Ubisoft is decommissioning the online features for a number of its older titles on September 1, 2022.
It’s an understandable move, as servers and the related operating costs of online services do add up, and when multiplayer numbers have dwindled away and game support is no longer economical, it makes sense to redirect resources to other ventures and new projects. No shade on anyone still playing multiplayer rounds of say, Assassin’s Creed 2 or Splinter Cell: Blacklist, but it’s highly unlikely that it’s still a lively player count by this point.
“Closing the online services for some older games allows us to focus our resources on delivering great experiences for players who are playing newer or more popular titles,” Ubisoft says on the announcement page. The list of games losing these features include:
- Anno 2070: loses multiplayer and ability to link Ubisoft accounts in-game
- Assassin’s Creed II: loses multiplayer, Ubisoft account linking, and online features
- Assassin’s Creed III (2012 release): loses multiplayer, Ubisoft account linking, online features. Installation and access to DLC unavailable.
- Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood: loses multiplayer, Ubisoft account linking, online features. Installation and access to DLC unavailable.
- Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD: loses Ubisoft account linking, online features. Installation and access to DLC unavailable.
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations: loses multiplayer and online features
- Driver San Francisco: loses multiplayer, Ubisoft account linking, online features. Installation and access to DLC unavailable.
- Far Cry 3 (2012 release): loses multiplayer, Ubisoft account linking, online features. Installation and access to DLC unavailable.
- Ghost Recon Future Soldier: loses multiplayer, to start story campaign you will have to go to offline mode.
- Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands: loses multiplayer, Ubisoft account linking, online features. Installation and access to DLC unavailable.
- Rayman Legends: unable to link Ubisoft accounts or use online features
- Silent Hunter 5: loses Ubisoft account linking, online features. Installation and access to DLC unavailable.
- Space Junkies: Unplayable as it is a multiplayer only title
- Splinter Cell: Blacklist: loses multiplayer, Ubisoft account linking, online features.
- ZombiU: unable to link Ubisoft accounts or use online features.
Most of the games on the list are more than a decade old at this point, but there are a few more recent titles that just didn’t take off, such as 2019’s VR multiplayer title, Space Junkies. Games with remastered versions will retain online features on their rereleases, but not the original titles.
The decommissioning of online features will obviously remove multiplayer, with minimal impact on singleplayer features. However, for a few titles, September will bring some extra sting, as removal of online features and authentication also means that players will be unable to access their DLC on some older titles.
Assassin’s Creed 3‘s original 2012 release, for example notes that “installation and access to downloadable content will be unavailable.” In a similar vein, Ghost Recon Future Soldier’s solo campaign will require players to set their console to offline mode to access the story mode.
Situations like this aren’t exactly unprecedented. Critics of DRM-based service models, opaque back end multiplayer services, and walled garden storefronts and have warned about situations like this for years. And it seems like the gaming culture has shifted to mostly accepting this setup rather than “pay once and own and enjoy forever” as a consequence of online functionality, but it still rankles to lose access to single-player story content, DLC, or even entire games just because a publisher has decided to pull the plug on an authentication server or online service. I wish they’d include some sort of installer support, or open up access to players with legacy content to continue to enjoy their DLC.
It’s a digital preservation nightmare, with gamers and archivists hoping to preserve and enjoy older content having to uses workarounds to crack DRM and authentication features to continue enjoying some games. Ironically, titles from an earlier generation can sometimes be easier to preserve, whether in singleplayer (no DRM, or single-player features not tied to DRM), or in multiplayer with games that support private server browsing.
If you’ve got any of these titles on your Xbox, PC, or enjoying them through Game Pass, then now’s a good time to give them an install and a last hurrah playthrough before you lose access to features, DLC, if not the entire game on September 1.