Ubisoft Shuts Down Online Services For 90 Older Games

[Rahdulan]

Shenanigans continue.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/u...ine-services-for-90-older-games/1100-6502780/

Ubisoft has shut down online services for 90 games across multiple platforms. The game's will still remain playable and offline features for each game should still function as normal.

Ubisoft notes that in-game news and player statistics in each affected game have also been disabled. For any of the games that used Ubisoft Connect services, units and challenges have been disabled. What Ubisoft describes as "ULC" (Unlockable Content) such as additional maps or skins in all of the affected games have been disabled as well, without a new means to unlock them. PC players who have previously unlocked such content will be locked out of it, while console players can still enjoy the unlocked content unless save game files for that particular game are reset.

The full list of games includes numerous beloved and critically acclaimed titles, ranging from single-player games like Assassin's Creed 2 to more multiplayer focused titles like Rainbow Six Vegas and its sequel. A long list of Just Dance titles are also losing online features.

While some games are only losing servers for select platforms--games like Just Dance 2016 through Just Dance 2018 are only losing online support for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii but will still be playable online on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U--others, like Rainbow Six Vegas 1 and 2, are losing online support entirely. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is losing online features on PC, while Splinter Cell: Double Agent will lose its online components across all available platforms.

And here's more specific info from Ubisoft's support site.
https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/help/...vices-availability-in-ubisoft-games/000064576

The online multiplayer services for the titles listed below have now been shut down. The offline features for each game remain available.

In-game news and player statistics have also been disabled.

For games that used Ubisoft Connect services, Units and Challenges will be disabled, meaning you will no longer be able to earn Units by completing Challenges for the game.

Rewards can still be unlocked, however you will not be able to receive them in-game.

If your game did not transfer when we moved from Uplay to Ubisoft Connect in 2020, all rewards will be automatically unlocked.

Unlockable content (ULC) such as maps and skins will also be disabled, meaning that you will no longer be able to unlock them.

On PC, ULC will no longer be available even if it has been redeemed previously. On console, the ULC will continue to be available unless you reset your saved game files.

America's Army Xbox 360
Anno 1404 PC
Anno Online PC
Assassin's Creed 2 PC | MAC | iOS | OnLive
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood OnLive
Assassin's Creed: Recollection MAC | iOS
Assassin's Creed: Revelations OnLive
Avatar PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Beyond Good and Evil PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Blazing Angels 2 PC | Xbox 360
Call of Juarez 2: Bound in Blood PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Call of Juarez 3: The Cartel PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Driver: San Francisco OnLive
ESPN Sport Connections Wii U
Far Cry PC
Far Cry 2 PC
Far Cry Blood Dragon PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Flashback Origins PC
Ghost Recon PC
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
H.A.W.X. PC
H.A.W.X. 2 PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | OnLive
Haze PlayStation 3
Heroes of Might and Magic 5 PC
I Am Alive PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Just Dance 3 Xbox 360
Just Dance 3 Greatest Hits Xbox 360
Just Dance 3 Kids Xbox 360 | Wii | Wii U
Just Dance 4 PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii U
Just Dance 2014 PlayStation 3 | PlayStation 4| Xbox 360 | Xbox One | Wii | Wii U
Just Dance 2015 PlayStation 3 | PlayStation 4 | Xbox 360 | Xbox One | Wii | Wii U
Just Dance 2016 PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii
Just Dance 2017 PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii
Just Dance 2018 PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii
Just Dance Disney Party Xbox 360 | Wii
Just Dance Disney Party 2 Xbox 360
Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth Xbox 360 | Wii U
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes PC
Might & Magic Duel of Champions PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Might & Magic Showdown PC
Might & Magic Showdown Paint Workshop PC
Might & Magic X: Legacy PC
MotionSports Xbox 360
MotionSport Adrenaline PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
My Fitness Coach Club PlayStation 3
PowerUp Heroes Xbox 360
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | OnLive
PureFootball PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Rabbids Alive and Kicking Xbox 360
Rabbids Go Home Wii
Rabbids Land Wii U
Rabbids Travel in Time Wii
Rainbow Six - Raven Shield PC
Rainbow Six Lockdown PC | Nintendo GameCube | PlayStation 2 | Xbox
Rainbow Six Vegas PC | PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Portable | Xbox 360
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Xbox One
Rayman 3 PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Rayman 3 HD PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Rayman Legends PC
Rayman Origins PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
R.U.S.E. MAC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
R.U.S.E. Beta PC
Scrabble 2007 PC
Scrabble 2009 PC
Settlers 3 PC
Settlers 4 PC
Settlers 6: Rise of an Empire PC
Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom PC | MAC
Settlers: Heritage of Kings PC
Shape Fitness Evolved Xbox 360
Shape Up Xbox One
Shaun White Skateboarding PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | OnLive
Shaun White Snowboarding PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | OnLive
Silent Hunter 3 PC
Silent Hunter 4: U-boat Missions PC
Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific PC
Silent Hunter 5 OnLive
Smurfs 2 PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Spartacus Legends PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Splinter Cell: Blacklist Wii U
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory PC
Splinter Cell: Conviction PC | MAC | OnLive
Splinter Cell: Double Agent PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
The Adventures of Tintin PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Tom Clancy's EndWar PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Toy Soldiers War Chest PC | PlayStation 4 | Xbox One
Watch Dogs Companion Android | iOS
World in Conflict PC
Your Shape Fitness Evolved Xbox 360
Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 Xbox 360
Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2013 Wii U

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Can't imagine hosting services for a bunch of barely played games cost more than a few hundred dollars in VMs a month. Just seems excessively greedy.

 

[Infinitron]

Might & Magic X: Legacy PC

What, again?

 

[Fedora Master]

 

[JarlFrank]

This wouldn't matter at all if they didn't take away unlockable content from players. Just make it work offline ffs.

 

[Curratum]

You fuckers all don't play Ubi games anyway, why moan about it. I do and I don't care about this.

 

[d1r]

 

[Fargus]

Used to play some of the CIA Nigger Simulator games in coop back in the days like Splinter Cell Conviction and Blacklist. But i can't remember for the life of me when was the last time i even started their shitty launcher.

 

[Kruno]

Piracy is the answer!

 

[deuxhero]

Frankly, I'm surprised some of these were still up. The Wii titles in particular I was under the impression were already down because Nintendo's online for that generation depended on third party servers that were shut down.

 

[sorcerian]

Might & Magic X: Legacy PC

What, again?

It's not possible to play Might and Magic X without connecting to their server. At some point, you're required to connect to their server to verify ownership, but if the server doesn't exist it just isn't possible. Those of us with the game can't play it anymore. I'm not sure if there's a workaround for it yet, but I doubt it will ever be fixed or addressed by Ubisoft directly.

 

[J1M]

Can't imagine hosting services for a bunch of barely played games cost more than a few hundred dollars in VMs a month. Just seems excessively greedy.

The real cost is continuing to employ the one guy for each of those servers that still knows how investigate and patch them.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Can't imagine hosting services for a bunch of barely played games cost more than a few hundred dollars in VMs a month. Just seems excessively greedy.

The real cost is continuing to employ the one guy for each of those servers that still knows how investigate and patch them.

Doesn't make it seem any less greedy. Maintaining these probably costs less than a tenth of a percent of what they spend annually on a single new title. Devs & publishers continuously fail to understand the importance and value of optics. That tiny amount of money spent makes people think "hey, they care enough to continually support their product for years after release" and generates goodwill with their customers.
Same thing goes with letting games linger with unfixed critical bugs years after release.

 

[Infinitron]

One possibility is to outsource the maintenance of these services to a third party company. That's how Ultima Online still exists in 2022.

 

[JarlFrank]

Another possibility is to detach all the content from online services and make it all work offline. Those titles that have multiplayer can have private servers for that functionality. Easy.

 

[Zenithsan]

First thought was "Oh nice, now Ross has new content til the new game dungeon"

For the Ubi enthusiasts, Is there any "hidden gem" on that list or just a general meh?

 

[King Crispy]

It's not possible to play Might and Magic X without connecting to their server. At some point, you're required to connect to their server to verify ownership, but if the server doesn't exist it just isn't possible. Those of us with the game can't play it anymore. I'm not sure if there's a workaround for it yet, but I doubt it will ever be fixed or addressed by Ubisoft directly.

According to this guy on the game's Steam website:

FireDrakeZ Apr 25 @ 8:12am

I just wanted to mention my experience. I own the game on the Ubisoft site.

I also found it disappointing that I can no longer access the base game beyond the first act as well as the Falcon dlc June of last year.

I tried it again today to see if they fixed the problem and saw an update button on the usual play button. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the game works again after updating the game and they even gave away an extra dlc, Thunderblade's helmet in the bonus section that I previously did not own.

So it may still work despite what's happened?

 

[The Decline]

I can confirm that M&M X still works, even if you've never launched the game before.

 

[JarlFrank]

It's not possible to play Might and Magic X without connecting to their server. At some point, you're required to connect to their server to verify ownership, but if the server doesn't exist it just isn't possible. Those of us with the game can't play it anymore. I'm not sure if there's a workaround for it yet, but I doubt it will ever be fixed or addressed by Ubisoft directly.

According to this guy on the game's Steam website:

FireDrakeZ Apr 25 @ 8:12am

I just wanted to mention my experience. I own the game on the Ubisoft site.

I also found it disappointing that I can no longer access the base game beyond the first act as well as the Falcon dlc June of last year.

I tried it again today to see if they fixed the problem and saw an update button on the usual play button. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the game works again after updating the game and they even gave away an extra dlc, Thunderblade's helmet in the bonus section that I previously did not own.

So it may still work despite what's happened?

They made it work again after the backlash of M&M fans. Someone first managed to crack the game by sharing some kind of dll or ini file or something which overrode the online server check, after that Ubisoft officially patched the game.
I'm pretty sure they just copied whatever the cracker did

 

[Gerrard]

I skimmed over that list, weren't some of these already taken down years ago?

 

[Curratum]

Are you all delusional? Come on, guys, you're smarter than this.

NINETY games. Who the fuck would muck about and work on code patches, no matter how minor, for NINETY games, a lot of which are pretty damn old. Of course they'd just flip the switch on the servers.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Are you all delusional? Come on, guys, you're smarter than this.

NINETY games. Who the fuck would muck about and work on code patches, no matter how minor, for NINETY games, a lot of which are pretty damn old. Of course they'd just flip the switch on the servers.

Server software, and there's no indication any sort of active development was being done at all. All this would require is a single net admin.

 

[J1M]

Are you all delusional? Come on, guys, you're smarter than this.

NINETY games. Who the fuck would muck about and work on code patches, no matter how minor, for NINETY games, a lot of which are pretty damn old. Of course they'd just flip the switch on the servers.

Server software, and there's no indication any sort of active development was being done at all. All this would require is a single net admin.

All of which should have been covered by the budget for the game when they did the profit/loss calculation for the idea to include online services.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

I skimmed over that list, weren't some of these already taken down years ago?

For some of these games the MP servers were already taken down. This is doing that for all these games, plus removing DLCs from being usable. A few seem weird, Far Cry for instance already had its MP servers shut down, what else is there to shut down? And quite a few are nearly 20 years old, I'm surprised it took Ubisoft this long to shut the servers down.

 

[Modron]

I am surprised they were still financing R.U.S.E. at all considering you haven't been able to buy that game for years and never will be able to again because of licensing deals.