Fan-made version of Ubisoft's The Crew is finally available to download

Today, a fan-made version of Ubisoft’s infamously shut-down game, The Crew, has been released, allowing fans to continue playing the game offline. Ubisoft’s shutdown of The Crew was a major catalyst for the ongoing Stop Killing Games movement, and the fan-made remake has been in the works for well over a year. Of course, this is not a solution to all the current problems of modern gaming, but at least some fans will be able to continue playing The Crew indefinitely now.

The fan-made version of The Crew has now been released; fans keep the game alive

The Crew was shut down on March 31st, 2024, which meant that, thanks to its always-online component, even players who owned a physical copy of the game could no longer play it. This was a shock to many players at the time, as physical ownership has long felt like a way to maintain control of your video game collection. Digital sales continue to grow, and those purchases rely on major publishers and storefronts to remain intact. For example, not that long ago, Nintendo’s Wii U and 3DS shops shut down, which means no one could redownload digital purchases anymore. The same thing could eventually happen with the current Nintendo eShop, the PS Store, or even Steam.

The Crew was one of the first moments in recent years where players realized that owning the physical disc or cartridge did not guarantee protection from this either. Ubisoft still faces an ongoing lawsuit from customers who claim that Ubisoft should have been required to inform them of the risks involved in their purchase. This is why we now see new features in the Steam checkout process about purchasing a “license” to play the game, which can be revoked at any time.

The fan-made version of The Crew is called The Crew Unlimited, which feels appropriately named. Unfortunately, fan-made games and mods like this are not always accessible to the average consumer, so they may not be discovered by or easily accessible to everyone. Plus, as it says on the download page: “You have to acquire The Crew game files yourself as we can’t redistribute them.” Which makes sense, these fans do not have the right to distribute a game developed by Ubisoft.

So, while this is an exciting release and a great way for fans to hang on to a great game, it is also marred by the reality of the situation. Ubisoft’s actions, and those of the gaming industry as a whole, are what made this necessary in the first place. The Stop Killing Games movement has made progress, but we are still a long way from changing the way that games are bought and sold. Fortunately, according to a few social media posts, it has made some fans happy, which is a major win.

The Crew

December 2, 2014

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