Where's the -inator

Assassin's Creed Shadows Will Feature Denuvo & Account Linking + EULA also requires you to allow Ubisoft to "monitor" your RAM

The game's EULA also requires you to allow Ubisoft to "monitor" your RAM.

As Ubisoft prepares for the 2025 launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows – a game some view as the developer's last chance to break free from a year marked by financial setbacks and controversies – the game's Steam page has finally gone live, revealing two major caveats about the Steam version of AC Shadows that will, unfortunately for Ubisoft, likely drive away some gamers.

If you're in any way familiar with the PC gaming industry (or have read the title of this article), then you've most likely already guessed one of the caveats, and yes, the PC version of Assassin's Creed Shadows will feature Denuvo, a controversial DRM software detested by the community for negatively affecting loading times and framerate in games, something Denuvo's creator Irdeto categorically denies, blaming its low reputation on pirates and gamers.

While Denuvo's presence in Shadows isn't much of a surprise – considering it's been used in Ubisoft's previous games like Assassin's Creed Mirage, Star Wars Outlaws, the Far Cry series, and others – the decision to keep the DRM could be seen as questionable given the growing trend of developers ditching Denuvo or choosing not to include it in the first place, as well as Ubisoft's apparent need to steer clear of further controversies and reputational damage.

The second caveat relates to another requirement the community generally dislikes: the mandatory account linking to the studio's Ubisoft Connect platform when buying Assassin's Creed Shadows on Steam. Even though, much like Denuvo, this isn't anything new for Ubisoft fans, it could still negatively impact the game financially and reputationally considering what happened with Helldivers 2 earlier this year when Sony's now-retracted mandate to link Steam accounts to PSN caused an uproar, buried the game in negative reviews, and, as some believe, tanked the game's player numbers, with many blaming this backlash as the sole reason we've heard so little about Helldivers 2 in the second half of 2024, despite it being universally acclaimed and considered a strong contender for Game of the Year when it first launched.

To top it all off, Shadows' EULA also includes a provision that allows the game to monitor your PC's RAM to ensure you're not running any unauthorized programs like macros, cheats, or hacks, a well-intentioned clause that nonetheless feels a touch out of place in a single-player game and could potentially scare off some of the more suspicious players who aren't comfortable with their hardware being monitored.

And what's your take on those requirements? Would it be beneficial for Ubisoft to get rid of Denuvo and account linking while there's still time?

Assassin's Creed Shadows Will Feature Denuvo & Account Linking + EULA also requires you to allow Ubisoft to "monitor" your RAM

The game's EULA also requires you to allow Ubisoft to "monitor" your RAM.

As Ubisoft prepares for the 2025 launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows – a game some view as the developer's last chance to break free from a year marked by financial setbacks and controversies – the game's Steam page has finally gone live, revealing two major caveats about the Steam version of AC Shadows that will, unfortunately for Ubisoft, likely drive away some gamers.

If you're in any way familiar with the PC gaming industry (or have read the title of this article), then you've most likely already guessed one of the caveats, and yes, the PC version of Assassin's Creed Shadows will feature Denuvo, a controversial DRM software detested by the community for negatively affecting loading times and framerate in games, something Denuvo's creator Irdeto categorically denies, blaming its low reputation on pirates and gamers.

While Denuvo's presence in Shadows isn't much of a surprise – considering it's been used in Ubisoft's previous games like Assassin's Creed Mirage, Star Wars Outlaws, the Far Cry series, and others – the decision to keep the DRM could be seen as questionable given the growing trend of developers ditching Denuvo or choosing not to include it in the first place, as well as Ubisoft's apparent need to steer clear of further controversies and reputational damage.

The second caveat relates to another requirement the community generally dislikes: the mandatory account linking to the studio's Ubisoft Connect platform when buying Assassin's Creed Shadows on Steam. Even though, much like Denuvo, this isn't anything new for Ubisoft fans, it could still negatively impact the game financially and reputationally considering what happened with Helldivers 2 earlier this year when Sony's now-retracted mandate to link Steam accounts to PSN caused an uproar, buried the game in negative reviews, and, as some believe, tanked the game's player numbers, with many blaming this backlash as the sole reason we've heard so little about Helldivers 2 in the second half of 2024, despite it being universally acclaimed and considered a strong contender for Game of the Year when it first launched.

To top it all off, Shadows' EULA also includes a provision that allows the game to monitor your PC's RAM to ensure you're not running any unauthorized programs like macros, cheats, or hacks, a well-intentioned clause that nonetheless feels a touch out of place in a single-player game and could potentially scare off some of the more suspicious players who aren't comfortable with their hardware being monitored.

And what's your take on those requirements? Would it be beneficial for Ubisoft to get rid of Denuvo and account linking while there's still time?

ublockorigin.com

Make sure to install uBlock Origin when you install FF. It's unlikely your nephew can click on ads believing there is a virus but do it, to be safe

So here’s the deal, I have an old HP laptop I am in the process of resetting and setting up as my ~8yo nephew’s first computer.

Big mistake. It reinstalls all the bloatware and sometimes it can even end up bricking your Windows install. Always clean install.

Obviously the parental controls will be in place with his parents getting a crash course in anything they don’t already know how to use(they’re tech literate so I’m not worried about that).

Just in case you decide to use the Microsoft parental controls. It automatically blocks Firefox so you have to unblock it manually.

So here’s where my question for y’all comes in, what are your recommendations for a budding computer scientist/programmer’s first Windows machine?

Replace the HDD with a 512 GB SATA SSD, install 8 GBs of RAM and it will probably last more

Meanwhile I have 16 GBs, and I feel that I should update to 32...

I don't even know him

Because:

1. They pretend words like Karen or Boomer are slurs

2. They censor the words g#me, g#mer and videog#me

3. They say Hitler invented videogames in 1939

4. Most of their proof is photoshopped images (example)

5. Most of the users active in that sub are actually also active in gaming subreddits

6. They call their subreddit a "facebook group"

You forgot this

Doesn't that one have ads?

Edit: Yup, it does.