Ubisoft Games Currently Broken on Steam Deck

Update: I’ve been doing some testing, and while custom versions of Proton haven’t made a difference, changing the Proton version to Experimental was able to let my copy of Watch Dogs Legion launch successfully. 

Of course, as it’s Proton Experimental there’s every chance you could encounter problems down the line, but at least there is a fix in some form available. 

Original article follows…

If you own any Ubisoft games on Steam Deck it may be worth switching them to offline play, as a recent update to the Ubisoft Connect launcher has left multiple games unplayable.

I’ve just tested Watch Dogs Legion myself and can confirm the launcher did receive an update and after that, the game can no longer be loaded.

The error message reads: “Ubisoft Connect has detected an unrecoverable error and must shut down.”

The "Ubisoft Connect has detected an unrecoverable error and must shut down" error message.

As with many Windows apps running on Linux-based systems, things break, things shatter. That’s just how it is. What’s more irritating for players is when the cause appears to be launcher-based. We’re all yet to see any logical reasoning as to how launchers enhance the gaming experience in any meaningful way. Surely a dedicated app would alleviate any potential problems caused by launchers?

As GamingonLinux notes, both The Division 2 (which only recently got fixed to work on the Deck) and Ghost Recon Breakpoint also don’t work, which means this could be a launcher-wide issue.

A fix could be put out by Ubisoft, but this may well end up being something Valve needs to fix on their end. As always, I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything.

Wesley Copeland
Wesley Copeland

Wesley Copeland is a gaming, tech, and toys journalist with over 10 years of experience writing online. Originally starting in video games before specializing in tech and toys, you can find his bylines at IGN, VG24/7, Kotaku, Tech Radar, Games Radar, PC Gamer, Heavy, and many more. He's also highly passionate about how tech can be used to better our day-to-day lives.