Ubisoft jumped into the racing games market with The Crew all the way back in 2014. Unfortunately, the game relies on an always-online connection, so with Ubisoft set to pull support next year, the game will no longer be accessible.
Ubisoft has announced that the online servers for The Crew will go offline on the 31st of March 2024. After that date, owners of the game will no longer be able to access it and will either be forced to move on to a newer title like The Crew 2 or The Crew: Motorfest, or seek out a different series of racing titles entirely.
It is unclear exactly why The Crew needs an always-online connection to play the game's single-player mode and it also sounds like Ubisoft has little interest in returning to the game and rectifying its mistake by implementing a proper offline play mode.
Ubisoft has not yet issued a public comment on The Crew's shutdown, but we hope that they will see some sense and deliver an offline mode for those who purchased the game.
KitGuru Says: This is one of the biggest issues with modern gaming today. The removal of offline play is an absolute detriment to game preservation and it always feels unfair to have games you've paid for removed from service. Any game that can be played alone in single player should have an offline mode, with zero ifs or buts about it.