Case solved - may help others: AC Odyssey does not open at all after Ubisoft Connect opens and seems to work fine

[merusalem]

Case solved (for a solution see the end of this post): Case solved - may help others: AC Odyssey does not open at all after Ubisoft Connect opens and seems to work fine

Six weeks ago, I played without any problems. Today, when trying to start the game, Ubisoft Connect updated, then nothing. The UI portion of the game never started. No crash, no black screen even.

After uninstalling the game, Steam and Ubisoft Connect, re-installing all three, and rebooting the PC, nothing has changed. While the Windows task manager shows ACOdyssey running as a background task (with 0% CPU and only a dozen MB of RAM), it never appears in the Apps list.

I would appreciate any ideas you have. Thanks!

UPDATE, tips for players who run into the same problem, and a bit of venting about Ubisoft "Support":

The game ran without any problem a day after I posted this question here. Nothing was installed, nothing auto-installed. So, the most likely solution, if you run into this problem, is to do nothing for a day and hope that Ubisoft fixes their server-side problem with the Ubisoft Connect servers. Twice within half a year. I had completely forgotten that this was the second time this happened.

By the way, if you think that you would get support from Ubisoft in such a case, think again. I got the runaround in the last 24 hours by Ubisoft "Support" with brilliant suggestions that amounted essentially to 55 ways of asking if my computer was even switched on. Their support does not even know that they have a serious problem with Ubisoft Connect's connections to their servers - or they do know and get paid to not talk about it.

The highlight was when they just now told me via email that they were absolutely sure that their perfect "support" for sure had helped me solve the problem, which they totally know was caused by me alone, and that they would therefore close the ticket. Why do I giggle about the "highlight"? The feedback button in their email caused an error message on their server. You cannot make this up, you have to experience it live from Ubisoft.

[Dr.Crazy]

I was playing the game just fine yesterday but today the game wont launch for some reason. Steam says that the game is running for a few seconds after if click play and then nothing. Seems like other people are having issues too.

[EF_Neo1st]

Originally posted by Dr.Crazy:

I was playing the game just fine yesterday but today the game wont launch for some reason. Steam says that the game is running for a few seconds after if click play and then nothing. Seems like other people are having issues too.

It start at Ubi launcher . . .

It sync with UBISOFT Connect but dont start the game.
It will only start at Steam after UBI Connect is up and running and it dont sync achievements either most of the times.
If it dont sync, the gamne will not start unless you start right from UBI Connect, what was not the case (and now it seem to dont sync most of the times).

[FG]

Same issue here :(

[Thump]

Try right-clicking the game in your Steam Library, clicking Properties -- > Local Game Files --> Verify integrity of game files. That has helped me when the game decides not to launch after the Ubisoft thing tries to sync and fails.

[merusalem]

Originally posted by Thump:

Try right-clicking the game in your Steam Library, clicking Properties -- > Local Game Files --> Verify integrity of game files. That has helped me when the game decides not to launch after the Ubisoft thing tries to sync and fails.

Thanks for the tip. Yes, I agree, that helped me too, for a lot of games. Unfortunately, in this case the comparison did not find any differences.

[merusalem]

Originally posted by EF_Neo1st:

Originally posted by Dr.Crazy:

I was playing the game just fine yesterday but today the game wont launch for some reason. Steam says that the game is running for a few seconds after if click play and then nothing. Seems like other people are having issues too.

It start at Ubi launcher . . .

It sync with UBISOFT Connect but dont start the game.
It will only start at Steam after UBI Connect is up and running and it dont sync achievements either most of the times.
If it dont sync, the gamne will not start unless you start right from UBI Connect, what was not the case (and now it seem to dont sync most of the times).

Thanks for the tips.
I uninstalled and reinstalled Ubisoft Connect twice. I changed my password. Ubisoft Connect connects just fine to my Ubisoft account, and it shows my game in the Ubisoft Connect overview. Jusr when I choose to play from there, it will run into a (probably) timeout when trying to sync the achievements - which failed every time I tried, maybe ten times yesterday.
Today, the game started without any problems, as if nothing had happened. So, I guess it was another case of Ubisoft Connect having problems to verify ownership on their server. I remember this happened before once, maybe half a year ago.

[merusalem]

Originally posted by FG:

Same issue here :(

My advice would be: Try it again now. Today the game started as if nothing had ever happened. I remember now that I had a similar situation maybe half a year ago, where Ubisoft DisConnect failed to veriffy the ownership of the game for half a day.

It would be nice if you could give feedback here if it works now for you too. That would be an indication of a systematic problem, and the poor players who run into the same problem would know they (likely) just have to wait a day.

[Neko_Usagi]

I actually played it Yesterday without any issues, but right now, the Ubi Launcher says achievements cannot be synchronized. It sucks when a shoddy 3rd party application and an Ubisoft server decide whether you can play a game today or some other day. It's almost like I cannot own the game I've paid for and have a lease on a live gaming service instead.

[EF_Neo1st]

Originally posted by art.vandelay:

I actually played it Yesterday without any issues, but right now, the Ubi Launcher says achievements cannot be synchronized. It sucks when a shoddy 3rd party application and an Ubisoft server decide whether you can play a game today or some other day. It's almost like I cannot own the game I've paid for and have a lease on a live gaming service instead.

That is exactly what you have, a lease.
Seem like whenever they decide to shut down server communication you will have to rely o cracked versions that run offline to be able to run the game you paid for.

[merusalem]

Originally posted by EF_Neo1st:

Originally posted by art.vandelay:

I actually played it Yesterday without any issues, but right now, the Ubi Launcher says achievements cannot be synchronized. It sucks when a shoddy 3rd party application and an Ubisoft server decide whether you can play a game today or some other day. It's almost like I cannot own the game I've paid for and have a lease on a live gaming service instead.

That is exactly what you have, a lease.
Seem like whenever they decide to shut down server communication you will have to rely o cracked versions that run offline to be able to run the game you paid for.

Yup, same with Steam or any other software provider. We do noit own the software, and as soon as they no longer make money with the servers, they shut them down, no matter what they promised, as practically nobody sets aside money for future server maintenance cost. Enjoy software while it lasts.

[EF_Neo1st]

Originally posted by merusalem:

Originally posted by EF_Neo1st:

That is exactly what you have, a lease.
Seem like whenever they decide to shut down server communication you will have to rely o cracked versions that run offline to be able to run the game you paid for.

Yup, same with Steam or any other software provider. We do noit own the software, and as soon as they no longer make money with the servers, they shut them down, no matter what they promised, as practically nobody sets aside money for future server maintenance cost. Enjoy software while it lasts.

Yes, but AC Odyssey is a single player game, "online feature" should not refrain you from playing your single player game in any way, shape or form but that is what happen, if Ubi Connect dont connect and dont sync, it wont open the game and you cant even play it.

[merusalem]

Originally posted by EF_Neo1st:

Originally posted by merusalem:

Yup, same with Steam or any other software provider. We do noit own the software, and as soon as they no longer make money with the servers, they shut them down, no matter what they promised, as practically nobody sets aside money for future server maintenance cost. Enjoy software while it lasts.

Yes, but AC Odyssey is a single player game, "online feature" should not refrain you from playing your single player game in any way, shape or form but that is what happen, if Ubi Connect dont connect and dont sync, it wont open the game and you cant even play it.

I agree. I did not say that I like the situation we are in, I just described how it is.

By the way, if the Right to Repair movement does not gain more steam, we will have a similar situation with hardware in ten or twenty years.

Corporations like Apple already try to prevent independent repair shops from continuing their work, as Apple would like to force you to stop using your old hardware and force you to buy a new one. If Apple and other players are successful, PC component manufacturers will copy them, and your new graphics card will only work with certain motherboards and will stop working after three years.

The Cyberpunk franchise presents a future where you have to use cyberware to be competitive (not too far-fetched, think heart pacemakers, insulin pumps, or a Google Glass that actually works), and corporations will stop supporting these parts of your body willy-nilly, whenever they like to make more money.

The next few years will decide if we have to live in a future where corporations will decide about our life, or if we can prevent this, at least for the moment.

For seeing the effects of such a development, a dystopian future where the world is dying with a whimper, I suggest playing Cyberpunk 2077, if you are not familiar with the pen & paper RPG. Even if the game has bugs like there is no tomorrow and huge portions of the game have been cut. It shows how much the world of our grandchildren could s.u.ck., if we accept developments like single-player games that enforce always-on, or software and ebooks where the license you paid for can be revoked if a corporation feels like it.

This is why I think that what you said is 100% correct. A single-player game should not block you from playing it, just because someone at a corporation fu.c.k.e.d. up.

[Coopy]

press ALT+Enter to force the game to switch to fullscreen mode. FULLSCREEN ONLY INSTEAD OFF BORDERLESS FULLSCREEN HELPS

[Ubi-Litten]

Hi all, thanks for getting in contact and providing this feedback. I am glad to hear the initial query was resolved and will certainly forward your feedback regarding our Ubisoft Connect application and the issues you have experience with it's connectivity. In the meantime, if anyone has any further feedback or queries we could potentially answer, please feel free to let us know.

- Ubisoft Support