After removing the chat service from its game launcher, so it could be reworked to "align with the rest of the Ubisoft Connect experience", Ubisoft has announced the feature's return. Starting today, you'll again be able to chat to folks over Ubisoft Connect (formerly known as Uplay and Ubisoft Club), at least in its desktop app. Meanwhile, chat will return to the Connect overlay in "the coming weeks".
Ubisoft reckons the new chat service will be faster, more stable and reliable, while providing players with a "safe and friendly environment." Should you find yourself conversing with a jerk, or worse, you can block them or file a report.
A consequence of the new system is that established chatters will begin it with a "mostly clean slate", with only certain active group chats retaining their message history. From now on, group chats will be limited to just 24 players as well.
Ubisoft says that this reworked chat service will allow it to "quickly implement new quality of life features, additional anti-toxicity measures, and make it easier to implement on additional platforms beyond PC in the future." So it's basically the first step in a new cross-platform chat service, something that tallies with Connect's support for crossplay.
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Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.
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