Subscription Economy News: Week of 10/26/20

Every week, we bring you the top stories and analyses from the global Subscription Economy.

Ubisoft’s subscription service comes to Stadia and Luna

Excerpt from an article by Romain Dillet on TechCrunch

Ubisoft originally announced its subscription service back in June. Today, the company is rebranding the service from UPlay+ to Ubisoft+. The service is also on its way to Amazon’s Luna and Google’s Stadia. Ubisoft is betting on a multi-platform subscription, which means that you’ll be able to subscribe once and play Ubisoft+ games on PC, Amazon Luna and Stadia.

Ubisoft is trying to include premium editions of the games so that you don’t have to pay for game passes to access additional content. For instance, you can play the ultimate editions of Rainbow Six Siege, The Division 2, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, etc.

Ubisoft is working on cross-platform progression, starting with upcoming titles. It’s a subscription focused on content, not platforms.

For more, read the full article on TechCrunch

ServiceNow Q3 beats expectations on strong subscription revenues

Excerpt from an article by Natalie Gagliordi on ZDNet

ServiceNow delivered better-than-expected third quarter financial results on Wednesday driven by continued growth in subscription revenue.

ServiceNow said Q3 subscription billings were $1.08 billion and grew 25% year-over-year. Subscription revenue was $1.07 billion, up 29% from a year ago. ServiceNow ended the quarter with 1,012 total customers with more than $1 million in annual contract value, an increase of 25% year-over-year.

“In a challenging pandemic environment, Q3 was a fantastic quarter for ServiceNow,” said ServiceNow CFO Gina Mastantuono. “We exceeded the high end of our subscription revenues and subscription billings guidance, underscoring the power of our product portfolio and our ability to meet the evolving needs of our customers. Overall, we see strong momentum heading into the last quarter of the year and our robust pipeline gives me confidence in our ability to continue executing well into 2021.”

For more, read the full article on ZDNet

TripAdvisor Digs Deeper Into Subscription Services for Hotels and Restaurants

Excerpt from an article by Dennis Schaal on Skift

Tripadvisor said Tuesday it will launch new reputation management and business intelligence subscription-based features for hotels and restaurants, extending subscription services it has long offered to enable hoteliers to market more effectively.

The business intelligence service is called Spotlight, and it will debut in partnership with OTA Insight, which already offers such services.

Spotlight is geared to enable hotels to compare rates against those of competitors’ across various room types, and to adjust them for maximum effect. Tripadvisor officials said the service would also enable hoteliers to identify rate parity issues, and to compare public and member rates.

For more, read the full article on Skift

Vying for consumer revenue, Eater serves up new wine subscription play

Excerpt from an article by Kayleigh Barber on Digiday

As a digital publication that covers the local restaurant and beverage industry, Eater has not only covered the disruptions that the coronavirus crisis has had on those businesses, but has needed to adapt its own business and editorial strategy to solve for those very same challenges.

The tried and true method of recommending the best Korean BBQ spots in New York City or the best steakhouse in Dallas has morphed into guides on how to support struggling local restaurants through ordering takeout and how to transform those takeout leftovers at home.

The publication also zoomed out to a wider lens to launch some new and nationally spanning initiatives designed to increase both reader and advertising revenue.

One of which is its new Wine Club, a national program, but that “is rooted in our local authority,” said editor-in-chief Amanda Kludt.

For more, read the full article on Digiday

 

For more Subscription Economy resources and events, head to www.subscribed.com and subscribe to Zuora CEO Tien Tzuo’s Subscribed Weekly newsletter, coming to your inbox every Saturday. 

Recommended for you

ZEOs Investing in Women this International Women’s Day
Strategic Insights from Zuora’s Subscribed Institute Executive Breakfast in London
How to create personalized subscriptions using Zephr