In a blow to game preservation, Ubisoft has delisted Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD from the Steam store. Though the company originally noted that players who owned the game would lose access to it on September 1, it has clarified that it won’t be revoking access after all.
The news comes after Ubisoft recently shut down online servers for 15 games such as Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, Far Cry 3, and Assassin’s Creed 2, rendering their multiplayer modes unplayable. Earlier in 2022, Ubisoft shut down online services for over 90 games.
A notice on the game’s Steam page reads “At the request of the publisher, Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD is no longer available for sale on Steam.”
Originally, another note on Steam implied that users would lose access to the game altogether come September. In a statement issued to IGN, Ubisoft says players will still be able to access delisted games as long as they own them.
“Only DLCs and online features will be affected by the upcoming decommissioning. Current owners of those games will still be able to access, play or redownload them,” reads an excerpt from the statement.
It’s common for games to no longer be available to buy from digital storefronts, but removing them from a player’s library after purchasing is rare. This has led to criticism from the community, especially since Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD was featured in a recent Steam sale. As pointed out by Eurogamer, other titles including Silent Hunter 5, Space Junkies, and the DLC for Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands have the same Steam notice.
In a statement to Eurogamer about Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD’s removal, Ubisoft said “We don’t take the decision to retire services for older Ubisoft games lightly, and our teams are currently assessing all available options for players who will be impacted when these games’ online services are decommissioned on September 1, 2022.”
The company also said it will work with its partners to update listings on digital storefronts to ensure “players will be fully informed” about game removals.
Digital Trends has reached out to Ubisoft for comment and will update this article when it responds.
