Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs publisher and developer Ubisoft today announced the latest version of its sometimes-controversial digital distribution service, Uplay, is coming to PCs next month, and it will enable users to broadcast in-game footage using video platform Twitch.
Ubisoft says Uplay 4.0 PC has an improved download manager with autopatching and progressive downloading, which enables you to play a game before the download finishes. It also has a new social wall, where members can stay up-to-date on their friends’ activities.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":814998,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"C"}']Although Twitch already has a strong presence on the PC platform, vice president of marketing Matthew DiPietro tells GamesBeat that Twitch wants to be a ubiquitous feature on video game hardware, software, and services, so every partnership is a welcome one, especially when it involves an established brand like Ubisoft.
Uplay 4.0 will also be available on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles when they arrive in stores in November, and Ubisoft says members will be able to use its services on all platforms with one unique profile. Twitch streaming is already a feature of the PlayStation 4, however, making the Uplay integration seemingly redundant, and Ubisoft is not saying how the two will coexist on that console.
“Because the specific feature sets of the PS4 integration have not been announced, we can’t comment on how the two will intersect,” says DiPietro.
The Uplay service stirred up controversy when it first launched in 2009 because of its aggressive digital rights management, which required an always-on Internet connection, even for games with no online component. After much community backlash, the publisher began removing the always-on requirement in 2011 and now asks users for a one-time online activation before allowing offline gameplay.