How to play AC Brotherhood on Steam without Ubisoft Connect (single-player only)

You don't need Ubisoft Connect, a Ubisoft account, or an internet connection to play Assassin's Creed Brotherhood on Steam.

Background (AC Brotherhood's hidden offline mode)

The current Steam version of AC Brotherhood has an offline mode that allows you to play the game without requiring you to login to Ubisoft or even have an active internet connection. Normally this offline mode is removed as soon as you launch it for the first time, because the Ubisoft Game Launcher will contact Ubisoft's server and automatically update itself to Ubisoft Connect.

But if you use Windows Firewall to block the launcher from using the internet, you can stop that update from happening and play the game completely offline. This only needs to be done once.

Important Note

Ubisoft Connect cannot be installed on your computer for this to work. If you play any other game[www.pcgamingwiki.com] that requires Ubisoft Connect after applying this fix, you will need to repeat steps 1 and 2 below before you can go back to playing AC Brotherhood in offline mode. It only takes a minute to do that, but just keep it in mind.

In other words: This guide probably won't be useful to you if you're going to be playing AC Brotherhood and other Ubisoft games simultaneously, like Rainbow Six Siege for example.

Also, for obvious reasons, you shouldn't bother with this guide if you intend to play the multiplayer portion of AC Brotherhood. Ubisoft Connect is required for multiplayer.

The Fix

As of December 2021, I've verified that this works in both Windows 7 and Windows 10, although the pictures and descriptions may be slightly off for a couple of steps depending on which OS you are using. If you're having difficulty following the guide, please leave a comment and I will try to help you out.

Step 1: Uninstall all Ubisoft game clients

1) - Windows 7: Open the Windows Control Panel and select Uninstall a program.
- Windows 10: Open the Start Menu, click Settings, then click Apps in the new window.

2) Uninstall Ubisoft Connect, Uplay, and Ubisoft Game Launcher.

(You will probably only have one of these installed. If you have more than one, uninstall Ubisoft Connect first, then Uplay, and finally Ubisoft Game Launcher.)

Step 2: Replace Ubisoft Connect with Ubisoft Game Launcher

1) Download AC Brotherhood on Steam, but do not launch it yet.

(If you launched it already and installed Ubisoft Connect, repeat Step 1 then continue from here.)

2) Download UbisoftConnectInstaller.zip from here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZZOIO5hmk7gyRwHn79HLJaq7UqUPVQaz/view?usp=sharing

3) Open the .zip file and extract UbisoftConnectInstaller.exe to the folder where AC Brotherhood is installed on your computer. The correct folder should already have a different UbisoftConnectInstaller.exe file inside of it. Confirm overwrite when asked.

(The default location is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Assassins Creed Brotherhood\)

If you've completed this guide previously and Ubisoft Game Launcher is still blocked by Windows Firewall, you can stop here and play the game. If you're not sure, repeating the process won't hurt anything.

Step 3: Install the Ubisoft Game Launcher

1) From the location where your Steam games are installed, go to the following folder:

Assassins Creed Brotherhood\Support\GameLauncher\

Then run UbisoftGameLauncherInstaller.exe to install the Ubisoft Game Launcher. Once it's finished installing, move on to the next step.

Step 4: Use Windows Firewall to block Ubisoft Game Launcher from using the internet

1) From the Windows desktop, type firewall in the Start Menu's search box. One of the results should be Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security - select that to open it.






2) In the Firewall window, look in the far-left panel and click Outbound Rules so that it is highlighted.








3) Now in the far-right panel under the Actions header, click New Rule... to open the New Outbound Rule Wizard, and use the following options for each step:






- For Rule Type select Program and click Next.









- For Program select Browse... then navigate to the location where you installed the Ubisoft Game Launcher and double-click UbisoftGameLauncher.exe to select it for your new firewall rule. Then click Next.

(The default location is C:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\)


- For Action select Block the connection and click Next.








- For Profile make sure Domain, Private, and Public are all checked, then click Next.








- Type "Ubisoft Game Launcher" in the Name field and click Finish. The new outbound rule will appear at the top of the list.







4) Close the Firewall program.

Step 5: Play the game

That's all. Now you can play AC Brotherhood without having to bother with Ubisoft or Ubisoft Connect.

When you launch it from Steam, a window that says "Checking for updates" will appear for a moment, followed by a login window. In the bottom-right corner of the window is a button that says OFFLINE MODE - click that and the game will start.

One More Important Note

The firewall block is permanent, so you don't need to repeat this process if you uninstall AC Brotherhood and then re-install it at a later time. Just download the game on Steam and play.

However, if you need to disable the block, here is how you do that:

1) Open the Windows Firewall program again (search for "firewall" and click Windows Defender with Advanced Security)

2) In the far left panel of the Firewall window, click on Outbound Rules, then scroll down until you find the entry for Ubisoft Game Launcher (the list is sorted alphabetically, so it should be near the bottom).

3) Right-click that entry, and then select Disable Rule. To re-enable it, right-click and select Enable Rule.

This is important to remember, because most other Ubisoft games that were released post-2009 require a Ubisoft account and an internet connection to play (no offline mode possible).

For that reason, I recommend disabling the firewall block once you are finished playing AC Brotherhood, to avoid problems when trying to play other Ubisoft games.

Have Fun

I hope this guide is useful to you and allows you to enjoy AC Brotherhood without the usual Ubisoft headaches. If you have any questions, post a comment and I will try to help.

[Sawassine]

@ThreeSon Hello folks, I can confirm that downloading the old depot with manifest id 5151009448406620764 works.

1. Reinstalled the game and deleted all the files in the games' installation folder.
2. Uninstalled all the Ubisoft applications.
3. Kept the firewall rule. *
4. Downloaded the old depot using DepotDownloader [github.com]. Used command:
DepotDownloader.exe -app 48190 -depot 48191 -manifest 5151009448406620764 -manifestonly -username <your username> -password <your password>
Note: Using the Steam console with download_depot might work too but I have not tested it.
5. Copied over the game files from the depot into the games' installation folder.
6. Launched the game.

* The game starts directly, not the launcher nor Ubisoft Connect. So I am uncertain if this version of the game requires the firewall rule, or any bypass for that matter.

Thanks again to @ThreeSon and the others testing/confirming this method!

[ZED Saint]

@ThreeSon hey, good news. Assassin's creed III worked too. I think it will be the same way for Splinter Cell Conviction.

All you need to do guys:
1) Download the ubisoftaluncher in this guide
2) Download the game you want from Steam
3) Download torrent,repack,crack game from trust pirate sites
4) Install Ubisoft launcher and block it like in the guide
5) Delete all local files from license steam version, but not parent folder
6) Install crack to your PC, then installed files set from this folder to empty license folder
p.s. after that if you want you can delete crack game
7) Take UbisoftConnectInstaller.exe from guide (install file) and copy it to the license folder too

That's it after that you can play. I tested it on my AC brotherhood and AC III(i had standart edition, but set here the gold edition with all dlcs that i didn't buy) and it's worked.

Good Luck and thanks again @ThreeSon

[ThreeSon]

@ZED Saint

I'm getting the same error as you, even though it was working in August. I fear that Ubisoft may have blocked access to that download.

Try this one instead:
download_depot 48190 48191 5151009448406620764

It is the next version of the game, from 2017. It may still work. Just follow the rest of the steps from my comments and let me know if it is successful.

[ZED Saint]

P.S. my story why am i using this method. The reason is i permanently deleted steam, ubi, ea all my game stuffs and my gmail in 2018. Stupid desicion i know, but in 2024 i magically found out that i can restored my account, but lost my gmail. So ubisoft can't restore my account without message to my deleted gmail. So i have dead games assassin's creed brotherhood, assassin's creed III and Splinter cell conviction. But this method just helped me to realize that i can do this, so thank you very much THREESON. I'll check Assassin's creed III too and let you know work it or not :)

[ZED Saint]

Hey I found a solution and it worked. I just blocked ubisoft game launcher like you said, and then just downloaded cracked version of game, so steam can't see the files originals(don't use check files) or cracked and your block help to doesn't update ubisoft and play offline mode like you said on your guide. You can download any crack you want, because i'm from CIS region for me easy to use some russian trackers :) Good Luck

[ZED Saint]

] download_depot 48190 48191 5750644510894331501
Depot download failed : error downloading manifest 5750644510894331501 from cache1-vie1.steamcontent.com (Access Denied)

[ThreeSon]

@WakelessCafe

Thanks very much for reporting back, and I'm glad to hear it's working on Windows 11.

[WakelessCafe]

@ThreeSon It works! Thank you so much for taking the time to find another way to fix this issue. And it works on windows 11 too

[ThreeSon]

Whoops I listed two Step 7s, but hopefully it's not difficult to follow, just start from 1) about 5 comments back and work your way up from there.

If anyone tries these steps from the comments, please verify whether it worked or not, especially if you are using Windows 11.

[ThreeSon]

7) Go to that address in your hard drive, inside the depot_48191 folder, and you should see all the AC Brotherhood files and folders. Move everything from within the depot_48191 folder into the empty AC Brotherhood folder, and now the "downgrade" process is completed.

8) Now you can launch the game from Steam and assuming the Ubisoft Game Launcher firewall block is in place, the launcher window should appear with the "Offline Mode" option in the lower-right corner.