After being delisted in December 2023, and with the online servers making the game unplayable from March 31st, 2024, things have now gone a step further, as Ubisoft deletes The Crew from player game libraries.
The license has been revoked for anyone who bought The Crew through Ubisoft Connect, meaning that you’re simply greeted with a message saying you no longer have access to it. You can still download it via Steam, but any attempt to load it is met with a request for a license key, and booting up from the Ubisoft installation directory is possible but only allows demo mode.
As an online racing MMO, the closure of the servers at the end of March made the game unplayable anyway. But the removal of the license and access has added to the frustration of gamers that they’re no longer able to even own the game.
Ubisoft may have taken the unusual steps due to licensing agreements, whether that’s for car models, music or other assets. Or it might have been an extra measure to try and prevent community efforts to restore The Crew to a playable state by implementing fan-run servers.
Projects are still continuing, such as The Crew Offline+Online Server Emulation, who are trying to revive it without cracking or piracy. Interestingly, one project member claims that an offline mode actually exists in The Crew files, but can’t be turned on because of DRM, as quoted in an article on PCGamer.
The closure of The Crew has led to Youtuber Ross Scott creating the Stop Killing Games campaign.
Along with losing the ability to play older games, removing them from existence also has an impact on gaming history and culture. While many other titles are removed from sale after a set period, usually due to licensing agreements, most are still playable offline (e.g. the Forza series), and even games requiring an online connection can be modified to allow offline play (for example, Gran Turismo Sport).
That’s before the fun you can have with community-run projects continuing to develop mods and content for the likes of Grand Prix Legends and NASCAR Racing 2003.
The Crew was originally released in 2014, followed by The Crew 2 in 2018, which is still playable, and the most recent release of The Crew Motorfest in 2023.
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