Ubisoft Forward: Crashes as fans claim Watch Dogs 2

The company enticed viewers with the promise of a free game, but gamers discovered claiming their reward wasn’t going to be easy.

The publisher behind some of the most well-known video game franchises has promised to give away rewards to fans who tuned in to a livestreamed announcement of upcoming games even though server issues stopped them logging in to claim their rewards.

Ubisoft planned to give away copies of the game Watch Dogs 2 to viewers who tuned into its Ubisoft Forward event, as well as in-game rewards for other games The Division and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Valhalla .

But for over two hours, those looking to scoop up the free game and other rewards were unable to login to claim them.

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Viewers who tuned in to the livestream were supposed to get a free copy of Watch Dogs 2.

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“We’re aware of an issue causing some players to be unable to log in to their Ubisoft account and are working towards resolving this,” Ubisoft Support tweeted shortly before the event began.

Around 45 minutes later, as the problem remained, Ubisoft tweeted again to assure fans they’ll still get the things they were promised.

“We’ll be giving out the rewards to all of you, even if you were unable to log in successfully. Sit back and enjoy the show,” the Ubisoft account said.

Close to two hours after the event was scheduled to start, Ubisoft announced the problem should be fixed.

“We are sorry that we were unable to fulfil our rewards drops in real-time during the show but we will be rewarding everyone with a Ubisoft account with the goods we planned to distribute during Forward as soon as we can,” a support staffer wrote on the Ubisoft forums.

More details about the upcoming Assassin's Creed: Valhalla were also given.

Ubisoft had intended to use the rewards as an enticement for gamers to tune into its event where it showed off further details about upcoming games, including Watch Dogs: Legion and Far Cry 6.

But Ubisoft didn’t plan to talk about the controversy surrounding several big names within the company now heading for the door.

A few hours before the event Ubisoft announced, again via Twitter, that “because all the content has been prerecorded, we wanted to recognise that the issues we’re currently dealing with won’t be addressed directly in the show”.

Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito will star in Far Cry 6.

Those issues include the news that its chief creative officer Serge Hascoët, the managing director of its Canadian studios Yannis Mallat, and its global head of HR Cécile Cornet would all be leaving the company amid allegations of a toxic work environment and sexual misconduct.

An internal investigation found that “Ubisoft has fallen short in its obligation to guarantee a safe and inclusive workplace environment for its employees,” according to the company’s CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot.

Mr Hascoët “has chosen to resign” according to a Ubisoft statement and Ms Cornet “decided to step down … in the best interest of the Company’s unity”.

Mr Mallat “will be stepping down from his role and will leave the Company, effective immediately.

“The recent allegations that have come to light in Canada against multiple employees make it impossible for him to continue in this position,” Ubisoft said.