While I wait for our friends at Ubisoft to respond to a help ticket i put in, I tried a little experiment. I installed SH5 from to a different computer that has never had sh5 on it. Before attempting to launch the game, I disconnected that computer from the internet.
The game will not start without Ubisoft Connect installed on the computer. The very first time ubisoft connect is opened after install, it must be online. From that time, it can be opened when offline.
After completing ubisoft connect install, i opened it while online. Then closed it. From there i installed SH5. After that, I disconnected from the internet. Next, I opened ubisoft connect in offline mode. Finally, I launched SH5. It launched.
Perhaps the game just needs to see that it has been linked to an ubi account? I would hope that if they're going to "decommission" their game, they would do away with the whole ubi connect requirement altogether. Who knows how long it'll be until somebody decides they need a New and Improved! launcher that possibly renders this game totally unusable.
I will update if I get a response from Ubi.
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