Gamers hand Ubisoft a rare 'W' as The Crew 2's offline mode finally goes live

It took more than a year to make it happen, but the promised offline mode for The Crew 2 is finally here. "Hybrid Mode," as it's officially known, lets players switch between online and offline play at will, ensuring the game will remain accessible even when the remote servers are gone.

A quick catch-up for those who missed the drama that brought us to this point: Ubisoft shut down servers for The Crew in April 2024, rendering the game unplayable and triggering a furious consumer backlash in the process. Ubisoft's ham-fisted handling of the situation didn't help smooth the waters, but it did get the message, promising in September of that year to bring offline support to The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest.

Testing for The Crew 2's offline mode began earlier this year, and as of today it's fully live. "With this update, players can now switch between the original online experience of The Crew 2 and a brand-new offline mode, letting you enjoy the game even without an internet connection," Ubisoft said. "This represents a major milestone in our ongoing commitment to ensuring long-term access to The Crew 2 for all players."

After the new update is installed, players will be prompted to choose either online or offline mode when they start the game with an active internet connection; if no connection is detected, The Crew 2 will launch into offline mode automatically. Naturally, some online-exclusive features including purchases from the in-game store, all multiplayer content, and any user-generated content, will not be available while playing offline, and any progress earned in one mode will not transfer to the other. Saves for the two modes will be stored separately as well: You'll be able to export your online save to offline mode, but doing so will overwrite any existing offline save. A full rundown of how the system works is up at ubisoft.com.

It's a small thing, really, but after the past decade its had, Ubisoft needs whatever wins it can get—and to their credit, gamers are handing it to 'em, literally in at least one case:

Offline mode for The Crew Motorfest is also in development, but that's going to take a little longer to get sorted—a time frame for that one hasn't been announced yet. Ironically, The Crew—the game that started all this trouble—has sprung back to life too, not thanks to Ubisoft but rather the efforts of the team behind The Crew Unlimited mod, a server emulator that allows The Crew to run even without remote server support. Kind of funny to think about how much trouble could've been avoided if only Ubisoft had thought of that.