Assassin's Creed, Might and Magic, Settlers unplayable during Ubisoft server switch

By Tom Phillips Published 2 February, 2012

PC Uplay down from 7th February.

Online modes for the majority of Ubisoft games will be impacted next week when the company moves its gaming servers.

PC and Mac gamers will find several games completely unavailable online and offline.

Ubisoft will start transitioning its online services from next Tuesday, 7th February.

PC games scheduled to go dark include Tom Clancy's HAWX 2, Might & Magic: Heroes 6 and The Settlers 7.

Mac gamers will lose access to Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell Conviction and The Settlers.

Uplay on PC will fall offline completely, although other PC games not mentioned above will remain playable offline if already connected at least once.

Top titles Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Driver: San Francisco will remain playable online throughout the server move across PC and all console platforms.

Just Dance 3 on Xbox 360 and The Settlers Online on PC will also be unaffected.

All other Ubisoft games will have their online modes "impacted" during the maintenance, the company has warned.

Ubisoft did not mention how long the work would last.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Phillips

Tom joined Eurogamer in 2010 and has quickly made his mark writing news and columns and coming up with puntastic straplines. Questionable beard.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Phillips archive page.

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Comments (31) Latest comment 3 weeks ago

  • oi #1 3 weeks ago

    yarr!

    (y)

  • prudislav #2 3 weeks ago

    Why they rather don't release some patch to get them working in offline mode - if servers are down - atleast to play Singleplayer.

  • ISmoke #3 3 weeks ago

    Fuck you Ubisoft.


    T'is my own fault for buying their games on PC I guess.

  • neilka #4 3 weeks ago

    I really enjoyed Driver: Francisco, although the bell-ringing minigames were a bit boring and the DLC habits were ridiculously overpriced.

  • arcam #5 3 weeks ago

    @prudislav Because the fact they don't work offline is the whole point. They're unlikely to spend thousands of pounds to produce patches that defeat their own DRM.

  • prudislav #6 3 weeks ago

    @arcam as far as i know they said (before AC2 came) that someday they make offline patches for them. For some of games they already did it (Shaun Skatoboarding, Driver SF, From Dust, AC2)

  • kid666 #7 3 weeks ago

    Upay - U no play

  • v.profane #8 3 weeks ago

    Ubisoft will only let you play the games you've bought if they feel like it.

  • ozzit #9 3 weeks ago

    @neilka well punned sir

  • Eraysor #10 3 weeks ago

    And this is why I didn't buy any Ubisoft PC games.

  • TheOnlyPaulV #11 3 weeks ago

    i often read comments but do not want to get involved but on this subject i have to comment; never EVER again will i purchase a ubisoft game on pc with drm.i love the Anno games and have bought every single version, day1, then i bought anno 2070. did you know that when i bought it on release i was only ablecto play it for 4 full days in the 2 weeks since launch due to their servers being down? they still go down for days at a time with no warning or when they will come back. Off line mode? dont make me laugh, the save games are in accessible without logging in. if you dont play every week the auto patcher apllies the latest update WITHOUT first checking for the previous updates, requiring a complete game reinstall. when i spoke to tech support, after 5 days of convincing them that theres no point in checking my xbox as its a pc game, they finaly admitted that there is nothing wrong with my pc nor internet and that the game is working as expected (as in not working due to drm servers being dead) by not allowing me to play it and to take it up with head office. NEVER again will i pay 35 quid for a game that i cannot play because ubisoft decided i am not allowed.

  • Darren #12 3 weeks ago

    Would it not be a grand idea for your customers, UbiSoft, to temporary patch these games so they can be played offline for the duration of the server upgrade? Better still, make these patches permanent... ;)

  • johnson81 #13 3 weeks ago

    Publishers wonder why people pirate. This is an outrage, I can understand the multi-player going off-line but the single player as well? That's disgusting. Hawks 2 came out in November 2010. So next year I won't be able to play Assassins Creed 1 & 2?

    Edit: Div, I read it wrong, I thought it was gonna be for good. Considering this is Ubisoft, I didn't actually think this was too far fetched for them.
    Edited by 1 at 02/02/12 @ 12:22

  • Daeltaja #14 3 weeks ago

    Guessing they're transferring to crappier, less expensive servers?

  • lafery #15 3 weeks ago

    lol @ everyone who's got Ubisoft games

  • pinchofsalt #16 3 weeks ago

    What a vague piece of customer support.

  • DyingAtheist #17 3 weeks ago

    @TheOnlyPaulV I agree 100%. In fact I just got finished explaining my irritation to Ubisoft customer support. It feels pointless but hopefully if enough customers complain maybe SOMEBODY there will think "erm....maybe this overzealous DRM stuff ISN'T a good idea"

  • ubergine #18 3 weeks ago

    Ubisoft used to be on my list of favorite developers / publishers. Now... well, I guess I'm just happy they haven't shat out a game of interest to me since Assassin's Creed 2.

  • bad09 #19 3 weeks ago

    Moving servers? Does this mean a company who unfairly demands you use their DRM servers on disc games are actually getting some decent servers instead of using that old MSDOS machine in the storeroom? ;)

    Ah internet DRM such a work of true genius that truly envokes a real passion to buy games. Why play problem free for free when you can pay and ask a server for permission to use your products.

    Luckily I only buy their games that will work offline so won't affect me but sucks to be the mugs who paid for the always online/every game start DRM games.
    Edited by 1 at 02/02/12 @ 15:18

  • skoypidia #20 3 weeks ago

    So sorry you guys wont have access to your toys for some time. Try stroking your $%&@s for a while instead.

  • crackhed #21 3 weeks ago

    @skoypidia I'd do that, but my cock's DRM server is going down for maintenance on 7th feb as well

  • bad09 #22 3 weeks ago

    skoypedia sounds like Ubi support!

  • Kropotkin #23 3 weeks ago

    Hey Ubisoft! DIE IN A FIRE.

  • mr_pink #24 3 weeks ago

    Does anyone know if a crack exists for my legal, steam-purchased AC:Brotherhood? (assuming that's affected). A simple yes or no will suffice, I'm not asking people to post warez links.

  • Telekinesis #25 3 weeks ago

    Ubi calls it Uplay. Is that an oxymoron? It should be called Udontplay.

  • Alestes #26 3 weeks ago

    Thanks for the superior user experience Ubisoft, you sure know how to treat your customers, by refusing them to play the games they bought!

    "Enhanced user experience" my ass.
    Edited by 1 at 02/02/12 @ 19:28

  • bad09 #27 3 weeks ago

    @mr_pink

    I think the only UbiDRM game that wasn't cracked was Hawx2 so I imagine there is a crack for Brotherhood although Brotherhood does have offline mode so Ubisoft have blessed you with permission to use your legally bought product.

    I would also warn against using cracks on Steam bought games as you may end up with a ban and you will lose legally purchased games.

  • sourc0r #28 3 weeks ago

    Just Dance 3 on Xbox 360 and The Settlers Online on PC will also be unaffected
    I guess that saves the day. Or DAYS?? HA!

  • Mainio #29 3 weeks ago

    Generally im not interested buying products which can just stop working like that.
    Whole copy production system based on requiring constant internet connection is very vulnerable anyways. And thinking greenish, its also waste of energy, upkeeping servers for checking you have legit copy is not smart business at all.

  • UKPartisan #30 3 weeks ago

    I think it's high time the issue of over restrictive DRM in PC titles should be investigated by the Office of Fair Trading or similar such European body. Somewhat off-topic but equally wrong publishers trying to frustrate the sale of second hand titles as well. Piracy is a problem in other forms of enterainment media, but when you buy a music CD, DVD Movie it's yours to listen to or watch whenever and however you please.

    This perverse and frankly bizarre focus on PC titles from the increasingly paranoid publishing houses is destroying PC gaming. A quick look a moment ago on a few torrent sites and I found a number of UbiSoft titles for consoles being seeded, including Hawx 2. Thats just on torrent sites, there's plenty of warez sites offering Ubi-Soft console titles too.

    I dont buy Ubi-Soft games anymore because of the over-zealous DRM, I don't think it's right to hand over the cash for a game and have the pre-requisite of an internet connection dictate to me where and when I can play that game. I can understand the need for an internet connection when playing a multi-player specific title, however there's no justification for it in a predominately single player title.

    Ubi-Soft are using the paranoid fear of piracy to exert restrictive measures upon the purchaser of it's products. When you purchase a video game it should belong to you, the intellectual content and copyright the publisher or artist.

    If this was any other medium there would be complete outrage and when this draconian DRM strategy eventually finds it's way onto consoles (which inevitably it will in some shape or form) the industry is going to be for the biggest shock since the video game crash 1983-85. There are more console owners out there without internet connections than do have them, fact.

    I've been playing video games a long, long time, the pirates were there then in the early 80's and are still here today and UbiSoft are just punishing the people that matter most.

    As far as I'm concerned UbiSoft can suffer the pirates, they deserve it. Any company that treats it's customers so cynically deserves everything it gets.

  • bad09 #31 3 weeks ago

    @UKPartisan

    well said, over the last few years I to have thought government bodies need to get more involved in protecting consumers rights where DRM is concerned publishers just seem to able to do anything to the products you buy right now it's insane. However they didn't care when it was music making the mistake the games industry is now, DRM free music really came only about because they had no choice in the face of a fast dying industry rather than looking after consumers needs or pressure from official bodies.

    Seeing as government tends to normally favour big business over people I honestly doubt they care about our rights on something as unimportant as video games. They all seem far too busy trying to help these big companies who spend a fortune "lobbying" to kill internet freedom rather than worrying about how these companies sell us products in the first place.

    Sadly I think the only option open to consumers now is not to buy games and find another hobby or only buy indie where there are less morons desperately to "sell" you games you don't actually own.