Ubisoft announces that it will shut down the online services of a total of 15 mostly older games as of September 1, 2022. Most of the time, this means an optional multiplayer mode and a few other online functions, but some titles can no longer be installed or played from then on.
The focus is on more profitable games
The publisher justifies the move with a focus on newer games: Ubisoft wants to “focus its resources on [sic] offering great experiences to players who play newer or more popular titles”. Apparently, no economic benefit is seen in the continued existence of the online functionalities for the 15 games. Affected are, for example, the development strategy game Anno 2070 (test), which took place for the first time in the future in 2011, and Assassin's Creed 2, which was released in 2009 and is remembered by many fans of the series as an excellent game. The complete list of all affected titles reads as follows:< /p>
- Anno 2070
- Assassin's Creed 2
- Assassin's Creed 3
- Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
- Assassin's Creed Liberation HD
- Assassin's Creed ;s Creed Revelations
- Driver San Francisco
- Far Cry 3
- Ghost Recon Future Soldier
- Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands< /li>
- Rayman Legends
- Silent Hunter 5
- Space Junkies
- Splinter Cell: Blacklist
- ZombiU
From September, at least in part – meaning additional downloadable content – Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Assassin's Creed Liberation HD and Driver San Francisco (test) should no longer be installable. The same applies to Assassin's Creed 3 (test) and Far Cry 3 (test), but Ubisoft offers both titles in a remaster version that is not affected by the changes. The arcade shooter Space Junkies, which was only released in March 2019, becomes completely unplayable – it is a pure multiplayer title. Ubisoft's official announcement provides an overview of platform-dependent restrictions.
Anno 2070 receives a compensation update
At least in the case of Anno 2070, the responsible developers at Ubisoft Blue Byte Mainz want to use an update to mitigate some of the negative consequences, as communicated by Anno Union. It should be ensured that at least some of the “features can continue to be used after the specified date”. The studio has not yet said what that will be – the developer cannot guarantee that all online services can be replaced. In the coming weeks and months, Blue Byte wants to be more specific about this.
After an initial investigation, we have decided to create a use some of our developer resources to upgrade Anno 2070's outdated Online Services infrastructure to a new system so that these features can continue to be used after the mentioned date. However, we cannot currently guarantee that we will be able to successfully upgrade or replace all old services. […]
We will keep you up to date with updates on the future of Anno 2070 over the coming weeks and months.
Ubisoft Blue Byte Mainz < /blockquote>