The Crew 2 Launches Offline Mode Following Protest

Ubisoft’s 2018 open-world racer The Crew 2 is finally available to play offline with the launch of “Hybrid Mode”, which allows players to transfer the progression of their online save files into an offline one.

The Crew franchise first launched in 2014, with the most recent entry, The Crew Motorfest, released in 2023. All three games launched as online-only experiences, requiring a constant internet connection to play.

This online-only gameplay model led to major controversy in March 2024 when the first game’s servers were shut down, making it completely unplayable. Ross Scott, owner of the YouTube channel Accursed Farms and creator of the popular Half-Life web-series Freeman’s Mind, launched the “Stop Killing Games” movement, which intends to campaign for change to industry practice and legislation related to the continued functionality of video games.

The campaign has seen much activity since Scott formally announced its formation, including petitions to both the European Union and UK Government, the latter of which will be debated in parliament in November.

In late 2024, a lawsuit against Ubisoft was filed by two gamers in California, bringing into question the ownership of games. Ubisoft’s lawyers argued that players never had reason to believe they held “unfettered ownership rights” of The Crew.

While Hybrid Mode for The Crew 2 is not explicitly confirmed to have launched in response to the backlash of the first game’s shutdown, it does seem to be as such. In the first regular news post to the game’s official website in over a year, Hybrid Mode is described as giving “you the freedom to choose how you want to play The Crew 2”. The game’s online mode will remain completely intact, but players can swap to offline mode in the main menu or if the game is launched with no internet connection. While online save files can be transferred offline, offline progress cannot be transferred online.

No plans to revive The Crew seem to be in the works, and Motorfest remains an online-only game. The Crew 2 is available to purchase for PC, as well as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles. More information on the Stop Killing Games campaign is available on their website.

Words by Ash Douglas

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