Ubisoft is bringing chat back to the in-game overlay function in its PC desktop app, Ubisoft Connect. Ubisoft Connect replaced the old Uplay app when open-world game Watch Dogs Legion launched last year, and since then, the company has been working on bringing the in-game chat function in line with the rest of the refreshed experience.
A patch set to deploy Monday, May 31 will update the Ubisoft Connect chat feature, which will include some notable changes from the legacy version of chat. First, all currently active one-on-one chats, and their chat histories, will be erased. Ubisoft recommends assigning nicknames to anyone on your friends list who likes changing their Ubisoft Connect nickname frequently.
With the new chat service, group chats will be capped at 24 members, and any chat groups that currently contain more members than that will be removed when the patch goes live. Your group will stick around if it has fewer than 24 members and has been active at all in the past 30 days.
Ubisoft also provided some information about how chat logging will be handled going forward. With the deployment of the new chat service, chat histories will be decrypted only in the event of a complaint that requires detailed chat history to “aid us in investigations.” However, these logs will only be stored for three months.
We're happy to announce that a new chat service will be available in the desktop app and PC overlay in the coming weeks. The first part of the deployment will take place on Monday 31st May. Read on to learn more >>> https://t.co/R9cBBMhTrK pic.twitter.com/7IDDfrjfbh
— Ubisoft Connect (@UbisoftConnect) May 28, 2021
The new chat service will “enable us to quickly implement new quality of life features, additional anti-toxicity measures, and make it easier to implement on additional platforms beyond PC in the future,” Ubisoft says in the announcement.
Overlay chat won’t be available initially, but Ubisoft says it will roll that feature out in the coming weeks. “We’ll share a rollout plan for the deployment and key dates for it soon, so stay tuned to learn more,” Ubisoft says.