Ubisoft will remove the online component from previous titles, removing your DLC in the process

Ubisoft will remove the online component from previous titles, removing your DLC in the process

According to Ubisoft's announcement, a number of its older games' online functionality will be shut down as of September 1. Below is a list of the PC games impacted, along with information on when they were released and what features were taken away:

Assassin's Creed 2 (2009): multiplayer, linking accounts, online features

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (2010): multiplayer, linking accounts, online features, access to DLC

Anno 2070 (2011): multiplayer, linking accounts, online features

Assassin's Creed 3 (2012): multiplayer, linking accounts, online features, access to DLC

Assassin's Creed Liberation HD (2014): multiplayer, linking accounts, online features, access DLC

Driver San Francisco (2011): multiplayer, linking accounts, online features, access to DLC

Far Cry 3 (2012): multiplayer, linking accounts, online features, access to DLC

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (2010): co-op multiplayer, linking accounts, online features, access to DLC
Silent Hunter 5 (2010): multiplayer, linking accounts, online features, access to DLC

Space Junkies (2019): "As a multiplayer-only title, you will be unable to play the game going forward."

Splinter Cell: Blacklist (2013): multiplayer, linking accounts, online features

Closing the online services for some older games, according to Ubisoft, "allows us to focus our resources on offering outstanding experiences for fans who are playing newer or more well-liked titles." I can understand that reasoning because I doubt many gamers still play the online multiplayer in Splinter Cell: Blacklist. The listed games' remastered editions will also keep their online functionality.

Cutting off DLC and, in one instance, an entire game, though, is concerning. The $40 multiplayer VR shooter called Space Junkies is still on sale on Steam, with no indication that it will no longer be playable in two months.

If NFTs haven't already been thoroughly disproved, watching Ubisoft completely discontinue these services only serves to highlight how ridiculous the company's Quartz NFT endeavour is. What happens to the blockchain-backed investment after the game to which it is tied closes, and the cryptocurrency booster pipe fantasy of using a single NFT across several games never came true?

This widespread decommissioning also exemplifies the problems with preservation that come with walled garden online businesses. Due to their support for private servers, online games that are a great deal older than those listed can still be played. It's important to keep in mind that every game with a live service will ultimately stop receiving official support and shut down. You won't be able to access Overwatch, Destiny, or Ubisoft's own Rainbow Six Siege at some point in the future—possibly years or even decades—when their servers are turned off.