When games started making the transition from physical to digital, everyone knew there were tradeoffs. Digital downloads were faster and more convenient, but they also meant that you didn’t fully own the game you bought. You were simply licensing it, subjecting yourself to the whims and future solvency of the company behind it. These problems seemed old. Now we’re watching them play out in real time, and Ubisoft is at the center of the chaos. Last week, the French publisher announced that it would be removing over a dozen online DLC and multiplayer game servers later this year. This was on top of the nearly 100 Ubisoft games that have already lost online content of one kind or another. Now the Far Cry maker has revealed that this massive content “decommissioning” goes even further, with Steam users losing access to an entire single-player Assassin’s Creed game they already own. As spotted by Twitter user Nors3, a new notice on the Steam page for Assassin’s Creed: Liberation reads: “At the publisher’s request, Assassin’s Creed® Liberation HD is no longer available for sale on Steam. Please note that this title will not be accessible after September 1st, 2022.” According to SteamDB, the game was on sale for 75% off just a few weeks ago as part of the latest Steam Summer sale, and some gamers have been reviewing-bombing listing to vent their frustration. Similar announcements have surfaced for several other Ubisoft games, including Silent Hunter 5: Battle and Space Junkies. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands and Splinter Cell: Blacklist have warnings that only apply to their deluxe editions and DLC, though in the case of Forgotten Sands that includes a digital copy of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. Valve and Ubisoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it was a bug or an oversight, though the latter tried to link it to its broader initiative to decommission its online servers. “We are not making the decision to retire services for older Ubisoft games, and our teams are currently evaluating all available options for players who will be affected when online services for these games are decommissioned on September 1, 2022,” Ubisoft told Eurogamer . in a statement. In the case of Assassin’s Creed: Liberation, however, players lose access to the single-player campaign. The 2012 spin-off Assassin’s Creed III puts players in the shoes of Aveline de Grandpré in New Orleans after the French and Indian War. Originally a PS Vita exclusive, it featured the series’ first female protagonist. Two years later, an HD version was ported to console and PC, where it has been available until now. While it’s still available on the publisher’s Ubisoft Connect client, the only way Steam users will seemingly still have access to it on Valve’s storefront is as a free add-on for 2019’s Assassins’ Creed III remaster. It has become somewhat common for games to be deleted from various storefronts. In some cases, such as Bandai Namco’s crossover anime fighter Jump Force, it is due to expired licensing deals. In others, like the recent disappearance of old Grand Theft Auto games, it’s because the publisher wants to replace them with remakes. Either way it can be a huge loss as players lose official access to beloved and sometimes even historic games. What appears to be happening with Assassin’s Creed: Liberation on Steam takes the conservatives’ nightmare one step further. Not only has the game disappeared from the standalone market, but it looks like it will soon disappear from people’s Steam libraries as well. Nothing lasts forever, and in the case of Assassin’s Creed: Liberation’s life on Steam, it didn’t even last a decade.
