or Game Pass Ultimate already gives you the Classics selection you want.
• Check platform: Ubisoft's store lists Premium on PC and Xbox; Classics is described as a PC selection.
• Decide whether you need new releases at all. If not, Premium's main feature is wasted.
• Set a calendar reminder if you're subscribing for one game, so the subscription doesn't roll on unused.
• Note the renewal date and price: monthly plans renew at £6.99 or £14.99 until cancelled.

Ubisoft's FAQ also says you can come back to Ubisoft+ in the future after unsubscribing, so stopping between games and re-joining when the next one you want arrives is a legitimate way to control the cost.

Ubisoft+ downsides to weigh

• Subscription games aren't yours: when you unsubscribe, you lose access to them, although Ubisoft says purchases you've made stay with you.
• Premium is focused on Ubisoft's own releases; if you only play one Ubisoft series, much of the library may go unused.
• Platform coverage is narrower than the big console passes: Ubisoft's store lists Premium for PC and Xbox, not PlayStation.
• A year of Premium (£149.99) is a large outlay; monthly bursts are more flexible.

For a general method of comparing any subscription with buying, see our subscription-or-buy guide.