Ubisoft just surprisingly announced that it’s giving away 13 of its games for “free” to Xbox users, but this offer comes with a pretty big downside. When it comes to Xbox’s own first-party games, anyone who buys these titles happens to be able to play them across both Xbox consoles and PC as part of the publisher’s Play Anywhere program. Unfortunately, the same isn’t true for many other Xbox games, as many third-party titles often aren’t cross-buy for Xbox Series X/S and PC. Now, Ubisoft is looking to change this with an extensive lineup of its own games, although there is a catch at the center of the giveaway.
Detailed on Xbox’s website today, Ubisoft revealed that it’s now giving anyone who has previously purchased digital versions of some of its games on Xbox consoles the ability to play these same games on PC for free. While users would have previously needed to purchase games individually on Xbox consoles and PC in order to have access to them, this is now no longer the case. This move doesn’t impact the full catalog of games that Ubisoft has ever released, but instead a slate of 13 titles that consist of entries in franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Prince of Persia.
Here’s the full lineup of games from Ubisoft that are included in this deal:
The downside in question when it comes to this news is that Ubisoft isn’t granting players access to these games on the Xbox App for PC. Instead, anyone who already owns digital copies of these titles on Xbox will be able to download them through Ubisoft Connect, which is Ubisoft’s own PC launcher. This is particularly disappointing because it means these games won’t be part of Xbox’s Play Anywhere lineup, and won’t come with other features (like achievements) that are seen in the Xbox ecosystem. Not to mention, Ubisoft Connect is already seen as quite a lackluster launcher when compared to the Xbox App or other platforms like Steam, making it one that many on PC prefer to steer clear of.
In addition, Ubisoft has revealed that this process won’t work in reverse. So if you’re someone who happens to already own Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on PC through Ubisoft Connect, you won’t be able to then get a digital copy for Xbox consoles. This isn’t a particularly major surprise, but it’s still a disappointment all the same.
If Ubisoft truly wanted to thrill Xbox users, it would have simply made these games Play Anywhere compatible. Not only would this have deepened the number of titles that are part of this catalog, but it would have made sense given Xbox’s continued focus on making games playable across a number of platforms. Instead, this move seems to be one that is simply being made to try to drive more traffic and interest to Ubisoft Connect, which likely won’t end up working.
