Taken offline due to the lag and crashing issues it brought to the game, Watch Dogs 2’s seamless multiplayer feature could be back online “as soon as this weekend” – provided Ubisoft doesn’t experience any problems with the updated version.
In a new statement released today, Ubisoft said they’re currently testing a solution to the seamless multiplayer issues and hope to have it up as early as this weekend, but if it doesn’t work they’ll keep the feature offline:
As you know, we’ve been prioritizing finding a solution to the online connection frame rate issue, so we can activate the seamless multiplayer feature in the game. We’re currently conducting extensive internal testing of a solution to ensure it causes no regression to the core single player experience, as well as smoothly integrates into the seamless multiplayer.
If the solution works as intended, we would begin deploying the fix in a patch and turn on seamless multiplayer as soon as this weekend. This is the scenario that we are all hoping for. But if during these tests we see that the game’s stability with seamless multiplayer still needs work, seamless online will remain deactivated and we will continue to investigate and test solutions.
Asked on Reddit how something like this wasn’t discovered in testing, Ubisoft Community Developer Electr1cPanda said it’s the nature of game development:
Of course we’ve been testing for months now. It’s just the nature of game development – there are certain issues that just may not spring up until it’s in a final, live environment. We had online turned on for those who managed to get a copy early, and unfortunately this nasty bug sprang up.
We are just as disappointed, and are working as hard as we can to solve this issue.
As Ubisoft has re-iterated multiple times, you still have full access to Watch Dogs 2’s single-player campaign and can play co-op with people on your friends list. However, in response to an issue where people have received an error code after starting a co-op mission, Ubisoft said, “While Seamless Online is currently deactivated, we expect to see various problems with online game modes. These will clear up when online is fully reactivated.”
Other Known Issues in Watch Dogs 2 include HUD and Main Menu elements in-game being cut off on various TVs and monitors, game codes not working properly, noise interference when playing on PlayStation 4 Pro with a headset plugged into the DualShock 4, and being unable to complete Power to the Sheeple if you get shot while tagging the billboard.
If the seamless multiplayer is activated this weekend, we’ll let you know.
[Source: Ubisoft Forums, Reddit]
