Update: After catching a lot of heat about online requirements for its single player games, Ubisoft has released a statement regarding Assassin's Creed Shadows. In it, the publisher explains that, while you will need an online connection to complete the installation of the game, you can play the whole adventure offline:
While this will be welcome news for most, there's still an argument that the online requirement for installation means those who choose not to connect to the Internet will be unable to play their disc copy. This portion of Ubisoft's audience will admittedly be very small, but for those people, Shadows will be nothing more than an expensive coaster. Still, at least the notion the whole game needs a constant connection has been put to bed.
Original Story: Players who opt for a physical copy of the newly revealed Assassin's Creed Shadows will require an Internet connection to complete installation. We can't imagine this will be a problem for the vast majority of Ubisoft fans, but it follows a trend worth noting, falling in line with a requirement first implemented in 2023's Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and will be the case with the upcoming Star Wars Outlaws as well.
Spotted by VGC, pre-orders for the game are now live, and a message on the front box art for the title in retailers like Best Buy and GameStop reads: "Internet required to install the game." In the case of Avatar, a day one patch was required before players could boot up the game, but Shadows and Outlaws both bear the warning on the front of the box.
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No specific reason was given for the requirement, which raises game preservation concerns in the inevitable event that servers are turned off for the game somewhere down the line. In December, Ubisoft delisted the original The Crew, switching off the lights for good, and we can't imagine it will be the last title treated to such a fate.
What do you think of Ubisoft's online connection mandate for the installation of its marquee games? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 73
Gamers who live on the internet will complain about this
A bit shame, but not surprising. The only really annoying thing for me, is the PS Store version is so damn expensive - 87 dollars approx - I can probably get the physical for close to the regular US price, but knowing it’s not all data on disc makes me not really wanna buy it. I saw in trailer it’s playable day 1 with Ubisoft+, so maybe I’ll opt in for that, just to try the game.
Ubisoft sucks!!
Aren't they supposed to be introducing some kind of Assassin's Creed Hub or something with this game?
Wonder if it also has something to do with the Infinity stuff. Either way, not real surprised.
@MidnightDragonDX That's the one — Infinity! I'd bet my house on that being what this is all about!
Bad for preservation. Got to assume it’s to do with whatever the hell Infinity actually is.
Always-Online games have been the disgrace of this gaming generation.
@Kraaatos : Well it might be a shocker to you, most of us would rather game without online restrictions.
I've heard rumours that only the "Infinty Platform" is present as data on the disc. And that you need to download the game data for AC: Shadows before you are able to play the game.
I hope that isn't true
I believe it was mentioned in Luke Stephans recent YouTube video called: "Assassin's Creed Infinity Details"
Always online type is a bane when I go to sea for four-six months. I end up taking my ps4 pro. Steam deck has similar issues and it's portable. EA, Ubisoft and Rockstar do the same. But I completed Days Gone last time out.
Sigh. Ubisoft I swear you can’t just let the great trailer sell the game. Nope gotta do something stupid. Not everyone has amazing internet.
I will likely switch to digital then.
Leave it to Ubisoft to screw everything up as soon as the game gets officially revealed
I will not stand for it, and this will be the first AC game that I will now get. Same happened with Diablo 4.
I do not want to as for server permission every time I want to install the game.
And I am sure they are doing this just to prevent installation for people who did NOT buy their "play 3 days early" pass. Greedy idiots.
They could've just made the early play for digital version only and distribute the discs on launch day, but NO!
I am hoping for a gaming industry crash and reset after that.
Ubisoft are a joke these days, from nonsense like this and that utterly pointless trailer for the game.
Buy our game on disc but the game isn't on the disc
Watch the trailer of our game, that doesn't even show the game
There going to do this from now. So my support Ubisoft ends this year.
Everything they make will require an internet connection. The remake for Black Flag I am sure it's going to need a internet connection.
Isn't this pretty much standard anyway as what game now doesn't require an update straight away
It was same for avatar and that took so much longer to install than any other game I have had on disk
@Kraaatos People who say its ok will be the idiots when they pull the same thing as they did with the crew and take your game back without you getting your money back.
@StylesT You dont understand what they are doing do you its DRM making it impossible to make a new install without the inteenet in the future.
Clearance sale, ps + extra or used it is then
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It’s probably because the game is too big to fit on a disc, so you’ll have to download a portion of it. It’s not like it requires a constant online connection, like in Top Spin 2K25.
It's clear they want you to pay extra for 3 days early access, something physical often gets for free.
I'll not be buying it then.
What's the next ste to antagonise paying players? Denuvo on consoles?
On the psn store it says online connection required to play the game. I won’t be buying this game
@Nightcrawler71 on psn store it says it does
@StylesT most game with a day one patch is optional not required
Next step in gaming evolution is when digital games will need a disc to be played.
Think this will be my last console generation. Will probably start using GOG more since at least you can download your purchased content without DRM and do what you want with it.
@Kraaatos As opposed to gamers who live on the internet who don’t understand why this is a bad thing long-term and defeats the purpose of a physical release in the first place?
It depends on the reason - If it's a one-time thing I'm not bothered, most games have a day 1 patch and the PS5 itself connects to the internet as soon as it's switched on.
However, if the internet is needed regularly for offline play, or for some kind of mandatory 3rd party service which prevents you from playing even if the game is patched and up to date then that's an issue.
@MrBook I completely understand and agree with you that this is an issue for people that can't connect for whatever reason.
The preservation thing I get - the idea that a game you've bought 10 years ago might not work because some kind of 3rd party server connection is switched off is unacceptable. This hasn't happened yet though - The Crew was always an online-only game and marketed as such, and I don't think 10 years is an unacceptable time to pull the plug.
But I don't really get the people that get annoyed purely out of principle, especially with owners of a current gen console that are online with it anyway.
@Gamer_X his point (and yours) still stands, though.
Just for installing? No big deal.
Haha, what a clown show. I see some folks defending this garbage. Ubisoft will keep doing this as long as the gullible gamer base buys it up.
A lot of switch games require this but nobody really makes a fuss for some reason
Well that’s better. Most games these days need the patches anyway so I’m not too bothered about a game needing to connect to just install the first time.
@MrBook mortal Kombat 1, batman Arkham collection, Wolfenstein 2, tony hawk 1&2 are just a few examples.
Not to mention code in a box, can you imagine playstation or Xbox doing code in a box?
one problem solved but 99 remain....
Wow, the typical Ubibashing didn't take long this time. Every game announcement these days seems to have a fatal flaw that upsets some small corner of the fandom. However, Ubisoft attracts extra negative attention as they always have 2 or 3 foibles. This time it's: needing to be online to install, pricing of the different editions, and perceived "wokeness".
Ohh Ubi, why do you always make it so hard to be a fan?
Don’t most (not all, but most) games come like this nowadays? And even if you can “technically” play them without an update, you’re missing so much content that it’s basically a beta?
I think other than a few Nintendo titles like Mario Wonder, there’s usually a fat patch waiting for me when I put in a cartridge or disc for the first time nowadays.
Not saying I support this stuff but I don’t really see how this is a surprise at all.
I like all these online complaints. Most games are sold in digital versions. I buy only digital versions, I am one of those creating problems. As less people are buying physical copies, as harder it is to provide physical copies around the world. It gets more expensive aswell then.
Physical copies aswell has to be done very early to do shipping on time, and tends to need day one patches. It is easier to provide digital download closer to release date.
Yeah, I am bad guy for not ranting on Ubisoft for all of this, so you can take out your anger towards me too :●
I would imagine there is no way the full game could fit on a single blu-ray disc so the installation bit makes sense. I never expected an online connection to be required to play after its installed but happy to get clarification.
The Ubi-Hate squad definitely seemed to come out in full force on this game for some reason. I don't get it but whatever. I'm still very excited to play Shadows personally.
@MrBook The point I was making is not wether you've bought them or not it's that nobody makes much fuss and just gives Nintendo a free pass
I see this will get free pass more and more because people are mainly focused on consuming the product than how it is handled and delivered.
The good thing is that I have a backlog to last me for a good lifetime or two and it is not even complete
@MrBook The whole "I just want to experience the game!" is so fake nowadays.
Once Ubi sees that they could feed one turd to its "fanbase" then they will produce nothing but turds because they know that the "hardcore gamers" will be eating it and say "That was delicious, can we get more!?!". That is where the mini battle pass and season pass come into play
I really enjoyed Odyssey, I hope they're able to recapture what made that game great without the bloat and excess of Valhalla. I'm not saying Valhalla is a bad game at all, but holy hell does it feel like a chore after a while...great games should leave you wanting more, not saying "I don't ever want to touch this again" when you're done playing it.
Not sure how only requiring internet for installation makes it any better; the whole draw of having a physical copy is knowing it will work down the line when it is no longer possible to connect to a server.
Granted, I am very unlikely to play this anyway; never got into the series. But it does irk me how we collectively keep letting practices like this become common place. People seem to think gaming is disposable; which is exactly what it will become.
@tangyzesty
I 100% both games and both left me wanting more.
This game is a hard pass. And if I do ever buy it that'll be because it's on sale for £5-8.
Seeing that Avatar, Star Wars Outlaws and now this game requires internet to do an install for a single player game just shows that Ubisoft wants a type of control for the games you buy physically.
@Lup I platinumed both, Odyssey I did 100% but Valhalla I never wanted to see again after getting the plat, it just felt way too bloated for me.
@Gamer_X this.
@Czar_Khastik 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
@REALAIS folks, please do not feed into his inferiority complex.
@Zuljaras same
Removed - inappropriate
@PerpetualBoredom maybe read what it means first before you are throwing around big words.
@PerpetualBoredom i am siding with common sense. Delusions are for you, maybe. Time goes forward and things changes. I am not buying Ubisoft games day one. I don't pretend that I care for Ubisofts physical releases. You really care what Ubisofts does? Best way to vote is vote with wallet, you don't like something what company does, don't buy it.
@REALAIS "Yeah, I am bad guy for not ranting on Ubisoft for all of this, so you can take out your anger towards me too :●"
Im standing by my point.
@PerpetualBoredom stand where you want. Not I am calling other people as mentally ill. You are just ranting to me/others first. And then you play dumb and don't understand why I am negative towards you. You are not creating conversations, you are just callingpeople in bad wirds because they don't think same as you. Thank you
@REALAIS Are you projecting? Nobody mentioned mental illnesses anywhere.
@MrBook Maybe every game I get just has an update that isn’t required but they’re pretty large. That being said, I do remember my copies of Avatar and CyberPunk came with 2 discs… although my CyberPunk copy is for XBOX One so it doesn’t have the Series X data on disc lol.
Game is already a DOA for me , I'll play ghosts of tsushima since that's on steam now.
So once again the disc contains nothing resembling a playable game. Ubisoft is a joke.
@MikeOrator Ubisoft is the one to start a lot of terrible trends good for you that you want accept all this nonsense. The reaction of get used to not owning your games is a reason to not buy any Ubisoft garbage..
@Flaming_Kaiser
I don’t think Ubisoft made up all these lame practices themselves. I think other companies tried different money making schemes and Ubi saw an opportunity and ran with it making those small schemes into a business model. Blaming Ubi for it all is giving them too much credit. Like blaming them for open world bloat or paid cosmetics. The didn’t invent this stuff they are just really good at making it worse. lol.
I really loved Ubisoft in the early days though and it’s hard for me to watch everything they do just crash and burn. However I am one that is only upset at pricing, DLC practices and online requirements. Nothing else.
Sorry but this outrage is laughable, pretty much all major games and studios require some kind of online connection for either installation or day one patches and a lot of games require always online for DRM stuff but I guess the last 10 years are fine but when Ubisoft does it I guess it's time for an over the top meltdown xD
@tangyzesty Thats not really the issue for me. The issue is taking away your choice to play it and they said it really clearly stop being used to owning your games.
That to me is a clear reason to stay away from a developer what's the next step telling me for how long i can play and when.
@REALAIS Its not only the physical games that get worse and worse on release. The digital copies get released in a horrible state quite a bit. The thing we called early access years ago with the discounted price is now more expensive and more broken on day one where the gamers are the testers.
Games dissappear from the store and get removed from peoples library already. Digital is one thing and that is for big corp to control the market up to a point where they tell you when and how long you can play.
The nonsense of preserving games digitally is total nonsense i have seen enough games dissappear and Nintendo even locks digital games in vault for them to tell us when we can buy them.
Now we need to go online to install games that are singleplayer already lets hope gamers push back wnd start to download more illegal copies.
I have all my games legally since the PS1 payed the price now im jusr buying less and less at full price let them go on liks this and people will buy less or go the illegal route in the end.
@Gamer_X Welp, this isn't an always online game. Just like Gamepass games, it needs a connection to install.
Not that I'm defending any of this. If this has a $20 complete option in a year (or 90 days, when they start telling us to focus on the next AC game...), I might pick it up. But I'm sure it will just be another one of these...which I almost always get five hours into and bounce.
What happens when that "Connection to Install" server goes away?....Assassin's Creed is a $70.00 title that you are suppose to perpetually own and not subscribe like GamePass.
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