Requiescat in pace
[Update:“We don’t take the decision to retire services for older Ubisoft games lightly,” says Ubisoft in a statement to multiple news outlets. “Our teams are currently assessing all available options for players who will be impacted when these games’ online services are decommissioned on September 1st, 2022.”]
Ubisoft has quietly removed 2014 releaseAssassin’s Creed Liberation HDfrom the Steam platform, rendering the title inaccessible for purchase. Furthermore,the Steam page is also apparently suggestingthat, as of September 1, players who have previously purchased the spin-off title will no longer be able to play it.
Assassin’s Creed Liberation HDis a remastered edition of the 2012 releaseAssassin’s Creed Liberation,which is itself a spin-off ofAssassin’s Creed III.Set against the backdrop of Louisana in the 18th century, the title is particularly noteworthy for being the only game in the series to feature a Black woman protagonist — Aveline de Grandpré — who battles against American slavers as well as the series’ primary antagonist, the Templar Knights.
Ubisoft is yet to offer an explanation for the title’s removal, though it is speculated by fans that it may be for technical reasons. Ubisoft games are also noted for their strong DRM and connectivity licenses, given life through services such as the publisher’s Uplay service. WhileAssassin’s Creed Liberation HDis hardly at the top of the majority of players’ “must-own” lists in 2022, fans are obviously concerned that its removal could set a precedent for more titles to be pulled from accounts in the future — citing last week’s news that Sony would be removingpaid movie contentfrom certain PlayStation accounts.
TheAssassin’s Creedcommunity has taken to theSteam forums and Redditto voice their concerns to the company, although it has also been discovered thatLiberationcan be launched from withinAssassin’s Creed IIIproper. So this could potentially be a case of the spin-off title being removed as a singular entity from the Steam store, that will continue to live on as in-game DLC for the main release.
We will be sure to update this article if any further clarity is offered by Ubisoft or Steam.
