Assassin’s Creed: Liberation will be playable on PC from September [updated]

Update: It seems the wording on Steam was an error. Here is a statement from Ubisoft to IGN:

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 September 1st, 2022. It has always been our intention to do everything in our power to allow those legacy titles to remain available in the best possible conditions for players, and this is what we are working towards.

Original story below..

In a quite bizarre decision, Ubisoft has removed Assassin’s Creed: Liberation from sale on PC, and will be making the game completely inaccessible to play from 1st September 2022. The news has led to angered PC gamers review bombing the title, questioning the decision making behind unceremoniously killing off a single player game such as this.

Two notices have appeared on the Steam page for Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD, which reads:

Notice: At the request of the publisher, Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD is no longer available for sale on Steam.

Notice: Please note this title will not be accessible following September 1st, 2022

While the game was also available via Ubisoft Connect, it can no longer be found on Ubisoft’s own platform.

So, why completely switch off access to the game? The move will come coincidentally alongside the deactivation of online servers and support for a number of Ubisoft games in September, with AC Liberation just one of a number of Assassin’s Creed games, alongside older Far Cry, Anno, Splinter Cell and other games. Not only is Ubisoft removing multiplayer functionality, but the baked in UPlay (now Ubisoft Connect) functionality is being deprecated, and so is the ability to download and install DLC packs for these games. This was already enough to frustrate fans who will see access to things that they paid for removed, but at the very least, the main games would still be accessible.

Assassin’s Creed Liberation on PC, however, is another matter entirely. It seems that access to the game is being removed simply because it’s a game that has struggled to run with modern PC software. One of the upvoted reviews on the Steam page lists how you need to find the executable, switch to compatibility mode, run as an admin, and disable Steam and Nvidia overlays.

Ubisoft seem to be cutting it off instead of putting in the work to maintain its playability on PC. While removing it from sale makes sense, making it inaccessible to people that bought it is frankly unacceptable, and shows one of the dangers of the increasingly digital first approach to buying and accessing video games.

It’s also quite unfortunate that this erasure will affect the first Assassin’s Creed game with a female and black protagonist, putting players in the shoes of Aveline de Grandpré. The game originally released for the PlayStation Vita in 2012, promising a fully fledged standalone adventure tailored to Sony’s plucky handheld, contrasting to that of Assassin’s Creed III on home consoles and PC. It didn’t take too long for Ubisoft to see the opportunity to port it to other systems and get a larger audience. 

We reviewed the upscaled Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD in 2014, saying:

“Even with a one-year gap between them, there are enough similarities between Liberation and Black Flag to recommend the former. It’s certainly not the best game in the franchise though does open up yet another chapter in the Assassin’s Creed saga. Still, those who have become particularly attached to Black Flag may find it hard to hoist up their sails and touch down in New Orleans.”

Source: Steam