Ubisoft is once again requiring players to connect to the internet to install the single-player focused games they buy on a physical disc. First it was Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora, then it was Star Wars: Outlaws, and now Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Confirmed by the PlayStation Store with the unfortunate tag of “Online play required,” and then again with the game’s box art on retail stores. Which means that if you buy a copy of the game on disc, pop that disc into your PS5, you won’t be able to play what you bought without an internet connection.
As our world continues to advance in its technology infrastructure, it is true that if you own a PS5, there’s a fair chance you have an internet connection you can use, or that you could at least get one. But that’s not the core issue.
The problem is that this means years from now, when Ubisoft has moved on from Shadows, when we’re on PlayStation 7 or whatever the next-next generation of PlayStation console will be, a physical copy of AC Shadows could be potentially be useless.
Because there’s no guarantee Ubisoft will continue to support the servers that run the DRM check to ensure you properly purchased the game you are about to play. It’s nothing short of anti-preservation when it comes to games.
We’ve already seen time and again – specifically from Ubisoft – that you can’t trust digital versions of games will be around forever. If we can’t rely on physical copies, then there’s going to be a lot of excellent games and works of art lost to time in the decades to come.
Source – [PlayStation Store, Best Buy]