Ubisoft has quietly killed one of PC gaming’s longest-running annoyances. Starting September 10, 2026, players who buy Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on Steam no longer have to install or launch the separate Ubisoft Connect desktop client just to start playing. A new background tool called Ubisoft Connect Services now handles account sign-in, cross-play, cross-progression, and rewards without ever popping open a second window. It is a small technical change with outsized symbolic weight: after roughly 16 years of forcing a proprietary launcher on top of Steam, Ubisoft is the latest major publisher to admit that players were right to hate it.
What Changed on Steam This Month
The shift showed up first in Steam’s own patch notes for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, where Ubisoft described the update as removing the need for “the Ubisoft Connect PC launcher to be installed or launched,” according to reporting from Hitmarker and several other outlets that reviewed the same Steam page text. The new background process, Ubisoft Connect Services, keeps every online feature the old client provided, but it runs silently instead of launching a full second application every time a player clicks “Play” in Steam.
Crucially, this is not Ubisoft killing its account system. Players still need to link a Ubisoft account to unlock cross-play, cross-progression, in-game challenges, cloud saves, and rewards, according to coverage from VGTimes. What disappears is the mandatory second launcher window, the extra background process, and the friction of a separate sign-in screen layered on top of Steam’s own login. For now the change is scoped specifically to Steam on PC, and French outlet Gamekyo reported that Ubisoft plans to extend Ubisoft Connect Services “progressively to all other games in the catalog” rather than flipping the switch catalog-wide at once.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Is the Test Case
Ubisoft picked a mid-sized, well-reviewed 2024 platformer rather than a flagship release to pilot the change, a sensible way to catch bugs before rolling Ubisoft Connect Services out to bigger titles like the Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry catalogs. Multiple outlets, including Softonic and Gadgets 360, independently confirmed that the Steam version of The Lost Crown has been running launcher-free since around September 10, 2026, with some reports dating the underlying Steam page update as early as September 9.
The staggered rollout matters for anyone tracking how fast this spreads. If Ubisoft Connect Services works cleanly on The Lost Crown without breaking achievements, cloud saves, or anti-cheat integrations, the technical case for extending it to the rest of the Steam catalog gets much easier to make internally. If it causes save-sync bugs or login failures, expect the rollout to slow considerably, the way similar platform migrations have stalled at other publishers in the past.
How Ubisoft Connect Services Actually Works
Under the old system, launching a Ubisoft game through Steam triggered a two-step process: Steam would hand off to the Ubisoft Connect executable, which had to fully load, authenticate, and sometimes update itself before the actual game would even start. That added load time, an extra UI a player had to click through, and a second piece of software running in the background for the entire session.
Ubisoft Connect Services folds those same functions, authentication, cross-play matchmaking, cross-progression syncing, in-game challenge tracking, and reward unlocks, into a lightweight background service tied directly into Steam’s own overlay and account layer, according to descriptions from Well Played and other outlets that tested the new build. Players do not see a separate window, do not have to click through a Ubisoft-branded splash screen, and in most cases will not notice the service is running at all unless they check Task Manager.
A Decade of Double-Launcher Backlash
Few PC gaming complaints have aged as consistently as the one about forced secondary launchers. Ars Technica’s Kyle Orland wrote years ago that Uplay “has not exactly endeared itself to the PC gaming community,” and PC Gamer’s Joshua Wolens later summed up the broader industry frustration by asking why anyone would be pleased to watch Origin or Uplay “spark to life” after clicking Play on Steam. Community forums have logged the same complaint for over a decade: buying a game on Steam should not require installing, updating, and signing into an entirely separate application from a different company.
That frustration is exactly what outlets like Gagadget pointed to when framing this update, describing the mandatory launcher as “one of PC gaming’s most complained-about requirements” and calling its removal overdue. Ubisoft is not addressing a new problem; it is finally addressing one of the oldest and most persistent ones in modern PC gaming distribution.
From Uplay to Ubisoft Connect: A Brief History
Ubisoft’s launcher has gone through three names and one full rebrand since 2009. The Uplay rewards system debuted alongside Assassin’s Creed II in November 2009, and a standalone Uplay desktop client arrived in July 2012 to manage downloads, updates, and rewards in one place. In October 2020, Ubisoft folded Uplay and the Ubisoft Club loyalty program together into a single rebranded platform, Ubisoft Connect, adding cross-save and cross-play support across PC, console, and cloud services including the now-defunct Google Stadia and Amazon Luna, according to documented platform history on Ubisoft Connect’s release timeline.
Through all three eras, the one constant was the requirement to run the client alongside Steam. September 2026 marks the first time in the platform’s 16-year history that Ubisoft has decoupled its account services from a visible, separately launched application on Steam specifically. If you still have the old Ubisoft Connect launcher installed, it is not going away system-wide yet, but its role on Steam is shrinking title by title.
Why Now? Ubisoft’s Record €1.3 Billion Loss
The timing is not coincidental. Ubisoft’s fiscal year 2025-26 results, confirmed by CFO Frédéric Duguet on the company’s earnings call, showed an IFRS operating loss of €1.3 billion (roughly $1.4 billion), a record for the company and a dramatic reversal from the prior year’s -€196.5 million operating result. IFRS revenue fell 21.8% year-over-year to approximately €1.4 billion, while net bookings dropped 17.4% to €1.53 billion. Fixed operating costs did come down, falling roughly €118 million to about €1.435 billion, evidence that cost-cutting is underway even as the top line shrinks.
A publisher bleeding at that scale has every incentive to remove friction anywhere it can find it. A smoother, launcher-free Steam experience is essentially free to build relative to the cost of a new engine or a delayed AAA release, and it directly targets one of the most common negative talking points in Steam reviews and community discussions about Ubisoft’s PC catalog. When your balance sheet is already under this much pressure, cleaning up long-standing player-experience complaints is a low-cost way to shore up goodwill.
| Metric | FY2025-26 Value | Year-over-Year Change |
|---|---|---|
| IFRS Operating Result | -€1.3 billion (~$1.4B), record loss | Down from -€196.5 million |
| IFRS Revenue | ~€1.4 billion | -21.8% |
| Net Bookings | €1.53 billion | -17.4% |
| Fixed Operating Costs | ~€1.435 billion | Down €118 million |
| Tencent Stake in Vantage Studios | €1.16 billion for 26.32% economic interest | €3.8 billion pre-money valuation |
The Tencent-Vantage Studios Deal Reshapes Priorities
The financial context runs deeper than one bad fiscal year. Ubisoft spun its three biggest franchises, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, into a new subsidiary called Vantage Studios, which became operational on October 1, 2025. Tencent then paid €1.16 billion for a 26.32% economic interest in that subsidiary at a €3.8 billion pre-money valuation, with the deal closing on November 21, 2025, according to Ubisoft’s own first-half earnings disclosure distributed via Nasdaq.
That restructuring effectively created two Ubisofts: a cash-generating core built around Vantage Studios’ three franchises, now partly owned by one of the world’s largest gaming investors, and everything else. Platform-level goodwill moves like Ubisoft Connect Services affect both halves at once, since Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry titles are exactly the kind of catalog games Gamekyo’s reporting suggests will eventually get the same launcher-free treatment as Prince of Persia.
Steam Deck: The Quiet Winner
Removing a Windows-native secondary launcher has an outsized benefit on Valve’s handheld. Well Played’s testing found that Ubisoft’s change makes Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown “a smoother fit on Steam Deck” specifically because SteamOS’s Proton compatibility layer no longer has to boot and manage a second Windows application every time a player launches the game. Fewer background processes running through compatibility translation generally means fewer places for something to break, and a cleaner path to full Steam Deck Verified status, even though Ubisoft has not made an explicit Verified-status claim tied to this update.
For the growing base of handheld PC gamers, this is arguably the more practical win than the desktop convenience factor. Every extra launcher a Steam Deck has to run through Proton is another potential source of stutter, failed logins, or compatibility flags, so a catalog-wide rollout of Ubisoft Connect Services would be a meaningful, if quiet, upgrade for Steam Deck owners specifically.
EA Already Broke the Seal on Steam
Ubisoft is not moving first here. EA had already begun distributing certain Steam titles without forcing the EA App (formerly Origin) to launch as a separate window, instead handling authentication more directly through Steam’s own account layer, a shift multiple outlets cited as the direct precedent for Ubisoft’s move. The pattern in both cases is the same: keep the publisher’s account-based services, including cross-play, entitlements, and rewards, but stop forcing a visibly separate application on top of the storefront the player already paid through.
That distinction matters. Neither EA nor Ubisoft is abandoning its own account ecosystem, subscription tiers, or first-party storefronts. Both companies still want players signed into EA or Ubisoft accounts for loyalty programs, cross-progression, and their respective subscription services, EA Play and Ubisoft+ among them. What is changing is only the visible, mandatory launcher layer that sits between Steam and the game itself.
| Publisher | Secondary Launcher Required on Steam (Sept 2026)? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ubisoft | No, on select titles (in transition) | Ubisoft Connect Services now runs in the background for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown; wider catalog rollout planned |
| EA | Partial | Some Steam titles no longer force the EA App/Origin window; older back-catalog titles still vary by release |
| Activision Blizzard | Yes | Call of Duty titles still require Battle.net authentication on top of Steam |
| Rockstar Games | Yes | Rockstar Games Launcher is still required to run GTA and Red Dead titles purchased on Steam |
| Valve (first-party/most indies) | No | Steam remains the only client needed for the large majority of third-party titles without extra DRM layers |
Market Impact: What This Means for the Platform Wars
Steam’s dominance over PC distribution was never seriously threatened by rival launchers, but every mandatory secondary client has functioned as a small, persistent tax on the Steam experience that publishers imposed for their own data and loyalty-program reasons. As that tax gets rolled back publisher by publisher, Steam’s position as the single front door for PC gaming gets reinforced rather than weakened, even though Valve had no direct hand in forcing Ubisoft’s decision.
It also puts pressure on holdouts. If Ubisoft and EA can maintain cross-play, cross-progression, and subscription entitlements without a mandatory second launcher, the technical justification for publishers like Activision Blizzard and Rockstar Games to keep forcing Battle.net or the Rockstar Games Launcher gets harder to defend to players who can now point to two major publishers that solved the same problem. That competitive comparison is likely to show up increasingly in Steam reviews and community discussion threads for launcher-dependent titles going forward, the same way storefront market-share debates already shape how publishers think about where to release.
Community Reaction: Relief Mixed With Skepticism
Coverage across gaming outlets has framed the community response as broadly positive, with headlines describing the launcher as “finally optional” and framing the update as Ubisoft addressing one of PC gaming’s most persistent complaints. At the same time, longtime PC players have reason for measured skepticism given Ubisoft’s history: the company has walked back or slow-rolled platform changes before, and a single pilot title is a long way from a catalog-wide commitment. Whether Ubisoft Connect Services reaches Assassin’s Creed Shadows-scale releases, or ends up quietly limited to smaller back-catalog games, will determine whether this becomes a genuine policy shift or a one-off goodwill gesture during a difficult financial year.
What Comes Next: Catalog-Wide Rollout
Ubisoft has not published a public roadmap or timeline for which titles get Ubisoft Connect Services next, and reporting from Gamekyo describes the expansion plan only as “progressive.” Watch for the next candidates to be recent, still-supported titles with active player bases, since those carry the clearest incentive to reduce login and update friction. Older, unsupported back-catalog games are less likely to see engineering resources spent on the migration, meaning some Ubisoft Connect requirements on Steam could persist indefinitely even after the newer titles move over.
The bigger open question is whether this extends beyond Steam. All current reporting frames the change as Steam-specific, leaving Ubisoft’s own storefront, the Epic Games Store, and console platforms untouched by this particular update. Given that Ubisoft has been cutting costs and headcount across the business over the past two years, a Steam-only pilot that requires minimal new infrastructure is exactly the kind of low-risk experiment a financially strained studio would run before committing engineering time to a platform-wide rebuild.
5 Predictions Through 2027
- Wider catalog rollout by mid-2027. Expect Ubisoft Connect Services to reach several more actively supported titles, likely including recent Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry releases, before the fiscal year closes.
- EA and Ubisoft’s moves pressure holdouts. Activision Blizzard and Rockstar Games will face growing player pressure to explain why Battle.net and the Rockstar Games Launcher remain mandatory on Steam when two other AAA publishers solved the same problem.
- Steam Deck Verified badges become a marketing angle. Publishers that strip out secondary launchers are likely to promote improved Steam Deck compatibility explicitly, since handheld PC gaming keeps growing as a distinct market segment.
- Vantage Studios titles become the real test. How Ubisoft Connect Services performs on a Tencent-backed, high-profile franchise like Assassin’s Creed will do more to prove or disprove the strategy than any back-catalog title.
- Financial pressure keeps driving player-facing goodwill moves. With Ubisoft still working through a record operating loss, expect more low-cost, high-visibility changes aimed at improving Steam reviews and community sentiment rather than large new spending commitments.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Ubisoft Connect Services, and how is it different from the Ubisoft Connect launcher?
Ubisoft Connect Services is a background tool that handles account authentication, cross-play, cross-progression, challenges, and rewards without opening a separate application window. The older Ubisoft Connect launcher is a full standalone desktop client that has to install, update, and run visibly alongside the game.
Which Ubisoft games no longer require the Ubisoft Connect launcher on Steam?
As of September 2026, only Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has switched to Ubisoft Connect Services on Steam. Ubisoft has indicated it plans to extend the change to more Steam titles over time, but has not published a title-by-title schedule.
Do I still need a Ubisoft account to play Ubisoft games on Steam?
Yes. A linked Ubisoft account is still required for cross-play, cross-progression, cloud saves, in-game challenges, and rewards. What changes is that you no longer need to install or launch a separate application to use those features.
Will Ubisoft Connect Services improve Steam Deck compatibility?
Early testing suggests yes. Removing the need to run a separate Windows-native launcher through Proton reduces one common source of compatibility issues on Steam Deck, though Ubisoft has not made a formal Steam Deck Verified claim tied specifically to this update.
Why did Ubisoft remove the mandatory launcher now?
The timing lines up with a difficult fiscal year for the company, including a record €1.3 billion operating loss for FY2025-26. Removing a long-standing player complaint is a relatively low-cost way to improve player sentiment while the company works through a larger financial restructuring.
How bad is Ubisoft’s financial situation in 2026?
Ubisoft reported an IFRS operating loss of €1.3 billion for fiscal year 2025-26, its largest ever, with revenue down 21.8% year-over-year to roughly €1.4 billion and net bookings down 17.4% to €1.53 billion.
What is Vantage Studios and why did Tencent invest in it?
Vantage Studios is a Ubisoft subsidiary formed around its three biggest franchises: Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six. Tencent paid €1.16 billion for a 26.32% economic interest in the subsidiary at a €3.8 billion pre-money valuation, in a deal that closed in November 2025.
Are other publishers like EA also dropping launcher requirements on Steam?
Yes. EA had already begun letting some Steam titles run without forcing the EA App or Origin launcher to open separately, a move widely cited as the direct precedent for Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia rollout. Activision Blizzard’s Battle.net and the Rockstar Games Launcher still remain mandatory for their respective titles on Steam.