Ubisoft Starts Removing Ubisoft Connect Launcher From Their Steam Releases

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Playing video games on the Steam Deck is generally quite easy to do, but there are a few things that can get in the way. One of those is a third-party launcher. These usually just get in the way and feel unnecessary, as well as sometimes stopping us from playing games offline. However, Ubisoft has unexpectedly made a huge move that they absolutely deserve praise for: they are removing the Ubisoft Connect Launcher from games.

Earlier today, Ubisoft announced that they are starting the process of removing their Ubisoft Connect Launcher from their releases on Steam. In a news post on Steam for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, they are testing a new feature called Ubisoft Connect Services to give us a more streamlined launch experience on Steam, while still offering the cross-progression, cloud sync, and challenges that come from Ubisoft Connect. They are starting with Prince of Persia, but they will be rolling this out to more games over time:

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.

This first version is an initial step toward 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.

Steam News Post

This is something I never would’ve expected to see from Ubisoft, so I’m quite pleasantly surprised. As soon as I saw, I knew I had to download the game and test it out to see how it’s working. And so far, it seems Ubisoft is doing something wonderful.

The game boots up similarly to before, but instead of installing the launcher, it loads Ubisoft Connect Services. It automatically logged me in and got the game started without me needing to touch the screen or do anything else. On top of that, I can happily confirm that I was able to play the game offline without any issues. I did install the game with the Internet first, but I had no problems playing the game without the Internet afterward.

I’m very excited to see which games get this next, and again, this is an incredible move from the company. I do hope they start supporting Linux again in some of their online games, such as For Honor (which lost Linux support), but I will happily give them credit where credit is due.

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