Back in July, Ubisoft announced it would be shutting down multiple online services for a selection of its older games on 1st September. This included the Wii U versions of Assassin's Creed 3, Rayman Legends and ZombiU.
Well, we're now past that date - and Ubisoft has issued a new notice stating how it's "moved" the decommission date from 1st September 2022 to 1st October 2022 (aka the start of next month).
While single-player DLC will no longer be available to download for several games on PC, on console, players will still be able to download and play them after 1st October 2022. And when the services are shut down, Wii U players will no longer be able to link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
Here's what Ubisoft had to say in its latest update:
"Decommissioning online services for older games is something we do not take lightly, but it is also a necessity as the technology that drove those services becomes obsolete. Over the last month, our teams have been hard at work exploring what is possible to reduce disruption. As a result, we moved the decommission date from 1 September 2022 to 1 October 2022, and the single-player downloadable content (DLC) of several games on PC – Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Assassin’s Creed III (2012 release), Far Cry 3 and Splinter Cell Blacklist – will be available to download and keep before that date."
In its original post, Ubisoft mentioned how the decision to shut down these online services was made so it could focus all of its resources on delivering great experiences for players who were enjoying "newer" and "more popular titles".
As previously noted, the same list of decommissioned online Ubisoft services also covers games on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. And it's worth mentioning how Assassin's Creed 3 Remastered and Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition (updated versions of two of these games) are both available on the Switch.
Ubisoft also ended online services for a bunch of Wii and Wii U games earlier this year:
Have you played any of these Wii U games recently? How do you feel about this news? Tell us below.
[source ubisoft.com]
Comments 26
What online features does Rayman have?
I have the Wii U Rayman game but never really played it that extensively. Will I be missing out on anything important by having waiting this long to play it? Are these missing features available in the Switch edition?
When companies do stuff like this they by law should be required to make the server tech available to anybody who wants to run it.
Corporations and companies have more rights than individual humans which is unacceptable in my opinion.
@EarthboundBenjy There's challenges and different things that cycle so you will be missing out on content 100%.
Can we shut Ubisoft down on 1st October also?
Ta mate.
Well, I played Imagine, Petz, Rabbids games by Ubisoft so I will not missing anything.
Removed - trolling/baiting
Sounds like someone lost the username and password for the server
I thought Ubisoft shut down the Rayman Legends servers on Wii U forever ago...
@EarthboundBenjy
There are these daily and weekly challenges where you try to earn a top spot in the online leaderboards by getting the high score. It gets repetitive after a while, as the game cycles through the same handful of challenges. But I was hooked on it for like a good month or two. I would never miss a singe day of participation.
The really fun ones are the "As Far As You Can!" challenges, where you're running through a procedurally-generated level that gets increasingly more difficult while you're being chased by a wall of fire the entire time. So it's almost like an autorunner, but not quite. Then there's one where you're falling down a bottomless pit, and you have to make it as many yards down as you can without getting hit, using Rayman's hover move to slow his fall and dodge spikes.
Rayman Legends goes on sale all the time foe like 10 bucks on Switch, so you could always spring for that version. If you played the Rayman Legends Challenges App (a free download released on Wii U in early 2013 to hold Nintendo fans over when they delayed the game so they could have a simultaneous launch on PlayStation and Xbox), it's the exact same thing with nothing new. But it's still a lot of fun.
Reading this article makes me want to go play Rayman Legends on the Nintendo Switch (as it's a great game).
@Not_Soos
Hmm, I see. Are these randomly-generated high-score challenge levels available offline? or will this entire gameplay mode become unavailable?
@EarthboundBenjy they will most assuredly will not be usable. It will just be the two full games no scratch tickets.
It is sad to think Rayman Legends might be the last Rayman game we will ever get now the creator has left the company and Ubisoft appear to have no plans to use Rayman again. I would love a third game in the same vein as Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends or a new 3D game and know a lot of other fans that do too but it looks like they only see money in making more Rabbids games.
@Debbiee there’s a few mobile games. One made especially for Apple Arcade. It’s not quite the same, but worth trying if u r a fan of the series…but yeah, it looks like the franchise is abandoned
@rockodoodle Thanks. I didn't know about them but I will have a look into them. It is surprising a franchise like this has just been abandoned 'cause I thought Rayman was popular enough to keep getting a game out every now and then but it looks like Ubisoft has no faith in it which is sad. Then again, I am still wondering what is going on with Donkey Kong and why we haven't gotten a new game since 2014. I always thought Donkey Kong was one of Nintendo's main franchises and surely if we can keep getting Kirby games we should be able to have more Donkey Kong.
"While single-player DLC will no longer be available to download for several games on PC, on console, players will still be able to download and play them after 1st October 2022."
(note: a suggestion of a different version of this part of this article)
While single-player DLC will no longer be available to download for several PC and console games by the end of 1st October 2022, players will still be able to download them before then and still be able to play them afterwards.
@EarthboundBenjy Actually, there aren't the challenges, themselves but they do have the same or similar gameplay with limits, this time. (Well, some had limits online with how long it took to reach the end and there were challenges where you had to get a certain amount of lums but those would probably end eventually because you're gonna have to get lums.)No never ending things, but they do have the different gameplay modes in some form.
Also, the game has online leaderboards and has challenges with leaderboards on invaded levels.
@BinaryMessiah there are about 100 people taking part in Daily Challenges every day on Rayman Legends, I am sad to see it go.
@Jokerwolf Why? It’s a service they provide, it’s not a right. They’ve provided the service for many years and are now closing it, providing the means for others to run it could actually compromise their own codebase/infrastructure (they may have the current code running in other titles).
I get that it’s irritating to not have control, but sometimes you just don’t
@MrBelmont Because if you pay for a piece of software you're entitled to the full breadth of content regardless of it requires a server or not aside from reasonable DLC. People will figure it out anyway.Just like you can play the original fantasy star online on dreamcast people will find a way to hack the servers, it is just that we shouldn't have to.
@Jokerwolf But who says you’re entitled to the full breadth of content? What law? You’re entitled to what the provider of the content says you’re entitled to. Being entitled to something isn’t the same as finding a hack to do something, do you think SEGA should have provided all the net code for Phantasy Star Online on DC when it shutdown?
Rayman Legends is definitely one of the best Wii U games. I may get the Switch version if I ever come across its physical version.
Yeah, it may be a waste of money to get the Switch versions of games I already own (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, Miitopia, LEGO City Undercover), but I don't see it that way at all, I simply see it as a way to play some of my all-time favorites again, and if my nephew wants to, he could play them as well. He has a Switch but not a Wii U.
Unfortunately, in some cases (LEGO City Undercover with its performance issues on Switch) it's a gamble.
@MrBelmont Yes, if they cared about their art and the communities it creates they would have especially 20+ years it is of no use to them. How we deal with digital rights is a joke and needs to be revisited.
Wish they would make another great Rayman game. I mean, look at my avatar…I’m a big fan. Lol.
Next they'll be shutting down miiverse
So uhhhh they just didn’t turn it off? As of yesterday I played the daily challenges lol. Kinda annoyed because if I had been playing daily since the original announced shutdown I probably would’ve reached the final “awesomeness” level (which will be unobtainable once they actually get shut off)
Edit: Its now February 1st and I have been playing the challenges every day for the last month lol. Hoping to reach that final level before it gets turned off (????). Still got a ways to go. Anybody that sees this comment, wish me luck lol
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