Updated
Updated · Kotaku · Jul 13
Ubisoft Connect Outage Blocks PC Games for 1 Hour Despite Offline-Play Promise
Updated
Updated · Kotaku · Jul 13

Ubisoft Connect Outage Blocks PC Games for 1 Hour Despite Offline-Play Promise

3 articles · Updated · Kotaku · Jul 13

Summary

  • An about 1-hour Ubisoft Connect outage early July 11 stopped legitimate PC players from launching Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and other Ubisoft titles.
  • Players said the failure contradicted Black Flag Resynced’s FAQ, which says the main campaign should work offline after a one-time download connection.
  • Steam forum posts and a Reddit thread with more than 15,000 upvotes turned the short disruption into a broader backlash against Ubisoft’s always-online DRM on PC.
  • The incident also exposed a familiar loophole: pirated copies that removed the Connect check reportedly kept working while paying customers were locked out.
  • Ubisoft had not responded to questions on why access failed, reviving concerns about long-term playability if Connect or its servers are ever retired.

Insights

Is Ubisoft's online DRM becoming a bigger threat to its games than piracy?
When a game promises offline play, should a server outage ever lock you out of your purchase?