Ubisoft Backtracks On DLC Deactivation For Older Games, Delays Decommissioning Plans
In an unexpected turn of events, Ubisoft decided to delay the planned “decommissioning” of its older games at the last minute. Over a dozen games were scheduled to be taken offline today, including several classic Assassin’s Creed games and other once-popular titles like Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and Far Cry 3, to allow the publisher to focus their time and resources on newer and more popular titles.
Ending online support for the games meant that multiplayer features and DLCs would no longer be available. At the time of its announcement, it was also implied that some games would be rendered entirely unplayable even if they were legitimately purchased although Ubisoft was quick to assure the community that they’ll still be playable offline.
Ubisoft Mainz, the publisher’s German studio, also disagreed with the plan and promised to keep Anno 2070 online and running against its parent company’s wishes. They immediately proceeded to work on upgrading the game’s infrastructure and servers to allow them to takeover publishing responsibilities for the sci-fi city building sim.
“Your experience should even be a bit smoother now than before,” said Ubisoft Mainz. “We ported the game to 64-bit, which enables the game to address all your PC’s memory. Additionally, the new online services should make for a nicer matchmaking experience. And you can still use the in-game friends list to set up matches.”
As for the rest of the games to be retired, decommissioning has been put on hold until October 1st to give game owners a chance to activate any DLCs and other content before they’re taken away forever. Owners will be able to download and access all games and DLCs as long as they activate it before they’re taken offline.
“Decommissioning online services for older games is something we don't take lightly, but it's also a necessity as the technology that drove those services becomes obsolete,” said Ubisoft. “We want our players to enjoy optimal gameplay experiences without things breaking, potentially subjecting players to crashes and security breaches. At the same time, we want to make this process as seamless as possible for our players. Over the last month, our teams have been hard at work exploring what is possible to reduce disruption.”
You can check out the updated list of games and features to be decommissioned on the Ubisoft official site.
