Last week, Ubisoft announced it was canceling numerous games and laying off more employees as part of a brutal restructuring of the entire company. It turns out even Ubisoft’s super successful Just Dance franchise isn’t immune to the company squeezing everything it can for more money, as Ubisoft has confirmed price increases are coming for the dancing series.
On January 27, Ubisoft announced that its Just Dance+ streaming service, which allows people to pay a monthly or yearly fee to access a large catalog of new, old, and exclusive songs, is getting a price hike in April.
One month of Just Dance+ will soon cost $5. Previously, it was $4. Three months of the service is going up in price from $10 to $13. And finally, a full year of Just Dance+ will increase from $25 to $30.
Why Just Dance+ is getting a price increase this April
In a press release announcing the price changes, Ubisoft claimed costly song licensing agreements were behind the increase in subscription fees.
“Just Dance+ is built around music, and that comes with some important truths,” said Ubisoft. “Every song available in the service relies on licensing agreements that evolve over time, and these conditions directly affect what we can keep, renew, or add to the catalogue. Taking this into account, we’ve had to make a few adjustments to ensure the service can keep growing in the long run.”
As for Ubisoft’s massive restructure, some employees aren’t convinced it will bring about the positive change the company needs. Ubisoft has done this sort of thing before, but the shake-up of two years ago has failed to turn the company’s fortunes around. It’s lost the overwhelming majority of its value in the past eight years and is now relying on a $1.25 billion bailout from Tencent to keep the lights on. With that in mind, it makes sense that Just Dance+ is getting a price bump. Ubisoft leadership is looking around for any place to save some cash or squeeze out some more money. If people want their songs, they’ll be paying a bit more this spring.