Ubisoft’s The Crew, which was released in 2014 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, has been delisted without warning. Its servers will shut off next year, too. And because the game is an always-online experience, Ubisoft has confirmed that it will become unplayable once that happens.
The Crew is a massive open-world driving game set in a digital (not-to-scale) recreation of the United States of America. While its narrative was a weird, melodramatic tale of car gangs and criminals, the real reason to play The Crew was to go on road trips across Ubisoft Ivory Tower’s squished, but charming recreation of the USA. But, if you wanted to check out The Crew now or return to its odd world, you better hurry up, because in 2024 it all dies.
On December 14, Ubisoft delisted The Crew from all console storefronts and on Steam. This happened early in the day, before Ubisoft had officially commented on the situation, leading to speculation as to what it meant. On Thursday, the publisher posted a letter on its website confirming the game has been delisted and its servers will be shut down on April 1, 2024.
Because the game is always online, that means once the servers are dead so is the game for everyone who bought it, digitally or physically.
“We understand this may be disappointing for players still enjoying the game,” Ubisoft said. “But it has become a necessity due to upcoming server infrastructure and licensing constraints.”
Ubisoft says folks who have recently bought The Crew might be eligible for a refund but stopped short of offering anything else to players who will permanently lose access to a game they purchased just a few months from now.
“Decommissioning a game, and especially our first one, is not something we take lightly,” Ubisoft said. “Our goal remains to provide the best action-driving gameplay experience for players and to deliver on it, we are continuing to provide new content and support for The Crew 2 and the recently launched The Crew Motorfest.”
While I don’t expect companies to support online games for decades, it would be nice if games were built in a way that, when the servers do eventually die, the game can be updated into an offline experience. Otherwise, in 10 to 15 years, we are going to have a lot of games that won’t be playable anymore, even if you own the disc.
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