Ubisoft drops mandatory Connect launcher on Steam, trading account control for distribution

Sep 10, 2026

Summary

Ubisoft removed the mandatory Connect launcher on Steam, starting with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

A backend service called Ubisoft Connect Services replaces the standalone app.

Players link a Ubisoft account to Steam once, but no longer launch a second app.

Cross-progression, challenges, and rewards persist without the client installed.

Removing the launcher forfeits the account visibility, engagement data, and cross-sell surface Ubisoft owned.

Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six Siege, and The Division 2 are named expansion candidates.

Ubisoft Connect Services now runs as a backend layer instead of a foreground app.

First deployment is on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown's Steam edition.

Cross-progression, challenges, and reward tracking persist without the launcher.

Ubisoft has decoupled its live-ops feature set from its client software for the first time.

The second-launcher requirement was a persistent purchase barrier on Ubisoft's Steam titles.

Removing it cedes account visibility, engagement data, and cross-sell surface.

This reverses the walled-garden launcher strategy publishers pursued for over a decade.

Ubisoft bets Steam's reach outearns the data leverage the standalone launcher gave it.

Ubisoft ties further rollout to the pilot's success on The Lost Crown.

Connect Services will "progressively evolve and roll out to more Ubisoft games on Steam."

Named candidates are Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six Siege, and The Division 2.

For Publishers & Developers: First-party launcher lock-in is losing to Steam reach as a strategic priority.

For Service Vendors: Backend account-linking tools now substitute for full launchers, opening a middleware opportunity.

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