Ubisoft appears to be testing a Steam-integrated Connect Services tool with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, potentially reducing launcher friction across more Ubisoft games on Steam.
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Ubisoft's Steam test starts with one game and one awkward paper trail
The strongest concrete sign that Ubisoft Connect Steam requirements are changing is tied to Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. PCGamesN and Eurogamer report that the Steam version has been linked to a backend Steam application called Ubisoft Connect Services, visible through SteamDB, and that an owner-only Steam announcement describes a test meant to let the game keep Ubisoft Connect features without requiring the Ubisoft Connect PC launcher to be installed or launched.
That is a meaningful shift if it plays out as described, but the evidence is unusually fragmented. Rock Paper Shotgun says the announcement post appears to be visible only to people who own The Lost Crown on Steam, and the outlet says it had not been able to verify the post directly despite searching Steam. Polygon similarly notes that the linked Steam page appears owner-gated, although it says part of the message can be seen by searching Steam's news feed before the full link returns an error.
So the clean version is this: Ubisoft appears to have begun testing a lighter Steam-side services layer, starting with The Lost Crown. The messier version, and the one PC players should keep in mind, is that Ubisoft has not turned this into a broad, public-facing platform announcement in the sources provided. The most important claims come from a reported Steam post, a SteamDB-linked backend app, and owner-shared screenshots rather than a standard Ubisoft news release.
What Ubisoft Connect Services is supposed to preserve
According to the reported Steam announcement quoted by Rock Paper Shotgun, PCGamesN, Eurogamer, and Polygon, Ubisoft Connect Services is designed to keep features such as cross-progression, cross-play, player safety, challenges, and rewards while removing the need to install or launch the full Ubisoft Connect PC launcher for supported Steam games.
The phrasing matters. The reported post says this first version is an initial step toward a smoother Steam launch experience, and that Ubisoft Connect Services will continue to evolve over time. That does not read like Ubisoft abandoning its account ecosystem. It reads like Ubisoft separating the parts of Connect that games use from the desktop launcher that players have to see, update, and troubleshoot.
PCGamesN reports that players may still need Ubisoft Connect to link a Ubisoft account to Steam, even if the standalone launcher no longer has to remain installed afterward. Eurogamer also flags the same unresolved point, saying it is unclear whether future buyers will still need to link a Ubisoft account to Steam. For players searching for "Ubisoft launcher removed," that distinction is the whole story: the launcher may be going away for supported Steam launches, but Ubisoft's services and account layer appear to remain part of the design.
Which Ubisoft games on Steam appear affected right now
At the moment, the only clearly identified test case is Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. PCGamesN says the game is now connected to the Ubisoft Connect Services backend application on SteamDB, and the reported owner-only Steam post is tied to The Lost Crown rather than to Ubisoft's whole Steam catalog.
The reported announcement says the tool will "progressively evolve and roll out to more Ubisoft games on Steam in the future," according to multiple outlets quoting the post. That is the forward-looking part, but Ubisoft has not provided a public list of which games are next in the supplied sources. Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six Siege, and The Division 2 are obvious names readers will think about because they are major Ubisoft PC franchises, and PCGamesN raises several of them as possible future candidates. They are not confirmed as affected games.
That leaves the affected-games list narrower than the reaction suggests. Prince of Persia Steam launcher requirements appear to be the first target. More Ubisoft games Steam support is reportedly planned. Existing back-catalog coverage, rollout order, timing, and whether multiplayer-heavy games follow the same model are still unanswered.
The launcher problem is small in seconds and large in ownership convenience
Mandatory second launchers are often dismissed as a minor inconvenience, but PC players have treated them as a persistent ownership and access problem for years. Eurogamer notes that Ubisoft Connect, previously known as Uplay, has traditionally started when launching Ubisoft games owned through Steam or the Epic Games Store. Polygon frames the broader complaint around having to open Steam, then open a publisher-specific launcher, often alongside publisher account requirements and DRM.
The practical friction is not only the extra click. It is another application that can fail to update, forget a login, demand an account check, complicate offline play expectations, or create edge cases on handheld PC setups. Polygon cites a Reddit user celebrating the potential rollback for older Ubisoft games so they can play on a Steam Machine without Proton tricks. That is anecdotal community reaction, not a technical benchmark, but it captures why this change is being received as bigger than a cosmetic cleanup.
For Steam Deck and living-room PC users, launch flow is part of the product. A game that launches cleanly from Steam feels like part of the library a player bought into. A game that hands off to a second launcher feels like borrowed access through a hallway full of passwords. Ubisoft Connect Services, if reliable, would be a strategic concession to the way PC players actually organize their libraries.
Ubisoft still has reasons to keep the services layer alive
From a strategy angle, this looks less like surrender and more like repositioning. Ubisoft has reasons to preserve cross-progression, rewards, challenges, player safety systems, and cross-play. Those features support player retention, account continuity, and multiplayer operations. The reported change is that Ubisoft may be trying to deliver those functions through a Steam-integrated component rather than through the full Ubisoft Connect desktop client.
That would put Ubisoft closer to the model Eurogamer describes for some other publishers, including EA, where a lighter or less visible service can start alongside a game without feeling like a separate storefront is getting in the way. The risk is that players will judge the result by behavior, not naming. If Ubisoft Connect Services still produces account loops, launch failures, save confusion, or surprise requirements, the rebrand will not buy much goodwill.
The technical challenge also changes by game. A single-player action platformer like The Lost Crown is a sensible first test because its service demands are likely cleaner than those of a large online game. The supplied sources do not say how Ubisoft will handle older titles, multiplayer games, or games with deeper Ubisoft Connect dependencies. That is the key unanswered question for anyone hoping this spreads across Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six, or The Division.
Buying and library advice while the rollout remains limited
If you own Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on Steam, the most useful next step is to check the game's Steam library news and recent updates. PCGamesN reports that owners should be able to see the post explaining the change, while Rock Paper Shotgun and Polygon both describe the announcement as difficult for non-owners to access directly.
If you own other Ubisoft games on Steam, do not assume the full Ubisoft Connect launcher can be removed yet. The reported rollout language points to more Ubisoft games on Steam in the future, but no schedule or confirmed game list appears in the supplied sources. Players who have avoided Ubisoft games Steam purchases because of launcher friction should wait for individual store pages, patch notes, or official Ubisoft messaging before treating this as a catalog-wide policy change.
For now, this is a promising but narrow test. The best-case result is simple: buy on Steam, launch from Steam, keep cross-progression and rewards, and skip the desktop launcher. The unresolved part is whether Ubisoft can make that true across enough of its PC library to change buying behavior rather than merely improve one Prince of Persia Steam launcher path.