Ubisoft shuts down servers for over 90 legacy games

Ubisoft is flipping the off switch on the servers for over 90 of their legacy games that were released as recently as the PS4 and Xbox One era, but as long ago as the PS2!

Most of the games come from the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation and are over a decade old, with Ubisoft maintaining some of these legacy online servers for far longer than other companies might have. This does have a rather large and surprising impact in some instances.

For one thing, things as fundamental as player statistics have been disabled and, with Ubisoft having moved on from Uplay to Ubisoft Connect in 2020, there’s a fair few games with legacy ties to the outdated system. This affects unlockable content (ULC) such as maps and skins, which have now been disabled and can no longer be earnt. On PC, this ULC will not be accessible at all, even if it was previously unlocked, while on console you will only be able to access ULC that is stored in a save game file.

That is, to be quite frank, complete and utter bobbins. It’s yet another reminder that video game preservation is a secondary concern, at best, for many game companies. As digital storefronts have grown over the last 15 years and as DRM has become more and more invasive, right down to single player games requiring an online connection to play and save, some people are still under the illusion that companies will do the moral thing and remove such restrictions when a game’s online services or a storefront is shut down. Not a chance, mates.

Anyway, here’s all the games affected, in one way or another.

Pour on out for Haze and RUSE.

Source: Ubisoft