Obsidian Entertainment has confirmed that Uplay is not a requirement for the PC version of South Park: The Stick of Truth. As it turns out, this is a mixed blessing.
As we have documented extensively, Ubisoft’s Uplay DRM client is highly unpopular among fans. Ubisoft has had to deal with many complaints and rumors following news that the service was hacked, that a hacker has labeled it a rootkit, and that it made Far Cry 3 unplayable (albeit briefly). Much like EA’s Origin client, gamers view Uplay as a punishment that hurt paying customers more than actual pirates.
.@TheYachmenev No, Uplay will not be featured in SP:SOT
— Obsidian (@Obsidian) February 4, 2014
And so, you would think that news that Uplay is not part of Stick of Truth would be received positively. However, as a fan points out, the service is also known for rewarding players who register on it with extra content. Obsidian confirms the flip side; that there is no extra content for Stick of Truth that you can acquire via Uplay, since the client is not integrated with the game.
.@NBego Unfortunately, no. Uplay was not integrated at all into SP:SOT.
— Obsidian (@Obsidian) February 5, 2014
It is not clear at the moment whether this is a sign that Ubisoft is doing a turnaround regarding their UPlay service. It is likely that their clients, South Park Studios itself, said no to using the service.
Amazon seems to be offering a PC version of the game that isn’t Steamworks, so one has to wonder; how will Windows players get future DLC? We’ll let you know soon enough, as the game is scheduled for release this March 4.
