I’ve never understood why gamers get so up in arms about all the different PC storefronts. It takes two seconds to click an icon on your desktop and load up another platform. There’s an ease-of-access to having your entire library in one place, I get that — it’s why I primarily use Steam — but the vitriol towards even just downloading Epic Game Store anti-cheat to play a game on Steam goes to show how ingrained this hatred has become.
But after two months of dealing with Ubisoft Connect, I’m ready to grab a pitchfork and march in the street alongside the horde of furious gamers.
Ubisoft Connect Locked Me Out Of Playing A Steam Game
I bought Far Cry 5 in a Steam sale earlier this year; I was on a big Far Cry kick and wanted to continue my way through the series. So, I opened the game on my Steam Deck, raring to get stuck into some mindless popcorn filler. But it automatically linked to the first Ubisoft account it could find — my dad’s. This meant I was completely locked out unless I used his account, which is hardly ideal since two people can’t use the same Ubisoft Connect profile at once.
Not a problem, I’ll contact Ubisoft and ask them to unlink it. I was left in the support queue for weeks, flying right past my refund window, only to be told that it was impossible. So, I waited for the Spring sale, deleted Far Cry 5 from my Steam library, and went to buy it a second time. You can’t do that either. I even tried gifting it to myself from another account to no avail. Finally, I contacted Steam and explained the situation, only to be denied a refund. Far Cry 5 had become an ugly deskweight I couldn’t do anything with.
In the end, the solution was something that even support wasn’t aware of — I had to buy the pricier ‘Gold’ edition and launch it on my PC (not Deck) to make sure it didn’t hijack an account I logged into once ten years ago. Months of hassle for a mediocre game, thanks Ubi.
It’s a valuable lesson in digital gaming: you don’t own anything. But it’s especially egregious in Ubisoft’s case. Buying the games on Steam, you don’t even get the illusion of ownership. If you lose your Ubisoft account, all of those games become dead weight in your library because of that unbreakable link, and neither the Ubisoft or Steam support staff can do anything about it.
There’s No Reason To Use These Storefronts Over Steam
I get why these storefronts exist. Valve having a monopoly on PC gaming wouldn’t be good for anybody. In theory, healthy competition drives companies to be better, and some truly great alternatives have sprung from that mindset, like GOG, a bastion of preservation with its DRM-free initiative, or Itch.io, a haven for up-and-comer indies. The problem lies with storefronts that don’t have a reason to exist beyond clawing back from Valve’s infamous 30 percent cut.
Ubisoft Connect, like so many proprietary publisher-led storefronts, is a worse platform with no standout qualities. Even without Valve’s take, games are priced the same, meaning that it’s just Steam-lite with fewer features and no added value for the consumer. There’s no reason to jump ship and use Ubisoft Connect over Steam or EGS, so when it’s forced on you, it feels tacky.
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I won’t pretend that people don’t treat storefronts like sports teams. That’s all too common with consumers who are strangely loyal to billion-dollar brands like Apple and Samsung, or Xbox and PlayStation. There’s even a small-scale ‘console war’ being waged here, albeit a one-sided one. But I have a hard time believing it would be nearly this bad if publishers simply made storefronts that offered something of worth, more than the cold shareholder talk of faceless corporations saving a few bucks.
That’s why people love GOG and cheer on every retro classic it brings back. Whether the storefront goes bust or the publisher delists the game, it’s still yours — forever. That’s a unique hook, something that completely sets it apart from Steam and makes it valuable in a tangible way to its users. Ubisoft Connect, on the other hand, might prevent you from launching your games on Steam — see the difference?
- Date Founded
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March 28, 1986
- CEO
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Yves Guillemot
- Subsidiaries
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Massive Entertainment, Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft San Francisco
- Headquarters
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Saint Mandé, France