When Ubisoft announced the closure of its live service racer, The Crew, on March 31, 2024, I was extremely annoyed. This move not only reinforces the notion that consumers don’t truly own the games they purchase, but it also rendered my own disc copy practically worthless.
Ubisoft seems determined to frustrate gamers in every possible way. The company has suggested that gamers should “get comfortable” with the concept of not actually owning the games they buy. They’ve also attempted to introduce in-game pop-up advertisements in Assassin’s Creed.
Speaking of which, their upcoming release, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, appears to reflect a deep-seated disdain for Japan. The game depicts a supposed historical figure inaccurately as a samurai. To make matters worse, you play as a Black samurai during the Sengoku period, decapitating and slaughtering Japanese warriors to a soundtrack of modern trap music mixed with traditional Japanese tunes.
The collector’s edition figure for the game is riddled with historical and linguistic errors that blatantly mock Japan’s language and history. This controversy comes as no surprise, given an internal corporate email stating that diversity and DEI are in Ubisoft’s DNA.
When The Crew’s online servers were shut down and the game was pulled from digital storefronts, I thought that was the end of it. However, Ubisoft took it a step further by removing digitally purchased copies from players’ libraries on UPlay/Ubisoft Connect, effectively making the now-worthless game disappear by force.
Fortunately, things have since changed. Valiant modders are working hard to make The Crew playable again, as the game never had an offline mode. While most players have moved on to sequels like The Crew 2 and Motorfest, the original release by Ivory Tower attempted to innovate the genre.
It offered a large, expansive recreation of the entire United States and engaged players with a narrative beyond just racing. Although the game was rather average, maintaining a user rating of 5.4 on Metacritic even before Ubisoft announced its termination, it did try to bring something new to the table.
Dedicated fans of this car-themed MMO have achieved a significant triumph by making the entire open world explorable once again. The “The Crew Unlimited” mod project recently released a video showcasing their latest milestone, demonstrating an in-game road trip for the first time since Ubisoft terminated its service.
User ‘whammy4’ shared a video showcasing The Crew running on a server emulator. In the video, we see a road trip from Detroit to Black Hills, and it appears that most of the game’s features are functioning properly.
This suggests that it’s only a matter of time before dedicated players can once again enjoy 2014’s The Crew entirely offline. There is also potential for limited multiplayer functionality with other players using the server emulator once it’s officially released, similar to how modders revived Test Drive Unlimited 2, allowing for limited multiplayer despite its online servers being terminated.
Once again, the power and potential of the PC community are on full display. Dedicated fans and modders have seemingly thwarted Ubisoft’s attempts to kill The Crew, giving fans hope that they can soon play the game despite Ubisoft’s efforts to terminate the live service racer.
Although no official release window has been announced yet, when it does eventually release, it will undoubtedly open the game to community-made mods, adjustments to the game’s “smart loot” mechanics, and allowing for the implementation of new vehicle models and modified handling characteristics.
