In July, Ubisoft caused a bit of a stir when it announced that it planned to ‘decommission’ the multiplayer components of older titles in several popular game series like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry. A confusing message on Steam led players to believe that the games and DLC were being pulled from their libraries – although Ubisoft quickly clarified that wasn’t the case. The decommissioning was scheduled for September 1, but now the company says it’s pushing the date back to October 1. Further, Ubisoft says that in most cases, you’ll be able to keep playing affected DLC as long as you activate it prior to the new decommissioning date.
On PC, several Assassin’s Creed titles will be impacted when outdated online features are decommissioned, but the odds are pretty good you’ll still be able to play most of the content you already own. The Animus Project Updates for the 2010 release of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, being multiplayer-focused, will no longer be available after October 1, and neither will the Battle-Hardened Pack for the original PC edition of Assassin’s Creed III.
Other than that, though, any content you own for Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Assassin’s Creed Revelations, Assassin’s Creed III, and Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD will remain available after the decommissioning date as long as you activate it prior to October 1.
There’s also welcome news for Anno 2070 players. Instead of being decommissioned, the city-building game is getting a significant update, porting it to 64 bit and upgrading its online capabilities. The Anno team says it intends for players to be able to enjoy Anno 2070 for “many years to come.”
Far Cry 3 and Splinter Cell Blacklist DLCs will similarly remain available as long as they are activated prior to October 1.
You can read Ubisoft’s announcement in full on its official site.