The Crew 2 has recently released a huge update that caused a lot of excitement among the game players. No kidding, they are actual. The Hybrid Mode is a revolutionary feature since it enables you to execute the game in a manner that comes in online or offline whichever suits you best at the moment.
In other words, Ivory Tower along with Ubisoft has just unveiled a brilliant facility, which will let you continue to play even if the servers are down at last. Admit it, that’s the case with all the online games in the end. But instead of that, The Crew 2 will not just fade away. You can keep on exploring the enormous open-world USA map even when you are not online. This is what they meant by: “play your way” – online playing with all the multiplayer activities, or offline just taking it easy.
The reaction from the community has been very positive and it is more than what was anticipated. It is pretty clear because the maintenance of a game is a very important thing nowadays. A player with the handle M Mo on the internet was very open in expressing his appreciation when he said, “Big props to you guys! Thank you so much for doing this to ensure the game is playable after the servers are shut down.” And this player was not the only one who shared this sentiment. There were quite a few comments along the lines of “wish they did this with The Crew 1” which is a true statement, that would have been good too but at least they are doing it now.
However, this is not the end of the road. The users are already asking for new features as soon as the offline mode gets activated. Deno.D.Cooper put forth a suggestion of a race editor, “because it will be an awesome way to add a new dimension to offline mode where users will be able to set their own experiences.” This indeed is a fantastic suggestion – customized races could keep offline mode running for a lot longer.
And then a query concerning Steam Deck cropped up. Now that the offline mode is here, a lot of responses came up concerning the Steam Deck compatibility issue. For example, IceNight15 just came up to inquire “steam deck support?” and Kazé was like “Is it Steam Deck Playable? 👀 No Launcher?” That is the million-dollar question indeed. With the offline feature, it may turn out that The Crew 2 operates more smoothly on handhelds without frequent internet checks.
That said, some players had a little bit of a complain regarding the feature. Byron Culver commented, “This game is dead. No crossplay killed it for me.” That was pretty harsh. On the other hand, there were people like Alexander B who referred to the developers as “the GOATs” so the opinions are definitely divided. It is that classic split in the gaming community – some people are extremely grateful to the developers for the enhancement and others think that different aspects of the game should have been prioritized.
This whole situation can affect the “Stop Killing Games” movement that has been slowly but steadily gaining supporters. Oliver mentioned it quite openly in his comment: “StopKillingGames 🤝 Ivory Tower” which is quite revealing. The matter of game preservation is becoming a larger discussion in gaming and The Crew 2’s Hybrid Mode is a direct response to this issue.
There were also some technical inquiries such as whether or not a newly created save could be started in offline mode (John, who answered the question posed by someone, said that apparently, it is possible). Also, Michael Shuman raised the issue of wheel compatibility and suggested that they add the list of the supported wheels because Moza is now producing Xbox wheels. To hardcore racing fans, even the minutiae are significant.
It is hard to believe that this will change the whole lifecycle of the game. When the servers go down, that usually means game over. But now? The Crew 2 can theoretically be immortal in offline mode. Obviously, you will not be able to play the live updates or multiplayer but the basic driving experience will still be there. This is a very significant thing especially for a car racing game that was launched in 2018.
Isn’t it also an interesting coincidence that The Crew Motorfest is the new series title? Generally, it would be thought that the developers would aim at letting the players migrate to the new game but instead of this, they made sure that the older one still has a usable life. This is an extremely consumer-friendly move even if it is partly done to prevent bad PR from yet another online only game that is unable to be played.
In the long run, this may become a standard for other live service games. If The Crew 2 can create a hybrid mode years after its launch, then maybe other studios will be more inclined to follow suit. Not only the players but also the gaming industry and even the preservation movement benefit from it, and honestly, it just feels like the right thing to do.
Therefore, The Crew 2’s Hybrid Mode is now live. Download the update and switch between online and offline whenever you like. This update is certainly one of the most significant updates that the game has received in a long time considering that it has been around for a while. It is not only about new cars or events; it is also about the assurance that the game will not just disappear one day. And in today’s gaming environment, that is actually very revolutionary.
No matter if you are a veteran player or a newbie who has been waiting for the offline feature, this update is a game-changer. The game may be old, but it has just gained a much longer lifespan. And that is worth a celebration, even if it took some time for it to get there.
