Ubisoft recently announced that it would be axing access to multiplayer to 15 games on September 1st…but it includes DLC too, even if you’ve already paid for it. The games affected are:
Anno 2070
Assassin's Creed 2
Assassin's Creed 3
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Assassin's Creed Liberation HD
Assassin's Creed Revelations
Driver San Francisco
Far Cry 3
Ghost Recon Future Soldier
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Rayman Legends
Silent Hunter 5
Space Junkies
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
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The announcement has been met with spouts of anger across social media platforms as user will now lose access to content they have already paid for.
Certain games such as Assassins Creed: Liberation HD have already been delisted and will soon be completely inaccessible to users when September 1st comes unless they buy the remastered copy included with Assassins Creed 3. The 2019 title Space Junkies will be completely unplayable as it is a multiplayer focused game. Assassins Creed 3 and Far Cry 3 will lose all DLC access on the original copies, however remastered copies will not be affected.
Ubisoft has since commented “We don’t take the decision to retire services for older games lightly, and our teams are currently assessing all available options for players who will be impacted,”
They also commented “We are also working with our partners to update this information across all storefronts, so players will be fully informed about the removal of online services at the point of purchase as well as via our support article where we shared the news.”
This won’t be the first time the company has done this either. In April, Ubisoft cut multiplayer and DLC (the same as this time) to 91 games. Losing multiplayer access is obviously normal for old games, especially when the games affected are 2 console generations behind. However, losing DLC access is a big sting to consumers who paid for a product expecting to be able to always have access to it. With Ubisoft’s next game, Skull And Bones, releasing in a few months, one can only wonder how this bad publicity will affect game sales.
UPDATE: Since writing this piece, Ubisoft has stated, "As stated in our support article, only DLCs and online features will be affected by the upcoming decommissioning. Current owners of those games will still be able to access, play or redownload them. Our teams are working with our partners to update this information across all storefronts and are also assessing all available options for players who will be impacted when these games’ online services are decommissioned on 1st September 2022.”. Users will still be able to download games they have previously purchased, but DLC will still be unplayable.
Written by Chris J.
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