Ubisoft seems to have kicked off an initiative to move away from its launcher for the Steam version of its games. Typically, playing a Ubisoft game involves an extra launcher – Ubisoft Connect – starting up and updating before the game even starts. As spotted by Reddit users, the company has introduced Ubisoft Connect Services for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, essentially stopping the launcher from running on top of Steam.
“Starting with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, we are testing a new Ubisoft Connect Services Steam tool that keeps Ubisoft game features such as cross-progression, cross-play, player safety, challenges and rewards, among others, without requiring the Ubisoft Connect PC launcher to be installed or launched,” explained the company in a recent update.
The company has noted that, since it is just testing its new Ubisoft Connect Services tool for now, more and more features are slated to be implemented that would ultimately lead to PC players not needing to keep Ubisoft Connect installed at all. The company has also confirmed that it will be doing the same for more of its games in the future.
“This first version is an initial step towards a smoother and more streamlined launch experience on Steam. We will continue to iterate and improve Ubisoft Connect Services over time, with the goal of delivering the features and services players use and expect while making the Steam experience as seamless as possible. Ubisoft Connect Services will progressively evolve and roll out to more Ubisoft games on Steam in the future.”
It is worth noting that the version of Ubisoft Connect that launches whenever you start one of the company’s games can often be finicky, requiring constant updates and sometimes even forgetting your account details, forcing you to log in repeatedly. While most PC players will likely see this as a minor annoyance at the best of times, true beneficiaries of this move will likely be handheld gaming PC users who like to spend time on their Steam Deck or ROG Xbox Ally.
The smaller displays along with the lack of a physical keyboard can often make dealing with third-party launchers more complicated on these devices, and Ubisoft’s decision to step away from forcing a Ubisoft Connect launch for its titles bodes well for handheld players. The company has been quite proud of how many of its more recent releases are Steam Deck Verified at launch, for example, and this move likely helps it in that regard as well.
The fact that Ubisoft is testing this with a single-player game indicates that we might see similar updates made to other single-player releases before the company decides to move on to bringing it to multiplayer titles as well.
In the meantime, Reddit users have been thrilled about this announcement. “Finally. Now add this for all previous titles, and I will buy Ubisoft games again,” wrote one user. Another noted that Ubisoft’s Connect launcher must have been quite unpopular for the company to have made this decision. “Imagine how much they had to lose to admit this was needed,” they wrote.
