Ubisoft Removing Online Services Makes Another Great Case for Video Game Preservation
On September 1, Ubisoft will be shutting off online services for 15 different games from its back catalog. This will make multiplayer inaccessible on these titles, and it will also remove the ability for players to play the DLC for a couple of games. Even if the player has purchased the DLC, they will no longer be able to play the content included in it. This is not the first time that Ubisoft has shut down the online services for some of its older games, and it will most likely not be the last.
The only way that players will be able to access the DLC content for some of these games is if they own the remastered versions. However, only two of the 15 have remastered versions. While it makes sense to shut down servers for games that people are no longer playing, it feels like another blow to video game preservation. Large chunks of these various Ubisoft games will no longer be purchasable, and if the focus of the game was on the multiplayer then the player is left with not much to play. As the gaming industry puts more of a focus on digital-only, this closure of online services will only become more prevalent which may be a problem.
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For the majority of the Ubisoft games losing online services, that means that players will no longer be able to play multiplayer. The games that will lose their multiplayer modes only are Assassin's Creed 2, Assassin's Creed Revelations, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Rayman Legends, Space Junkies, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, and ZombiU. Since Space Junkies is an online-only title, it will become unplayable, and that is something that many online-only titles will face in their future.
The loss of multiplayer
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