You do not own your games on Steam: what you need to know
Takeaways by Noonkick
- Gamer gets bashed on Reddit for having 12 Assassin's Creed games installed.
- Steam and Ubisoft launcher problems are making people really angry.
- Ubisoft launcher refresh makes all games update - even on Steam. Yay, just what we needed!
- "Explain yourself, bro" commenters mock.
First published 7/19/2024 on Noonkick• last updated 8/13/2024
Imagine sitting down to play your favorite game, only to find out it needs an update first. Now, imagine that times twelve. That's what happened to u/centuryt91, a Reddit user who found that almost every Assassin's Creed game in his Steam library required an update.
Each game ranged from 50 to 100 GB in size, meaning he had to download a staggering 600 to 1,200 GB of data. This was a massive task that demanded a significant amount of bandwidth and storage.
So he took his frustration to Reddit, in a thread labeled "ubisoft please explain yourself" on r/Steam.
User u/obrisacuovoposle pointed out the likely reason behind this:
- ->"That's probably because the Ubisoft Launcher needs an update. Ubisoft games on Steam share a depot with the Ubisoft installer, and whenever that gets updated, Steam will prompt to update the game."
On the other hand, u/MusicalTechSquirrel had a more cynical view:
- ->"They want to make your ownership a license that's easily revokable."
For gamers in areas with slower internet, such a massive update could take days, eating into valuable playtime. As the slow progress bar inches forward, hour after hour, the excitement of playing your favorite games slowly fades away, replaced by frustration.
Recommendation by Noonkick
Make sure to check for updates regularly so you don't have to deal with huge downloads that mess up your gaming. Nothing kills the fun like a 50GB update right when you're ready to play!
Reddit's roasting session: "you explain yourself"
Instead of sympathy, u/centuryt91 found himself at the center of Reddit's humor when a screenshot of his showed that he had twelve Assassin's Creed games installed, sparking a flurry of funny and shocked reactions.
One Redditor asked, "You explain yourself, bro. Who the hell has almost all AC games installed?" Another added, "You got TWELVE Assassin's Creeds currently installed, lmao."
For many, this kind of update could mean extra costs or slower speeds due to monthly data limits from ISPs. To put it into perspective, on an average 50 Mbps connection, downloading 900 GB would take around 40 hours—a significant amount of time for any gamer.
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Ubisoft faces backlash: the real story
Ubisoft couldn't escape the backlash. Gamers quickly slammed the need for multiple game clients and constant updates, with one user complaining, "I hate that you need more than one client to play games. It's so annoying," echoing a common frustration with PC gaming.
Another Redditor suspected a sneaky motive, suggesting that the company wanted "to put ads in all their games for the new one." This highlights a broader worry about modern gaming, where updates sometimes sneak in ads or promos.
A third user joked, "It's Ubisoft, no further explanation needed," labeling the collective annoyance many gamers feel toward the company.
The Ubisoft Connect client is known to consume up to 200 MB of RAM, which can hurt performance for gamers with older systems. This is not just annoying; it also disrupts the smooth gaming experience players want.
u/centuryt91's story serves as a prime example of the common struggles many gamers face. It underscores the hassles of modern gaming and how humor brings everyone together when dealing with these annoyances.
The frustrating experience of waiting for a patch update can also be a source of amusement.
