As billions around the world are now confined to their homes, gaming is for many a welcome escape and most importantly maybe, a way to keep laughing, learning, and connecting with one another. We feel fortunate, in this unprecedented situation, if our games can even play a small part in that.
Now more than ever before, we have an opportunity to fly high the values we have at heart as a passionate community of players, and to do our part.
This commitment, amongst multiple support initiatives from across the gaming industry, has recently translated into the paramount goal to help preserve the Internet access and stability for the entire community, especially businesses and emergency services who need them the most to fight this pandemic.
While playing games online is a remarkably low-bandwidth strain, downloading content at top-speed can become a very challenging task for networks, especially as millions are turning to digital services and content.
This is why we are working collectively with all partners and stakeholders to ensure that we continue to offer you the best possible gaming experience, and a variety of fun and new ways to stay occupied, while temporarily adapting our services to minimize our common impact.
For console players, Microsoft and Sony have already taken steps in that sense. For PC players, our Content Delivery Network partner, Akamai, also limited bandwidth speed in the European Union. These changes do not affect the gameplay quality or speed of our online gaming experience, but can explain why some of you may see slower or delayed game downloads.
Ubisoft is also rolling-out proactive temporary measures to further reduce the stress on the system:
For our PC players
- We have temporarily changed the auto-patching window for all our PC games from 4 months to 1 month.
- We have adjusted default settings options in the Uplay launcher to disable automatic downloads/patching updates.
- We have pulled-out the most heavy graphics content (4K/HD packs) from eligible games in our offer. Those will be downloadable once the situation has gone back to normal.
- We have capped the download rate to xx Mb/s.
For both our console and PC players
- We have defined new guidelines for content/update download release on all platforms, to avoid peak hours.
If you are using Uplay, we renew our invitation to join our efforts by adjusting your download settings in the launcher, and follow general guidance on how to adapt your download habits, like scheduling your download activities during night times or weekends.
For more information on how to change your download preferences in Uplay, we have created this dedicated support page.
Thank you for your understanding and ongoing support in these trying times for all.
And remember, you can help save lives by staying safe at home!
