Fans of the Assassin's Creed franchise are up in arms over Ubisoft's decision to pull access to the spinoff game, Liberation, even for players who purchased the title.
GamesRadar+ noted the massive onslaught of recent negative reviews to Assassin's Creed Liberation's Steam page after services posted two notices. "At the request of the publisher, Assassin's Creed® Liberation HD is no longer available for sale on Steam," one read, followed by another revealing the title would no longer be accessible after Sept. 1, 2022. In response, gamers took to the review page, leaving outraged comments condemning the "game-killing" culture in recent years and Ubisoft's decision to effectively leave paying customers with a digital paperweight.
"We don't take the decision to retire services for older Ubisoft games lightly, and our teams are currently assessing all available options for players who will be impacted when these games' online services are decommissioned on September 1st, 2022," Ubisoft told GamesRadar+ when asked for a statement. "We are also working with our partners to update this information across all storefronts, so players will be fully informed about the removal of online services at the point of purchase as well as via our support article where we shared the news."
Although the company said it is looking into all the ways its decision will impact fans of the games, it refrained from giving a specific reason for the move. The date coincides with a few important updates to its Assassin's Creed franchise, such as Ubisoft's plan to kill access to online services for several games, including a number in the stealth series. It isn't clear why single-player-only titles, such as Liberation, would be cut off from even players who shelled out cash for them.
Ubisoft recently revealed fans could expect significant updates on the future of the Assassin's Creed franchise in September. While some speculated this could be its own event, Ubisoft just announced its streaming Forward event to look at all its upcoming titles for the same month. The developer also plans a showcase at Gamescon near the end of August, though they've yet to tease what content fans might expect from that event. Earlier in the year, reports suggested Ubisoft planned a massive reveal of over 20 upcoming titles, including forthcoming Assassin's Creed titles. Whether that has now been split between Gamescon and the Ubisoft Forward event remains unclear.
Ubisoft appears at Gamescon on Aug. 24-28, while its Forward streaming event is scheduled for Sept. 10 on dedicated YouTube and Twitch channels.
Sources: Steam via GamesRadar+