Report: Assassin's Creed Shadows to Require an Internet Connection Even If It's Single-Player Only

Assassin's Creed Shadows digital storefront pages are up, and it confirms the game will require an internet connection, and MTX.

[kenpachi]

Was sort of interested in this but if it's true it's an easy pass

[jznrpg]

It’s true for sure. Avatar game had online requirement

[Tacoboto]

Avatar only had an online requirement to install the disc version, not to play.

This AC really does have Online Play Required marked on it.

[Cacabunga]

Boycott

[JL2930]

Oh no, how will you get your blacurai fix?

[Redemption-64]

It isn't true. They cleared things up. The internet connection is to down the game. It does not require being online to play

[neutralgamer1992]

I play on PC but for damn sure not buying. Single player games should have offline option it’s that simple. I bet you this has something to do with UBI hub area where they want all AC games to be played from.

[Terry_B]

as usual..Don't Buy Ubisoft Games.

[Walalon]

So damn true

[PRIMORDUS]

https://quivianproductions....
Is what they should change their logo to. I posted this pic on their twitter account as well, telling them to change it. 🤣

[Skuletor]

One thing that's messed up about this, is there will be people playing pirated versions of this without that restriction, while the paying customers will suffer. Just like how some games will have lower performance on PC due to DRM, while pirated copies don't.

Anyone that wants to say something like "Who doesn't have internet access in this day and age?" There's plenty reasons people won't always have access, such as living in rural areas with spotty coverage, for example.

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

Who's gonna crack the game when the scene is quite empty? DRM has lost many battles but won the war.

[Skuletor]

Wouldn't know, I don't pirate stuff. Last I saw was Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has a PC version made from a combination of the PS5 disc and some files from the Insomniac leak, so there's some cracking scene activity in that regard.

Just checked and Mirage apparently hasn't been cracked yet, so I guess you have a point but I wouldn't be surprised if Shadows does get cracked eventually.

[Jingsing]

You can check any torrent site they are downloaded in their millions, especially Sony games on PC. But Sony doesn't seem bothered.

[banger88]

Three single-player games in a row they've done this with now. Those f***ers weren't kidding when they said gamers need to be comfortable with not owning their games. As a physical collector, and somebody who enjoys Ubisoft's open worlds, this is a nightmare scenario for me. Absolute scumbag company.

[-Foxtrot]

The worse thing is people keep buying them day one, even those against this most of the time.

They literally give the worst anti-consumer statements, tell us to get comfortable not owning our games and it feels like no one gives a shit.

It's not like nothing else is coming out, be patient, play a better game in the meantime while this game goes down in price. It's not going to kill you to make a stand.

[RhinoGamer88]

In other news...water is WET!

[HankHill]

$70 for an online only microtransaction ridden Ubisoft game? Hard pass.

[Chocoburger]

Even without the online requirements and micro-trash-actions, STILL a hard pass. No more Ubi-junk for me!

[TheGamingHounds]

Ethical hacking exists, so should ethical piracy

Ubisoft games should be first and foremost on this list.

[Profchaos]

It's a fine line to walk there's preservation and there's piracy.

One helps us play games that companies abandoned the other got us into this mess in the first place

[Shiore2u]

Nothing ethical about wasting bandwidth on a ubisoft game.

[TheGamingHounds]

@Shiore2u

Can't say I disagree kek

But hey, it's Assassin's Creed in Japan so maybe we can make an exception here? :x
Or I could look at Ghost of Tsushima but it doesn't take place in the Sengoku and post-Nobunaga era

[Profchaos]

Same as their upcoming star wars outlaws clearly they are not listening to the so killing games movement.

This is another title that can be shut down in a few years

[Gameseeker_Frampt]

Nice fail Ubisoft. You'd think after the mess of corporate choices with The Crew and Star Wars Outlaws Ubisoft would actually care about winning gamers back.

[jznrpg]

Not surprised as Avatar required connection as well. I’m not really interested in Assassin’s Creed anyway and they give me more reasons not to be

[CrimsonWing69]

Doesn’t bother me. I’m pretty much online all day every day to watch Netflix, surf the web, listen to music, and yadda yadda yadda.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Ad supported music like Spotify and Pandora are free. With Netflix, you don't have to buy the movies or TV shows.

What happens when the servers go and you can't play the game you BOUGHT? Why is the Internet required to play a single player game?

Being online is one thing. Being locked out of a game you purchased down the road is another. My Pong system and Atari games still work to this day. No Internet required.

Question though... Would you have been fine with Microsoft's DRM in 2013 taking away your game ownership? Seems like you would have not been bothered.

[CrimsonWing69]

Yup. Have you read those terms of service and user agreements most everyone skip through and hit accept on? Cuz guess what, bub… you technically don’t own the games you bought, you’ve paid for licensing to use them.

With Gamepass you don’t have to buy games, does that make it ok then as per your Netflix example? If games are allowed to have ads and be free then it’s ok? Because I see a ton of mobile games that do this, so those are ok?

How many people sing praises to Helldivers 2? You don’t think when the servers go down you won’t be locked out of that one?

You bring up Pong and Atari, we’re in 2024, man. The digital games for consoles started with the 360 era and PS3 era and I can still go back and play all the games in my digital library from then. I don’t cry about VHS not being supported or that I can’t play an audio cassette in my car anymore. This is the times, things are kind of going all digital and I don’t throw a sh*t fit over it. It’s very rare, even with the digital games I own now, that I can’t play any of them even when they’re delisted.

I think the only games I can’t play in my library are PT (which was a demo) and Afro Samurai 2 (which they gave me money back on).

So, yea, I’m not going to stop playing a game when we already only own a license to play them. The funny thing is I think only us old farts make a stink about this sh*t. The younger generation probably doesn’t give two sh*ts about it jamming out on their Fortnite’s and every other digital only game that sells more. I mean I can still play PS3 games I downloaded… so I don’t really get bothered by it. I didn’t scream about Best Buy no longer selling movies, I buy all music digitally and I don’t huff and puff about it, sort of the same way I feel about games… I dunno, it’s just one of those things and life will go on 🤷‍♂️

[XiNatsuDragnel]

People like this ruin games and support this deviant behavior sigh

[CrimsonWing69]

How many of us are there? There’s enough of us to ruin games?

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Yes there's enough to cause harm because more people have this attitude the more companies let's do more it's a frog in a boiling pot situation.

[CrimsonWing69]

“Yes there's enough to cause harm because more people have this attitude the more companies let's do more it's a frog in a boiling pot situation.”

I think we’ll be just fine. Look at PC gamers, how long have they been digital only? I don’t see a single PC gamer whining about how games are ruined because they’re digital only on PC or how they’re just going to stop playing games because they aren’t physical…

Games won’t be “ruined” and this behavior is far from “deviant,” let’s not get all melodramatic and hyperbolic.

In the terms of agreement you do realize that it states you only purchased a license to play the game as well as making it clear you don’t technically “own” the game, right?

So, here’s a doozy for you, if you click to agree to those terms aren’t you effectively “ruining” games and enabling “deviant” behavior as well? I mean if you really want to stand true to your convictions shouldn’t you not support any game until the industry allows you to “own” the game?

I hardly think a game requiring online connection to play is a big deal at all. My console is 100% online every time I turn it on and play a game… so… yea, just another Tuesday for me.

I mean, look at Helldivers 2. Sony’s fastest selling game and the best selling game of the year and guess what… *gasp* it’s online-only… games are ruined, amirite?

[XiNatsuDragnel]

@crimson

Sigh man ignorance is showing you being hypocrite here because pc games digital only when you have that agreement older games didn't have it 64 games didn't have it older games didn't have it, these agreements that you claim man. Even so, that's for servers and you're right those contracts are essentially rent the ip that ain't right either we need to eliminate those. But older games I can own them I want everyone to own there games not rent those ips. Next, pc is different from consoles where ppl are more inclined to disc's than pc and Even pc digital infrastructure is more flexible than console so yeah. Man you're threat to gaming and where companies own your products. Pc gamers do 'whine' about always online in certain games so.... man you're blind to reality and truth

[-Foxtrot]

Years later when said company gets even worse to the point it can't be ignored and other studios have followed their lead...

"How did this happen, it's awful"

Yeah it is, because you let them get away with it

[ApocalypseShadow]

Don't care if it's physical or digital. I bought it, I own it. There isn't much to it. Being young or old, once you give up your ownership of anything, it's hard or impossible to get back.

You're saying some gamers today don't care. That's the problem. They don't care about micro transactions, dlc locked on a disc, season passes and unfinished games where you're waiting for updates for a better game than a finished game that works at launch.

You might be cool with that. The rest of us aren't. Either back then or now. You buy something, it's yours. And there should be laws that protect gamers on that.

Also, I didn't buy Hell Divers. I don't play online as a single player, local multiplayer gamer. I don't pay for online and have stuck to that. Just like I stick with not buying EA, Ubisoft or Activision games

[CrimsonWing69]

PC gamers seem to be doing just fine 🤷‍♂️

Also, they already covered themselves by law. When you click accept on that User Agreement you agreed to terms of not owning the game but purchasing a license to play the game.

So… yea, the law’s going to tell you if you don’t accept those terms then you shouldn’t have agreed to them.

This really isn’t a big deal and it even came out this is just for the install making it even less of a thing to flip out over.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

@crimson
Sigh man you're a corporation shill who loves this bs I want to fully own my product to do what I please those agreements shouldn't be in many games only games like mmos or games specifically designed for online. Pc users can games offline too and like that and would definitely complain about it because we are gamers

[CrimsonWing69]

@XiNatsuDragnel

We’ll be ok in the end. I promise.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

@crimson.
Sure man... that's lie look at lootboxes it gotten so bad to the point that governments that involved that's because ppl like you said oh its okay but It was never okay in the 1st place, I am sorry that I care young fella.

[Inverno]

Ubisoft free since 2011…well i bought Scott Pilgrim but thats a game worth the exception and on the switch so I didn't feel screwed over.

[Skuletor]

If you waited a year you could have played Far Cry 3, it was all downhill for the series from there though.

[Inverno]

Well then I'm about a year off cause Farcry was infact my last AAA Ubi game. It was also the game that made me not wanna buy anything from them again cause of how similar the gameplay loop was to AC3. Ubisoft games have great promises and they sell you on the Idea of what a game could be, but then they copy/paste the gameplay loop across all their games. This whole online requirement thing is just horrible no matter the publisher. I have Project Diva and having to connect online when booting up the game is not good.

[UltimateOwnage]

Well I won’t be buying this one.

[phoenixwing]

Done with ubisoft. To ps5 owners and pc ppl I'd recommend ghost of tsushima. Also ps5 only ppl can get rise of ronin which is a great samurai game

[SimpleDad]

No thanks Ubisoft.

[outsider1624]

Oh well i guess ill play the old games then. As it is Never got to finish Ac odyssey and Valhalla..ill get my Ac fix.
I dread of Splinter Cell now..

[jwillj2k4]

I was just saying this the other day about games requiring you to connect regardless of the disk versus downloaded. Nothing you can do to get around it it’s coming, no outdated hardware OS workaround gonna save you from it,

[Charlieboy333]

Oh but there is something you can do about it......don't fucking buy games that have this crap implemented. Keep supporting games that are full on disc.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Just don't buy it or pirate it to decomp it or recomp it later

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

Ugh of course. Ubisoft you had one fucking job. Jesus christ why do big publishers always shoot themselves in the foot? I'm more then convinced then ever now that execs on the largest game publishers haven't touched a controller in their lives and don't play games.

[InUrFoxHole]

If needing a psn account to fully access ghost of Tsushimas features on pc isn't a big deal, surely this isn't either.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

It is big bud because many ppl won't be able to play Don't ruin gaming 😒

[DarXyde]

Some companies are committed to their demise.

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

Watch 99% of gamers not giving a damn.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Of course then they'll the industry worse for all of us.

[TheColbertinator]

Hahaha keep it then. Here I was a fool to get excited for the single player :/

[victorMaje]

Ubisoft once again helping me save for other games that matter.

[isarai]

🤣

[Aussiesummer]

I'll wait for the repack. Aint getting another cent from me.

[FACTUAL evidence]

Jeez, way to kill your game before release…

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Easy pass ubisoft

[northpaws]

Guys, be reasonable, how else can it prompt you with ads? /s

[on_line_forever]

Ok , Another reason to not buy the game

[Chocoburger]

They do this so they're can take the game away from you anytime they decide. Each year these trash companies push a little bit further to see how much their stupid customers are willing to bend over in order to play their generic, boring, trash, filler games.

Each year millions of idiots bend over, but we need them to stop, its the only way to fight back against Ubi-junk and all the other garbage publishers out there. Hit them where it hurts, their revenue streams.

[purple101]

And yet, Stellar Blade is playable start to finish, on the disk, at launch

[SoloGamer1]

these companies will never learn... 🙄

[Lexreborn2]

My PC is always online except when I turn it off. My PS5 and Xbox series X is always online except when I turn it off. My phone is always online except when I turn it off.

[VariantAEC]

What happens when Ubi says, 'We have decided to terminate support for AC: Shadows we thank our players for their commitments.' Your devices access to the internet isn't the problem, it is that the game needs to reach those servers at all times to function and no matter what you paid that game is not guaranteed to work even though the disc and device could work comfortably for decades.

[Lexreborn2]

Oh yeah decades you say? I have a ps2 and a bunch of ps1/2 games and guess what… the lens on the ps2 doesn’t work anymore. I can’t play any of those games anymore. Should I boycott companies for no longer manufacturing the devices I need to play those discs now?

Or should I go dump money into buying more old systems and hope they work so I can play the games?

I really don’t care for this “anti” always online sentiment with games while all of us play the games on devices that are always connected to begin with. Buying a game on disc and a day one install patches bugs it’s not the same game on the disc you bought. Are you going to boycott it even though you needed the internet to play it without the bugs?

If I buy say last guardian, and they removed the FPS unlock from the disc and added additional content after the fact. Am I upset now that my disc doesn’t reflect the newest version of the game? Am I content knowing if Sony goes out of business in say 30 years that if I want to dust off my ps4 and play last guardian I can’t get the patch and the game is bug ridden?

The only argument I care about is if they were changing the content on the disc and telling me I have to pay to unlock the previous content I already bought.

The rest is a pointless argument that goes into territories I don’t think is worth the argument

[VariantAEC]

I have loads of old CD and DVD systems as well as ancient console HW none of which failed on me except my PS3 with its very complicated 3 laser diode which no longer reads CDs and DVDs. The laser can be replaced without replacing the console in that case. But generally speaking laser diodes last longer than 20 years (not talking continuous use to be clear). You could also take better care of your systems and not damage the lens of the drive. In my case looking at PS3 the laser diode failed for legacy media meaning CD/DVD, but still reads BD-ROMs as good as new.

There are not that many games from Nintendo, PS or even Xbox that are non-functional or incompletable without the day one patch. Some examples are PCARs which needs its day 1 patch to operate like a game instead of a very expensive demo. I don't know of too many games like that. Driveclub would be a downgrade on OG HW without the many patches, but still has a fully functional offline SP campaign. Most of the hyperbole surrounding broken games is limited to the fringes and 3rd party titles. You don't actually know how bad your argument is. Imagine AC: Shadows after Ubi takes down the authentication servers? What if your HW is pristine and runs all other games fine? Well that's great, but AC: Shadows won't work because Ubi shut down their servers that authenticate your game. Are you really so dense that you can't wrap your head around the monumental differences between those concepts?

[Lexreborn2]

@varient

It’s funny because you are looking at it from a perspective where YOU still have said devices. I am coming from a perspective that have said devices busted, even if some of my others are in tact it doesn’t change the facts that the hardware fails. And if it’s gone which in the next decade could be EXTREMELY hard to find functional ones the disc mean jack.

The only way gaming is preserved is if the digital assets themselves are preserved which there is no reason to assume they won’t be online only or not. If anything not buying this game won’t make them want to do online requirements less. It will lead to the same problem we seen with companies like Konami where they exit the space and people start begging for the franchises they missed.

[VariantAEC]

"I am coming from a perspective that have said devices busted, even if some of my others are in tact it doesn’t change the facts that the hardware fails. And if it’s gone which in the next decade could be EXTREMELY hard to find functional ones the disc mean jack."

So what hardware fails. PCs move on and emulation gets more and more complex. If games are AOL then when the seevers go down they're gone and most of what makes those games is bound in online MP. For a game like this if it isn't cracked you rely on PCs being able to emulate the console versions at some point in the distant future to preserve it. Cracking is getting more and more difficult as is owning a computer that allows you to do whatever you want with it thanks to MS and Linux isn't the 1 stop gaming OS for everyone's needs even with strong support from Valve in the form of SteamOS. At some point you will lose access. But if the HW can be fixed or emulated you still need the media as in the game itself. You can't rely on the internet to have it there forever. At some point you need to be conscious of your responsibility to take good care of your HW and physical storage media including discs/HDD/SSDs, etc. to keep on gaming the same is true to listening to music and watching movies. What are you having difficulty understanding about that?

[Rutaprkl]

Ubisoft is a f***ing joke.

[gold_drake]

hard pass

[vTuro24]

Stop buying their shit and the problem will solve itself. Unfortunately, too many keep buying their shit.

[Huey_My_D_Long]

Annoyed but expected.

[cthulhucultist]

They never learn..

Time for a hard lesson I guess Ubisoft.

[Crows90]

Many years ago...in a generation far far away...I used to be excited about assassins creed games

[Kinza55012]

easy pass

[Jingsing]

Just as well I stopped buying Ubisoft games long ago, this will only add to their demise. This is what desperate companies do.

[SDuck]

Wait, let me ask surprised... :/

[Tankbusta40]

These companies just don't freaking get it

[Redemption-64]

This is false

[Chilliersplash]

Needing an online connection for games is here to stay guys , no point keep banging on about it , if you don’t like it then it’s time to find a different hobby.

[Chocoburger]

What a terrible and shallow thought process. Perhaps you work for Ubi-junk and are trying to get simple-mined fools to believe in their awful business practices, but it won't work on anyone with more than two braincells.

[deadfrag]

Easy pass for me.