SH5 is based on SH4 which is based on SH3.
That alone is enuff to stop any release of code or any SDK.
Not to mention the fact that we have mostly created a better SDK then what they could hand over.
Core code for each version is now under the scopes of advanced Modders.
I believe that SH5 finally pushed us to hard and we now are willing to cross lines we held sacred before.

I wouldnt say cross lines , i would say modders are refining the game left to us with the tools provided so we can finish the job . They gave us great tools so why shouldnt modders add to the tools and go for it . That was there intention and its a niche product and if it gives modders enjoyment and the end user and might help sales .

TBH, both the Silent Hunter community and Ubisoft shot themselves in the foot with SH5.

Ubisoft probably couldn't make any acceptable profit because of the poor reviews and boycott, thus probably ceased development of this "unprofitable" franchise.

The worst thing is, probably submarine simulation genre will probably go down with this as well. Just like what happened to tank sims. If Silent Hunter developers won't continue, soon this genre will become "the niche of the niche" and die a good death.

Then nobody will care which copy protection this game had, because it won't matter.

Can't Blame SubSimmers for SH5 Failure
 

Erdem - I don't agree that the community shot ourselves in the foot on SH5. UBI simply made some terrible business judgements both before and after release. A stunned simmer community was simply trying to understand how and why such an experienced company could stray so far from the fundamentals of good customer service. It's not that we wanted perfection right out of the gate. But we did have a right to expect the fundamentals of the game to basically be in place and to work.

I remember looking at the comments on Amazon.com just a few days after release. The user reviews were more than horrid; they were rabid. So many people felt "taken" and disappointed, almost on a personal level, by this company. I think that more than anything else the community felt we had been the target of a "bait and switch." This fueled a level of anger in a game that I simply have never seen before or after. (bait me with a well respected franchise, then switch it with a hollow unfinished game and then follow up with just minimal support.)

I am personally very thankful for the work of the many fine modders that have given their time to help the community improve this sim. I wish we could pin a medal on every one of them. With the right mod combination, the game beats SH3 and 4 hands down.

But I just feel so sorry for the grandpa who purchases a game for his son or grandson, only to have it be a wrecked mess. Not everyone out there has the ability to benefit from the wonderful work of the modders. Those people have truly been taken advantage of. As have we.