Ubisoft has released a new video revealing progress on the planned offline mode for open-world racing title The Crew 2. Producer Gregory Corgie has described the offline mode as a “hybrid way to play the game.” Check out the video below.
When it comes to the company’s progress in bringing offline modes to both The Crew 2 as well as The Crew Motorfest, Corgie has said that the initial state of development of the feature has been going smoothly.
“As you can imagine, developing an offline mode requires time and resources,” said Corgie. “We are pleased to confirm that we are aiming to deploy a new hybrid way to play the game before the end of 2025.”
This hybrid way essentially means that the studio has been working on adapting the core gameplay of The Crew 2 – originally developed from the ground up as a multiplayer game – for offline play.
“Some features will be maintained, others will be adapted,” explained Corgie. “For instance, specific parts of multiplayer modes will no longer be available when playing offline. The final list of those features will be published as soon as we can.”
Corgie also said that the development team is currently focused on bringing the offline mode to The Crew 2 first. This is because Motorfest is still a currently-supported game, and its teams are focused on the live-service aspects of the racing title. While no timeline was given for when the latter would get an offline mode, Corgie said that Ubisoft plans to release it for The Crew 2 in 2025.
“The Crew 2 will be first, allowing players to enjoy and switch between online and offline mode whenever they want,” said Corgie. “When we will deploy the version before the end of 2025.”
Corgie also revealed that Ubisoft plans to hold the first test for The Crew 2‘s offline mode on April 30. Selected players can get their hands on the feature’s early version, depending on their system configuration and previous involvement in the game’s community.
Development of offline modes for The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest was announced back in September. This was done in response to fan backlash against Ubisoft having taken the servers for The Crew down, making the 2014 racing title completely unplayable for players that had bought the game.
In the meantime, Ubisoft has also been the target of a lawsuit by fans of The Crew, who believe that the company had falsely advertised the game, pointing to its download code advertised as valid until 2099. As part of the lawsuit, Ubisoft’s lawyers have argued that players never had ownership of the game.
The most recent game in the series, The Crew Motorfest, is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The game has been supported with continuous updates since its 2023 launch. For more details, check out our review from back when it came out. And while you’re at it, also check out our reviews of the original The Crew, as well as the 2018 sequel The Crew 2.
