AC4 Not Launching .Due to an "Ubisoft Service" being unavailable

[GrandNoodleLite]

Before I begin, I want to make it clear that I am currently in the process of contacting Ubisoft support and that I am only posting here in case someone out there knows how to fix this or knows what's going on so I can continue playing the game asap.

So...
I purchased AC4 through Amazon, but I got the version with "Steam DRM". I have played through the entire story and was planing on starting Freedom Cry, which I bought and activated at the same time as when I got AC4, but I got it through steam. I have activated all of my DLC with the cd codes that I got through steam on Uplay that was all activated at the same time. A few weeks later, I finished the main campaign with no issues. Now when I launch the game, Uplay pops up and says "Looking for Updates" for an unusually long time. It then shows AC4 and says "Looking for updates" and then "Logging in" this also takes much longer than it used to. Then, instead of launching the game, it shows an AC4 Product Activation page. This is not right, because I have already activated my copy of AC4 and have already completed the main campaign with no problems. If I enter the cd key that I got with the game, some text pops up saying that "an ubisoft service is unavalible at the moment. Try again later." and does not go away. This doesn't seem right, because I can connect to my Uplay account on the ubisoft web site and I can connect to it through the AC4 companion app. If i do those steps, but just ignore the activation code field and press ok, Uplay crashes. I am now unable to play AC4 Black Flag. I don't recall doing anything that could have caused Uplay to act this way. The only thing I can think of is that the day before this started happening, i realized that I hadn't crafted anything with the hunting goods, so I used my massive wealth to buy and craft full upgrades to my holsters, my darts, and my ammo bags. Whatever caused it, I am now unable to launch AC4 Black Flag.

So
1. Has anyone else having the same issue?
and
2. If so, does anyone know what's going on and how to fix it?

[Mystix]

Yeah, Steam should be DRM enough. But, alas, the AC games (and some other Ubi games) are good, so if I want to play 'em, I just have to grin-&-bear with the extra DRMs, extra account, extra launchers/ clients and extra hassles & frustrations if I want to be able to enjoy some of their games.

[Co0k]

I've only just found this thread and I am affected too it seems but it's only been happening for a week. :(

[Co0k]

funny thing is I can't even get to most of the ubisoft websites either. I have tried the ost file reset and DNS flush and neither of these made any difference. I did initially have a work around of opening uplay first (had to wait a few minutes for it to load and show my games) then launching the game from Steam however it did not work today and I only found this thread after I reinstalled Uplay so I can't even try the ofline trick. Due to the fact I can not get to their web page I can not even log a support call (all other web pages work fine). I can't imagine why BT would block one website but I will try call them tomorrow and see what they say (I would have thought it was more a ubisoft blocking connections from the IP area of the BT infiniity connections for some reason but who knows!).

[Bumbanditbarry]

So for some unknown reason today Uplay now works fine. I phones the support service on Wednesday and they only helped with things already on the forums saying that it is a falut with BT and the affiliated networks.

[Co0k]

My own was not working yesterday but does seem to be working today. I have made a change though I've removed the USB WIFI dongle and instead I'm using a Netgear LAN to WAN bridge and this is working fine but that does not explain why this was only affecting ubisoft only (Probably only a coincidence). But thought I'd post to say so anyway incase it's not.

[GrandNoodleLite]

I can't access the uplay websites either. Oddly, the only site I can access is the support site. The guys in my support ticket have started repeating solutions on how to fix this even though it clearly shows them posting the exact same. I let them know this on the ticket, and I'm planning on calling them soon just to see if they will tell me anything new.

[Bumbanditbarry]

Yer, there is only repeating information on the support and forums, at least if you phone them you can get a specific answer. I have no idea why mine started, it was just totally random

[GrandNoodleLite]

Same. I actually finished the campaign before this started happening to me.

[LeadStarDude]

Well Uplay is connecting again for me finally. :D

[Chicken Butt]

I'm not able to connect to Ubisoft & having similar problems with GTA IV. Wonder if there is a connection

[GrandNoodleLite]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย LeadStarDude:

Well Uplay is connecting again for me finally. :D

I don't think we had the same problem.

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย beanmashingehaw:

I'm not able to connect to Ubisoft & having similar problems with GTA IV. Wonder if there is a connection

I can connect to the Rockstar Social Club just fine. It's just Uplay for me.

[LeadStarDude]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย A Pale Blue Dot:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย LeadStarDude:

Well Uplay is connecting again for me finally. :D

I don't think we had the same problem.

Actually we were. Ubisoft couldn't connect to server. For you it wouldn't let you add this game to you account with the CD key. For me it just wouldn't let me play anygames on my Uplay account. They wouldn't show up at all & it was asking for a CD key again even though it couldn't connect. It was a server issue on Ubisoft's end. Have you tried again yet?

[GrandNoodleLite]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย LeadStarDude:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย A Pale Blue Dot:

I don't think we had the same problem.

Actually we were. Ubisoft couldn't connect to server. For you it wouldn't let you add this game to you account with the CD key. For me it just wouldn't let me play anygames on my Uplay account. They wouldn't show up at all & it was asking for a CD key again even though it couldn't connect. It was a server issue on Ubisoft's end. Have you tried again yet?

Actually, I had already played through the AC4 campaign before this started. From your quote, it sounds like our problems are very similar. The reason that I say they are different, is that I just tried it and it didn't work.

[GrandNoodleLite]

Ok. It looks like I fixed it. I can now play AC4 again.

Here's what I did (keep in mind that while trying to fix it, i completely reinstalled Uplay, though I am not sure if you need to).

I have a Uplay shortcut on my desktop to run Uplay seperately that I set up when installing uplay. I right clicked on that shortcut and selected "Run as Administrator". After that a "User Account Control" popup appeared and I clicked "Yes". Uplay started, took a long time to "Look for updates" and "Log in", but when that was done, i could see my friends again and when I clicked on the "Games" tab it showed AC4. I clicked on that, then "Play", and AC4 launched and seems to work just fine.

Keep in mind that if you bought a Uplay game through steam, you may have to log into steam or have steam open for the game to launch.

For those of you who had this problem, did this work for you? Let me know.

This seems to work for me though, so I'll just jump right in. If your uplay works, feel free to add me on steam or uplay (uplay name is "xboxedd"). AC4 is the only Uplay game I own.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

U need to be careful if u reinstall Uplay, or if it's location changes, as games from Uplay usually will house those particular saved game files for your Uplay games in a specific location, which can change based on where Uplay is installed. For instance if Uplay some how gets install more than once and/or to a different location then where was originally.

For example:

Lets say I have Uplay + AC4 installed to E:\Uplay
I go to reinstall it and it gets installed to C:\Program Files (x86); while AC4 should still be linked, and load up properly from the Uplay that is installed now to C drive, your saved games will not present because they are still located in the Uplay folder on the E drive.

Where ever u have Uplay installed; that is usually where the save game files for your Uplay game titles will be located.

Here by default for AC4:
..\..\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\savegames\your unique account id\437
437 is the Uplay App ID for AC4

So if u like having your game client on a different drive, overtime, be sure that your Uplay shortcut points to the right located. I have had instances where Uplay got reinstalled to default location on C drive during a game installation that required it. Yet I already had it and a Uplay game installed to another drive. So when I now would launch Uplay (as it replaced my desktop shortcut, pointing to Uplay installed to C drive) I would load up my games ok, like AC4, FC3, etc... but my saved games were not there within the game. I then realized what happened and just to try and ensure it worked, I copied the savedgames from the Uplay location on E over to C and it worked. Usually for Uplay games, what is stored in "My Documents" is just setting related files for things like Key Bindings, Visual Game Settings, PunkBuster.