Shadows' EULA also includes a provision that allows the game to monitor your PC's RAM to ensure you're not running any unauthorized programs like macros, cheats, or hacks, a well-intentioned clause that nonetheless feels a touch out of place in a single-player game
Why the fuck would I allow Ubisoft to monitor my RAM while playing a SINGLE-PLAYER GAME. They just want to datamine my PC or something?
"If you betray us, Ubisoft, I'm going to cut off your balls and shove them up your ass so the next time you take a shit, you shit all over your balls!"
Can we do something like reporting Denuvo or the kernel anticheats as malware in Windows defender?
A game with a built in system lever logger that could theoretically monitor even your bank transactions should be reported as spyware/malware and users installing it should have to expressly acknowledge / authorise this.
Normally I would say that Microsoft wouldn’t care and they would just make an exception, but after the CrowdStrike error, they might be just a little bit more careful. Or maybe I have too much faith in them
Companies realized they can sell cheats as microtransactions instead and people will pay for them. They will likely also include some cosmetic microtransactions like their previous game, which they definitely don't want people just cheating in. It's why so many single player games require being always online as well.
You're not even paying for cheats in a ubisoft game, you're just buying back the time they added in with pointless grind so you can play through the short storyline without having to run fetch quests for an extra 50 hours to pass through the level gates.
Imagine if they took all that 'piracy prevention' effort (that doesn't really work in the end anyway) and put it towards actually making enjoyable games.
To top it all off, Shadows' EULA also includes a provision that allows the game to monitor your PC's RAM to ensure you're not running any unauthorized programs like macros, cheats, or hacks, a well-intentioned clause that nonetheless feels a touch out of place in a single-player game and could potentially scare off some of the more suspicious players who aren't comfortable with their hardware being monitored.
Thanks to denuvo and there currently not being any active group capable of cracking denuvo, it’s not a guarantee the game will be cracked. Assassin‘s creed mirage took until last month, over a year after release, for a pirated copy to be available and it uses a debug executable, which may not become available for any other games or at least not in a timely manner. It might not be possible to play those games without the BS. Or on Linux, if it doesn’t run without kernel access for RAM monitoring
I think that's really the issue with Ubisoft, they just don't make "must play" games anymore. Seriously, what's the last universally liked Ubisoft game that everyone wanted to play? Far Cry 3. Close second is probably AC: Black flag but that was already suffering from AC fatigue and its critical acclaim has come retroactively. Those games are over a decade old. Ubisoft hasn't released anything in the last decade where the mainstream gaming goes "We must play that". Ubisoft simply doesn't make exciting games anymore. They make games that are for everyone which also means they're for no-one.
Already lost interest in Assassin’s Creed after they abandoned the Desmond timeline…
Played a tiny bit of the Black Flag one for the fun shanty stuff but that’s been it for me now for probably a decade… so all this has done has lowered my already completely evaporated interest of “apathy” down now to “actively avoid as if it were a virus.”
The original AC games were really great for their time, and to be honest I enjoyed the ones that came after the trilogy despite feeling like the same game with a new coat of paint over and over.
But they really knocked it out of the park when they overhauled all the controls and mechanics with Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. Yes, there are issues with them like with every open world game, but it is really worth checking out. Valhalla is obviously beautiful and very refined but I favor Odyssey for the sheer fun factor.
Why TF does it matter so much if you cheat in a single player game that they have to take such drastic measures to prevent it? In multiplayer, competitive games, I sort of get it, depending on context, but single player games, no way. I mod single player games all the time. It's one of the main reasons I like PC gaming over console. I'd never buy a game that went this far to prevent something that has no effect on them or anyone else.
Lots of game developers started off as hobbyist modders when they were young. Maybe they're trying to eliminate the future competition. More likely, Denuvo's actual primary purpose is DRM and anti-cheat is just how it's sold to players.
Something I often find myself explaining to my friends who I game with is just how much objectively terrible shit you can get gamers to not only tolerate, but support as long as you promise to "get rid of cheaters"... which is a hopeless goal. It took a lot of explaining to get them to accept my argument of "I would literally prefer cheaters over a new root kit for every game"
No, gamer you see, it's really important that you grind these randomly generated kill quests to progress, it's totally not to incentivize you to purchase the exp boost in our cash shop in this single player game, can't have you using cheat engine to ruin your experience.
Assassin's Creed Shadows Will Feature Denuvo & Account Linking + EULA also requires you to allow Ubisoft to "monitor" your RAM
The game's EULA also requires you to allow Ubisoft to "monitor" your RAM.
As Ubisoft prepares for the 2025 launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows – a game some view as the developer's last chance to break free from a year marked by financial setbacks and controversies – the game's Steam page has finally gone live, revealing two major caveats about the Steam version of AC Shadows that will, unfortunately for Ubisoft, likely drive away some gamers.
If you're in any way familiar with the PC gaming industry (or have read the title of this article), then you've most likely already guessed one of the caveats, and yes, the PC version of Assassin's Creed Shadows will feature Denuvo, a controversial DRM software detested by the community for negatively affecting loading times and framerate in games, something Denuvo's creator Irdeto categorically denies, blaming its low reputation on pirates and gamers.
While Denuvo's presence in Shadows isn't much of a surprise – considering it's been used in Ubisoft's previous games like Assassin's Creed Mirage, Star Wars Outlaws, the Far Cry series, and others – the decision to keep the DRM could be seen as questionable given the growing trend of developers ditching Denuvo or choosing not to include it in the first place, as well as Ubisoft's apparent need to steer clear of further controversies and reputational damage.
The second caveat relates to another requirement the community generally dislikes: the mandatory account linking to the studio's Ubisoft Connect platform when buying Assassin's Creed Shadows on Steam. Even though, much like Denuvo, this isn't anything new for Ubisoft fans, it could still negatively impact the game financially and reputationally considering what happened with Helldivers 2 earlier this year when Sony's now-retracted mandate to link Steam accounts to PSN caused an uproar, buried the game in negative reviews, and, as some believe, tanked the game's player numbers, with many blaming this backlash as the sole reason we've heard so little about Helldivers 2 in the second half of 2024, despite it being universally acclaimed and considered a strong contender for Game of the Year when it first launched.
To top it all off, Shadows' EULA also includes a provision that allows the game to monitor your PC's RAM to ensure you're not running any unauthorized programs like macros, cheats, or hacks, a well-intentioned clause that nonetheless feels a touch out of place in a single-player game and could potentially scare off some of the more suspicious players who aren't comfortable with their hardware being monitored.
And what's your take on those requirements? Would it be beneficial for Ubisoft to get rid of Denuvo and account linking while there's still time?
Well intentioned my ass. If I want to cheat in my single player game it's my damn right. They just want to make sure you buy their cheats (microtransaction time savers) instead of making your own for free.
I loved the first couple before I stopped playing games entirely for a decade. But I was a console player and didn't have to think about things like this.
Yeah, only because we bullied them enough. I don't care about account linking for all-online games though. The minute you add that to single player games I get pissed off.