Why I Love Uplay

It’s no secret that achievements and trophies are a major part of this generation but the problem that I’ve always had with them is that they don’t really earn you anything, except maybe bragging rights in forums and some unwanted friend requests. Uplay changes this; it offers purchasable rewards for players with enough Uplay points. The points can be earned just like any achievement or trophy by completing a certain in-game task, and this adds to your point total. These points can then be redeemed for prizes ranging from an in-game unlockable or a theme for your console. The free service is available in most Ubisoft games that were released after Assassin’s Creed 2, which was the first game with the feature.

The Uplay service is split up into 5 different sections: Help, Win, Profile, Share and Shop. The Help section gies you tips on how to complete certain Uplay actions to earn points and can be very useful if you’re having trouble with something. ‘Win’ is the main section in Uplay and has 3 separate parts where you can view the actions you have completed, spend your Uplay points on unlockables and see when and where you spent your points. The ‘Actions’ menu shows you the things you must complete in-game to earn Uplay points and the ‘Rewards’ menu allows you to spend you points on unlockables such as themes, in-game extras and exclusive rewards. The profile section allows you to view and edit your profile, which shows your Online ID, Uplay Points balance and your avatar, which can be changed, although there is a very small selection. ‘Share’ lets you view the Uplay profile of your friends as well as viewing worldwide leaderboards and seeing statistics. The final section, Shop, is yet to be launched but I’m guessing it will offer discounts on full Ubisoft games.

So why do I love it? Well, what’s not to love? You play the game like normal and unlock points, which can then be spent of extra stuff for you. More game publishers should be looking to launch similar services as it really gives something back to the gamer. At E3, EA announced their ‘Gun Club’ service which, as far as I can tell, works in a similar way to Uplay but only offers rewards for shooter fans. Hopefully they will launch other services to cover all of the other genres as well. Now, excuse me whilst I go and grind for more Uplay points.