We live in an age of game launchers. Some of them are really great like Steam, or GOG while others remain pretty awful like the XBOX App and the Rockstar launcher. That being said if you’re living in the middle of mediocrity in terms of game launchers you’re likely a user of Ubisoft Connect. Or Epic Games. One of the biggest detriments to gaming on Steam is that a few publishing companies made the decision to require connecting your Steam game to their Piece Of Software as well, and that was the case for Ubisoft as well. At least up until recently.
Thanks to a recent update from Ubisoft on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown it has been confirmed that the Ubisoft Connect Services Steam Tool is being updated to continue offering functionality while removing the Ubisoft Connect PC Launcher requirement. At the same time, they’ve also announced that they’ll be continuing to evolve this service, and hope to bring it to more games in the future as well.
While Ubisoft claims it will create a smoother experience for users on Steam, a personal speculation is just that not enough people are regularly using Ubisofts launcher, and it’s easier to sunset a tool when it’s not a requirement for other items. Regardless, as it stands, I think this is a great move for Ubisoft overall, and shows that they are willing to make changes. I do hope their statement about rolling it out to more games on Steam does come true, as ease of use only makes people more willing to play a company’s games.
All I can hope is that other publishers take note and start pulling a move similar to this one. I’d say “I’m looking at you Rockstar” but GTA 6 will make enough money that won’t matter to them anyways.
