Ubisoft and Ivory Tower, the studio behind The Crew franchise, has formally announced that the series’ first entry, The Crew, will be rendered unavailable in a matter of months.
Without any warning, The Crew 1 has already been delisted as of today (December 14, 2024.) This move comes after The Crew Motorfest made its way onto the scene back in October. While this alone is disappointing to players, even worse is that on March 31, 2024, The Crew 1 will be completely unplayable by all who still own it, as the servers will be shutdown.
Pulling the plug
As detailed on the game’s official website, the decision to end support for The Crew 1 comes as a result of “upcoming server infrastructure and licensing constraints.” Ivory Tower admits the decision was “not something we take lightly,” yet it seems its hands were tied.
On a better note, it promises continued support not only for the recently-released Motorfest, but even continued support for The Crew 2.
This second entry into the series will have been running for six years by mid 2024, so it’ll be interesting to see just how much longer its lights will stay on following the swift removal of its predecessor.
Ticking time bomb?
Games getting delisted is nothing new, but the issue that has risen as a result of this announcement is that even those who’ve owned The Crew 1 for years now will completely lose the ability to play it. This is all due to the game needing a consistent online connection, despite it having a single-player campaign.
The same is true for The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest, both of which have leaned even more-so into the online and social functionality with their gameplay formula.
That said, they’re both still effectively single-player games that are tethered to needing an online connection, meaning the same fate awaits them in a matter of years.
In the racing game world, there are an unfortunate number of other examples of games that have been delisted, such as the PS4 exclusive Driveclub which lived a relatively short life despite the fanfare surrounding it. Microsoft has also gradually scrubbed away past entries in both the Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon franchises over the years.
At least with all of these other examples, they’re still playable for folks that own a copy. Despite them all featuring major online components, it’s not a requirement such as is the case with The Crew.
Calls for a simple online patch have come from the community which effectively applies to all three titles in the series:
This situation is yet another example of an overarching problem that the gaming industry faces when it comes to preserving its history. The Crew 1, and perhaps its two successors thus far, seem to all face the endgame of becoming lost media in a matter of years.
Check out more (hopefully permanent?) racing content:
Rocket Racing is chaotic, confusing fun — Scout Summary | Karting Superstars – PC Early Access impressions |
