Ubisoft server switch to render always-online DRM games unplayable next week
Ubisoft are having a bit of a hardware reshuffle next week, according to Eurogamer, which means major disruption to their DRM servers.
Games that use Ubisoft’s always-online DRM system ping these constantly to reassure the publishers that you’re not a pirate. That means that next week’s switchover will render Tom Clancy’s HAWX 2, Might & Magic: Heroes 6 and The Settlers 7 unplayable for an unknown period of time. The servers are set to go down on February 7. Ubisoft don’t say when they’ll be back up again.
Rayman Origins coming to PC on March 30
I hold no affection for Rayman either, but Ubisoft’s latest platformer is rumoured to be extremely pretty, and pretty damn awesome. And we’re getting it on PC!
It’ll support four players locally and will be available to download from Ubisoft’s Ubishop on March 30. While you’re waiting why not read Edge’s review? They say “Origins feels like stepping into an alternate reality in which the 16 bit era evolved by increasing in fidelity, not dimensions.” Sounds a bit like a holodeck episode of Star Trek The Next Generation to us.
Ghost Recon Online trailer shows upgrades and mad gadgets
Ghost Recon Online is a free to play, team-based shooter with three classes and a collection of mad gadgets and unlockable gear upgrades. Owen got to play it a while back and came away quite impressed. You can read his impressions in our Ghost Recon Online preview. The latest developer diary above goes showcases a few of the the high tech toys that each class will get access to. The shoulder mounted heat wave blaster looks like an decent weapon, and a great way to cook some chicken in the field.
Ubisoft: “Vast majority” of customers never encounter DRM problems
Ubisoft’s finally seen fit to pipe up about Anno 2070′s extremely sensitive (read: prone to detecting minute graphics card changes – not penning tear-jerking poetry) DRM, and well, perhaps no news actually was good news. In short, Ubisoft told RPS that its DRM is functioning precisely as intended. Worse, the publisher really doesn’t see why everyone’s making such a big deal about this.
Ubi DRM activation limits respond to graphics card changes
Ubisoft’s DRM isn’t exactly known for its gentle, loving caress in matters near and dear to PC gamers’ hearts, but the latest tightening of the cuffs seems a bit overkill-ish even by Ubi’s standards. In attempting to review Anno 2070′s performance on a range of hardware configurations, Guru3D made an extremely disappointing discovery: The second the site switched out a GTX 580 for a GTX 590, Anno demanded another, separate activation. On top of that, the game gives you a whopping three whole activations to work with, so think carefully before spelunking around in your machine’s brittle innards.
I’ve fired off a mail to Ubisoft asking whether this is an intentional piece of extra armor plating for its DRM Voltron, or merely a glitch the publisher plans on patching out. Fingers crossed for the latter, though precedent’s not exactly on our side.
The Settlers Online open beta now live
Free to play browser-based city builder, Settlers Online has sprung into open beta phase. Suck the resources from the land to sustain your palaces, raze forests and raid the oceans to raise ambitious new structures. Then, when nature just can’t take it anymore, start a fight and get into some turn based combat with your mates and steal their wood as well. You can sign up and start playing for free on the Settlers Online site now, or check out our Settlers Online preview for an overview.
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier coming to PC after all… in the future
One man’s loss is another man’s gain. Or game re-announcement, as it were. Late last year, Ubisoft sent The Ghosts on a one-way mission to infiltrate consoles and ordered them to not even so much as send PC gamers a “Wish you were here” postcard. Instead, we were to settle for the (admittedly interesting looking) Ghost Recon Online, because – in Ubi’s words – “95% of our consumers will pirate” a non-free-to-play offering. Now, though – hot on the heels of yet another delay for the almost-in-position shooter – Ubisoft’s once again singing a different tune.
The good news: Future Soldier’s officially got PC in its sights again. And the bad news? Well, the new launch date of May 22 (May 24 in EU) only applies to Xbox 360 and PS3. The PC version, meanwhile, will – true to incredibly vague Ubisoft form – arrive at “a later date.” Still though, something’s better than nothing – especially if that something can turn invisible, silently knife some poor sap in the back, and then hold up his lifeless body and pretend like everything’s peachy. I doubt even the Ghostbusters could handle that.
Win one of 10,000 Settlers Online beta keys
The influence of the Settlers series looms large on social games, all of today’s browser based trading and city building games owe a huge debt to Blue Byte’s original games. Which is why it’s no surprise that they’ve decided to launch their own browser based, online version of the classic series, complete with a dynamic player driven economy, where gold is only the currency of choice because market has decided it will be.
If this sounds like your kind of thing, then you’ll be wanting of our beta keys so you can get an advanced look at the game, and you’re in luck! Because we have a whopping 10,000 keys to give away to your lucky readers.
To get a code, simply go to our competition site and fill in your details. First come, first served, so be sure to apply right away. Your beta code will be emailed to you next week when the competition ends, and you can redeem it on the Settlers Online website.
Don’t forget to check out our The Settlers Online preview for more details.
TrackMania 2: Canyon Powered by Players video gives us racing toilets
I played the original TrackMania not so much to death, but to the point where it was six feet under and the flowers had gone mouldy. In a way I’m not surprised by how little I’ve played its latest incarnation, TrackMania 2: Canyon. It’s the same jolly good physics-defying racing as the first, complete with the absurd track designs. But, for me at least, it just feels a bit too similar to the original.
This new video has piqued my interest, though. It reminds me of the thing that makes TrackMania great, other than the fact that you can drive upside-down: the community. I spent many a night up until 2am in that “just one more race” mentality, racing a hotchpotch of strangers on un-completable tracks. Once, I was racing three Swedish people on a track that simply consisted of a three-foot diameter tube and nothing else. We were all so determined to finish that we failed to see the futility of attempting to keep a racing car on a surface that it didn’t fit on in the first place.
Rainbow Six Patriots trailer talks bailouts, shows bombs
With a vaguely zeitgeisty spiel about home foreclosures and bailouts, domestic terrorist organisation, The Patriots, vigorously wave the “we’re evil” flag by throwing a bomb-laden man out of a window to be detonated among the civilians far below. Judging from this bit of CGI and the previous trailer, throwing innocent people from a great height and then exploding them is going to be a recurring theme in Rainbow Six: Patriots. Edgy!
Though there’s still no in-game footage, few solid details, and it’s due out in 2013, Rainbow 6: Patriots is already available to Pre-order on the Ubisoft shop.
Ubisoft: Assassin’s Creed franchise can carry on “forever”
Ezio and Altair are finally on their way out the door (and off a ledge, and into a conveniently placed haystack), and that’s a very, very good thing. After all, Revelations marks the third entry in the story arc AC II kicked off. Ezio’s getting old, and – depending on who you talk to – so are his high-flying, face-piercing antics. So, what’s next for the series? A much-needed vacation? Hardly.
Ubisoft: PC version of Rainbow Six: Patriots exists, will be same as consoles
To say that Ubisoft’s relationship with PC has been a bit dicey lately is probably understating it. Possibly even over-understating, if that’s a thing. Most recently, the publisher cast doubt upon a PC version of I Am Alive and – more interestingly – canned Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’s PC port in favor of aligning its laser sights on Ghost Recon Online. The latter, at least, sort of makes sense. Make a console game for consoles and a PC game for PC. Don’t be a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none.
Then the “target render” for Rainbow Six: Patriots burst onto the scene, proudly standing under a heavy rain of Heavy Rain-style QTE prompts.
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations day one patch revealed
Ubisoft has released a list of the changes the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations day one patch will bring to the game. As reported by DSOGaming, the patch will improve Nvidia’s 3D vision with added sky rendering, and also fix “problems with running game in offline mode”.
Maybe Ubisoft aren’t all bad. Both Skyrim and Batman: Arkham City have required substantial post-launch patches to get them up and running properly on the PC, and these have taken a few weeks to appear. We won’t know if there are any more issues until we actually play it on December 2, but it seems Ubisoft is at least trying to nip some problems in the bud.
Full changelog after the break.
Rainbow 6 Patriots to use Assassin’s Creed Anvil engine, new concept art rappels in
The “proof of concept” video above introduced us to the newly announced Rainbow 6 Patriots a few weeks ago. Now, there’s some concept art and new info to go with it. Ubisoft say that the story of the battle against the domestic terrorist group, The Patriots, will be told from multiple perspectives. Team Rainbow will “wrestle with difficult ethical decisions” and employ a “doing whatever it takes mentality” to take the ultranationalist group down.
Luckily, “whatever it takes” should involve attaching yourself to a rappel cord and jumping off bridge struts shouting “wheeee!” a lot. That’s according to the concept art, at least. See the new images below.
Assassin’s Creed survey lists possible settings for future titles
A number of Assassin’s Creed fans have received a survey asking them where they’d like to see Assassin’s Creed set. It’s multiple choice, which means we get to see the options that Ubisoft are considering. Eurogamer got hold of a screenshot of the survey from Empire State Gamers, which offers eight different settings that range from Medieval China to the American revolution and Victorian London. But which is your favourite?
