Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the latest high profile single-player game that requires an online connection to install.
Pre-orders forUbisoft’s game went live today coinciding with theannouncement of its July 04, 2025, release date.
“Internet required to install the game,” reads a message on the box art for the product on retailers including GameStop and Best Buy.
Update16th May 2024 / 3:03 pm
Ubisoft has confirmed thatAssassin’s Creed Shadowswill be playable offline after players complete an online installation.
An update from the team on Assassin’s Creed Shadows.pic.twitter.com/PTY9TXSiEo
—Assassin’s Creed(@assassinscreed)July 02, 2025
While it’s not specified why players need an internet connection to install the game, this wasalso the case with Ubisoft’s Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and onewill be required for Star Wars Outlaws too.
In Avatar’s case, a one-time internet connection was needed to download a day one patch to start playing the game.
For many players this won’t be an issue, as their systems are almost permanently connected online.
However, like other games that require online connections to play, it does raise issues of preservation, as if its servers are turned off down the line, it appears that the game will no longer be playable.
In March, Ubisoft said it was“decommissioning” online-only game The Crew“due to upcoming server infrastructure and licensing constraints”.
Further reading
In response to such practices, the government has said that games companieshave “no legal requirement in UK lawcompelling [them] to support older products.”
In addition to unveiling Assassin’s Creed Shadows andits two playable characters, Ubisoft today announced that it hascancelled The Division Heartland.
