UPDATE 5:45 PM UK: Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD owners will be able to play and re-download the game even after the servers shut down on September 1st.
The new statement shared with Eurogamer tonight appears to contradict the message visible today on the game’s store page. This is now being changed.
Here’s Ubisoft’s full statement:
“As stated in our support article, only DLCs and online features are affected by the upcoming decommissioning. Current owners of these games can still access, play, or re-download them. Our teams are working with our partners to update this information on all storefronts and are also reviewing all available options for players who will be impacted when these games go offline on September 1st, 2022.
“It has always been our intention to do everything in our power to ensure that these legacy titles remain available under the best possible conditions for players, and we are working towards that.”
ORIGINAL STORY 10.15am UK:Ubisoft has warned that Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD will be “inaccessible” from September 1st.
The game is now no longer available “at the request of the publisher,” according to a warning on the game’s Steam page.
Silent Hunter 5, a Ubisoft submarine combat sim, also has the same alerts.
And curiously, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands has a similar notice, but only for the game’s Deluxe Edition and DLC.
Ubisoft’s move to make this selection of games and DLC inaccessible follows an earlier announcement that Ubisoft was shutting down a number of online services for legacy games.
This announcement went down badly with fans – and indeed with a Ubisoft development studio. Anno 2070 maker Ubisoft Mainz has since said it’s trying to patch its game so it can continue playing after its servers shut down.
Another Ubisoft game that will no longer be accessible after September 1st is Space Junkies, one of the titles where the online servers will be shut down. However, as an online-only game, this makes at least some sense.
But what about Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD? Eurogamer contacted Ubisoft for comment and received the following statement on the publisher’s earlier announcement of server shutdowns.
“We do not take the decision to end services for legacy Ubisoft games lightly, and our teams are currently evaluating all available options for players who will be impacted when these games end online services on September 1, 2022 ,” a Ubisoft spokesperson told us.
“We are also working with our partners to update this information across all storefronts so players are fully aware of the online service removal upon purchase as well as through our support article where we shared the news.”
We hope to hear more about Liberation HD specifically and will update when we do.