Ubisoft announced that the previously announced offline mode functionality for The Crew 2 is now available. However, this new Hybrid Mode as the game calls it has an odd catch.
The Crew 2 can now be played offline, with the ability to transfer the your current online save to be played offline.
However, you can’t do so the other way around, and saves between Offline Mode and Online Mode are seperate. If you buy a car offline, you can’t go back online with that car in your inventory. If you complete a bunch of races as part of progression offline, that won’t be carried over when flip back to Online Mode.
You can also export a new version of the save offline, but doing so will overwrite the offline save, wiping any existing offline progression.
In short, you can only fork your current Online Mode and export to Offline Mode. It’s a one-way export that creates two completely separate saves.
Essentially, this should stop any funny business of players using offline cheats and then bringing them back online. A compromise The Crew 2 must has to make while the game is still online.
Offline Mode in The Crew 2 will not have this specific features, all requiring online connection:
- Crew Credits purchases (vehicle bundles, vanity items) and the Far & Beyond shop in all 4 Hubs.
- LIVE Summits.
- All multiplayer content, including PvP, Crews, crew features, news feed, leaderboards, ghosts, and statistics menus. Only your own best times will be recorded per race.
- UGC features, including the Race Creator and Livery Editor. Custom liveries will not transfer to offline saves.
- Some Hobbies and Achievements (Xbox, PlayStation, PC, and Ubisoft Connect) that require online-only actions.
While the one-way nature of save files going from Online Mode to Offline Mode of The Crew 2’s Hybrid Mode is a peculiar compromise, the big takeaway here is that The Crew 2 is now be able to played entirely offline.
When the servers are inevitably pulled like the original The Crew, it won’t result in the game, a paid product, completely unplayable. “Hybrid Mode ensures The Crew 2 remains accessible for years to come,” the announcement post of Hybrid Mode reads.
The announcement was made as a kickoff in the livestream that reveal what’s coming in Year 3 of The Crew Motorfest. The latest iteration of The Crew continues to get new content, as per any Ubisoft game with live service elements.