Good, Ubisoft, please continue giving me reasons not to buy any of your games again. It’s been like 10 years now.
Black Flag came out in 2013, so this tracks.
Although, having said that, they have released at least a few interesting things since then, good games and ideas that somehow made it through their corporate nonsense (which developers have made fun of themselves, like in the present day sequences in Black Flag) and might motivate someone to hold their nose and play them regardless, like for example their charming “Indie-like” games made by small teams within their oversized studios (Rayman Legends/Origins, Grow Home/Up, Valiant Hearts, various 2D Prince of Persias, etc.), neat VR experiments (e.g. Star Trek Bridge Crew), educational modes/spin-offs based on the Assassin’s Creed games that cut out all of the slop and allow users to explore these game worlds freely - and Ghost Recon Wildlands, which on one hand is a hugely expensive AAA game with all of the typical trappings, from massive production values to godawful writing, but it also has a charming amount of jank and somehow really fun power fantasy squad command gameplay - but only after removing the awful launcher and DRM that makes you feel like the company hates you for buying their games.
Why the fuck is there an anti-cheat in a single-player game? It’s baffling.
So they can turn around and sell you the cheats through an online store.
Don’t want to just giving yourself everything, gotta fork over even more if you want that pretty sword, or a collectibles map.
That makes sense now, and I’m slightly less perturbed; thank you. It’s just grifters grifting, as they do.
Not with the Fitgirl-Repack-version 👌
That certainly doesn’t make the game more appealing.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Will Feature Denuvo & Account Linking + EULA also requires you to allow Ubisoft to “monitor” your RAM
The game’s EULA also requires you to allow Ubisoft to “monitor” your RAM.
As Ubisoft prepares for the 2025 launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows – a game some view as the developer’s last chance to break free from a year marked by financial setbacks and controversies – the game’s Steam page has finally gone live, revealing two major caveats about the Steam version of AC Shadows that will, unfortunately for Ubisoft, likely drive away some gamers.
If you’re in any way familiar with the PC gaming industry (or have read the title of this article), then you’ve most likely already guessed one of the caveats, and yes, the PC version of Assassin’s Creed Shadows will feature Denuvo, a controversial DRM software detested by the community for negatively affecting loading times and framerate in games, something Denuvo’s creator Irdeto categorically denies, blaming its low reputation on pirates and gamers.
While Denuvo’s presence in Shadows isn’t much of a surprise – considering it’s been used in Ubisoft’s previous games like Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Star Wars Outlaws, the Far Cry series, and others – the decision to keep the DRM could be seen as questionable given the growing trend of developers ditching Denuvo or choosing not to include it in the first place, as well as Ubisoft’s apparent need to steer clear of further controversies and reputational damage.
The second caveat relates to another requirement the community generally dislikes: the mandatory account linking to the studio’s Ubisoft Connect platform when buying Assassin’s Creed Shadows on Steam. Even though, much like Denuvo, this isn’t anything new for Ubisoft fans, it could still negatively impact the game financially and reputationally considering what happened with Helldivers 2 earlier this year when Sony’s now-retracted mandate to link Steam accounts to PSN caused an uproar, buried the game in negative reviews, and, as some believe, tanked the game’s player numbers, with many blaming this backlash as the sole reason we’ve heard so little about Helldivers 2 in the second half of 2024, despite it being universally acclaimed and considered a strong contender for Game of the Year when it first launched.
To top it all off, Shadows’ EULA also includes a provision that allows the game to monitor your PC’s RAM to ensure you’re not running any unauthorized programs like macros, cheats, or hacks, a well-intentioned clause that nonetheless feels a touch out of place in a single-player game and could potentially scare off some of the more suspicious players who aren’t comfortable with their hardware being monitored.
And what’s your take on those requirements? Would it be beneficial for Ubisoft to get rid of Denuvo and account linking while there’s still time?
