Ubisoft has delisted open world racing game The Crew, with servers shutting down next year.
The Crew originally released in December 2014, with the most recent third entry in the series – The Crew Motorfest – arriving nine years later in September 2023.
An update from the Ubisoft Ivory Tower team states that all editions of The Crew, including virtual currency packs, are now no longer available to purchase from online stores.
The game will remain playable until 31st March 2024, after which all servers will be shut down across all platforms: PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Amazon Luna, and Ubisoft+.
“We understand this may be disappointing for players still enjoying the game, but it has become a necessity due to upcoming server infrastructure and licensing constraints,” reads the update from Ubisoft.
“Decommissioning a game, and especially our first one, is not something we take lightly. Our goal remains to provide the best action driving gameplay experience for players and to deliver on it, we are continuing to provide new content and support for The Crew 2 and the recently launched The Crew Motorfest.”
The post continues with the team sharing the story behind The Crew and what it means to the team. “The Crew 1 symbolises a lot to us, as it was the first game we launched and the cornerstone on which we founded a studio,” it reads.
The Crew will be almost a decade old once the servers are shut down, but it’s still disappointing that online games lack proper preservation.
We described The Crew Motorfest as “a generously spirited racer, chafed by always-online irritations and a lack of originality” in our Eurogamer review.
