Modders Appear To Have Saved The Crew 1

For any fans of The Crew 1 who thought all hope was lost, we have good news. Despite the game being officially shut down by Ubisoft after nearly ten years, the modding community has found a way to bring a working offline mode for players.

This sees the first battle against Ubisoft for the future of the game won by the modders.

Disbanding the crew

After releasing back in 2014, The Crew built up a steady fan base of racers over the following years. A sequel, The Crew 2, was released in 2018, while a third entry, The Crew Motorfest, launched in 2023.

Despite the success of the original The Crew, the game was always hanging in the balance at the mercy of Ubisoft. Being an online-required title, the game was only playable so long as the servers were there to support it.

The inevitable happened in December 2023, when Ubisoft announced that The Crew was to be delisted from all digital storefronts effective immediately. On top of that, it was also announced that the servers would be switched off in 2024.

Described as the “most ruthless decision ever seen in gaming history”, the decommissioning of the servers also saw the game removed from players' libraries, rendering the game totally unplayable.

This sets a dangerous precedent for all future online-requirement games. Angry racers rushed to review bomb The Crew Motorfest in an attempt to get The Crew relisted, however this proved to be futile.

All hope then seemed lost for players who had sunk hours into racing around the USA. But some good news has been received, with the help of some incredible modders.

The Crew 1 could be saved

As posted by Pirat_Nation on X (formerly Twitter), a group of modders have managed to create a working offline server emulation mod for The Crew 1. This tricks the game into believing it’s got an online connection, allowing racers to once again play the game.

Although not yet available to the public, this mod could help rescue the game for its community. With no server support required from Ubisoft, it seems as though this mod will be allowed to spread once available.

A video posted on YouTube by user whammy4 showcases the mod in use. In the video, the game appears to play as normal, with no obvious signs that a server emulator is in use.

If the mod is challenged by Ubisoft, then once again players will find themselves locked out of their save games. Hopefully, though, there will be no issues on the horizon and The Crew 1 can once again be enjoyed by its dedicated fan base.

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