Ubisoft shut down the official server for the first The Crew game on March 31st, 2024. And, since the game never had an Offline Mode, it’s completely unplayable for everyone who has purchased it. However, that may soon change as modders are currently trying to bring this game back to life.
The Crew is a perfect example of why I don’t like online-only games. Yes, a lot of its players have moved on to The Crew 2 or The Crew Motorfest. However, by not implementing an Offline Mode, Ubisoft has literally killed this title. Even if you own a physical copy, you won’t be able to play it. And that sucks.
And I know. Some will say that this is more of an MMO game. And they will be right. However, I’m also not a big fan of MMOs, so my stance remains the same.
I also believe that an Offline Mode would be possible in a game like The Crew. After all, we had similar single-player games like The Crew (Test Drive Unlimited says “hello”). The game also had bots so yeah, I’m really puzzled as to why Ubi didn’t add an Offline Mode when it shut down its server.
Anyway, YouTube’s ‘whammy4’ shared the following video. This video showcases the game running on a server emulator. In this video, we get to see a little roadtrip from Detroit to Black Hills. And, from the looks of it, most of the game’s features appear to be working properly.
There is currently no ETA on when this server emulator for The Crew will come out. Naturally, though, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
Enjoy and stay tuned for more!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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If it takes a game shutting down in order to pirate it, then more of this plz.
I don't intend to be rude, but I'm perplexed by your confusion.
Ubisoft and its developers are often considered among the least diligent in the industry.
It's beyond my comprehension to envision them exerting effort into any of their games, particularly the older ones.
I've never observed Ubisoft supporting their titles beyond a year, nor have they ever enhanced the technical aspects.
Thus, what puzzles me is your expectation of how Ubisoft would manage The Crew, as it seems only in an alternate reality would they consider adding an offline mode.
Like all for-profit companies, Ubisoft does support a game if it makes sense financially.
A good example is Rainbow Six: Siege, which is among the most played games on Steam, and therefore still supported by Ubisoft.
I'm not sure what you're referring to; Ubisoft is the only gaming company that fails to enhance their games with subsequent updates or discontinues support for their titles after 6 months.
The inability to mention a standard title, instead referencing Rainbow Six Siege—a title known for its games-as-a-service model—proves the point.
Elden Ring sets a benchmark for industry standards which Ubisoft has not adopted. If their repetitive formula fails to generate sufficient sales, it is a consequence of their own strategy.
Even EA, a company often criticized, provides better support for their games. I could enumerate numerous Ubisoft games where the company failed to address even the most basic issues—problems present from day one persist to this day.
Problem is, offline mode is within the code of the game, the modders have confirmed this.
Which makes the whole situation even worse.
Ubisoft left an offline mode in their build that was never actively used?
Got a link to the code that confirms this?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f16ed1a9f1a2fa2bfbc9ce76c700e9fad54225b9555ce60be5a5b96bbf26f2ac.jpg
If one understands coding and has viewed the aforementioned video, it would provide ample evidence of an offline mode's existence.
The modders are likely creating a server emulator and possibly redirecting traffic through hosts, and the game's UI elements display "Offline".
If there was no Offline mode in code at all, there was no need for UI elements showing Offline while in a session.
Stop being lazy, it’s a 5 second google search for fks sakes.
Love to see when people with passion carry on an abandoned project!
Similar thing happened with NFS World, which still has an active community, last I checked when making it run on the Steam Deck about a year ago.
If anyone wants to try it out for themselves, just search for "Soapbox Race World".
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8b8a5947807c040de3dbb84b9a16fb916b3878c719776bfe0bc28bcd73768dfb.jpg
At least NFS World was free, people paid for The Crew, Ubisoft has no right to just shutdown the game without offering any offline alternative to play it
https://nightriderz.world/
i'd dare say all the point you make are valid as valid gets…HOWEVER!!!…this game was never worth the trouble…you're right of course in all the ways and ubisoft is the devil…but its like working all day for peanut butter and sh*t sammich….peanuts are good, that aftertaste though.
the game has the largest usa map in a game ever, keeping that worths the trouble.
Will it work for pirated downloads? And is the server like peacock for hitman? And is the game actually worth it compared to forza 4 & 5?
". After all, we had similar single-player games like The Crew (Test Drive Unlimited says “hello”). The game also had bots so yeah, I’m really puzzled as to why Ubi didn’t add an Offline Mode when it shut down its server."
you know whats funny? The new test drive unlimited game is always online but you end up playing with bots anyway instead of other people because no one is playing it and the servers are horrible.
This industry legit needs to be taken at the back of the shed and shot.
Bluedrake made a video on how embracer group fired thousands of people canceled 80 projects and will replace those with ai but will also increase the price of games…lmao, the whole point of ai is to make games cheaper and faster.
This industry needs to be put out of its misery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp-dkJWfp3A
The Crew’s driving physics were almost as epic as in the first Watch Dogs game.
Just for sake of it, is it not?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a9ae5d1a159c549def6e14df9fd11c3c88f47ad2be2fad9bbc4f74b16b44a3e7.jpg
For somebody who never played The Crew, is there a point in playing it if you already have some Forza games?
I mean, I'm actually already bored with Forza, so I'm not sure The Crew would bring anything better.
But anyway, I sure know somebody who is going to be very excited about this news: Ross Scott, the guy who owns the Accursed Farms channel on Youtube. He always loved that game like crazy, and complained endlessly that it was taken down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIqyvquTEVU
Ubisoft doesn't offer an offline mode because they want everyone to "purchase" the newer versions of the game.
We should force such companies to release full source code when a game is disabled in this way. This is nothing more than a scam.