Ubisoft community representative UbiJurassic reveals in a forum post that the upcoming For Honor requires a constant Internet connection, even in single player.
When the hack and slash action game For Honor was first revealed at E3 a couple of years ago, it was met with great enthusiasm from the community, with many viewing it as a genuinely fresh gaming experience. Unfortunately, Ubisoft has made a number of decisions since then that has rubbed some fans the wrong way, the latest of which is that For Honor will require a constant Internet connection to function – even for those playing single player.
As revealed by Ubisoft community representative UbiJurassic, For Honor is an always-online experience due to the game’s progression system. Apparently, progression will be shared across its campaign and multiplayer modes, and players will need the constant connection because progression is hosted online. It’s unclear why Ubisoft decided to host For Honor’s progression system online, especially since other games have successfully shared progression between all modes without requiring a constant Internet connection, like the Gears of War titles, for example.
Back when For Honor was believed to be a multiplayer-only game, few would have complained about its always-online requirement. However, now that we know that the game will include a full-fledged single player story campaign, the always-online decision may upset some fans, and could potentially cost Ubisoft sales when it comes to those with unreliable Internet who were only interested in playing the game solo.
It doesn’t help For Honor’s case that the always-online requirement is coming just a couple of months after another disappointing reveal about the game. Originally, Ubisoft promised that For Honor would support local co-op through split-screen, but the studio later backpedaled on that promise, with the game ditching split-screen entirely. With the removal of split-screen and the revelation that the game requires a constant Internet connection, even for its single player content, it seems like Ubisoft is alienating players that prefer to play games offline.
Even though these decisions are controversial, though, it doesn’t mean For Honor will be a bad game. On the contrary, early impressions seem to be mostly positive, and its closed alpha was the biggest alpha Ubisoft has hosted to date. Fans are responding well to For Honor’s melee-focused gameplay, and that could be enough to overcome the potential issues with its always-online requirement and other disappointing design decisions Ubisoft has made about the game.
A constant Internet connection for a console game could have been the death knell for For Honor if this was a decade ago, but it seems like most gamers are always online nowadays anyway, so for many, it is a nonissue. While Ubisoft may be losing some sales because of its decisions, For Honor still has potential to be a hit when it releases early next year.
For Honor will be available on February 14th, 2017 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
