Ubisoft has officially flipped the switch on The Crew 2 Hybrid Mode, bringing a long-asked-for offline option to the game as of today, October 16.
First teased during The Crew Showcase 2024 and reaffirmed by studio leads earlier this year, the Hybrid Mode lets players alternate between the original always-online experience and a fully offline mode. In offline mode, key multiplayer-dependent systems — like co-op, global leaderboards, Crews, livery sharing, and live events — will be unavailable.
According to Ubisoft, saves are separated between online and offline: progress made offline doesn’t carry over into the live servers (via GameSpot). But players can export their online saves (including owned vehicles, season pass content, and rewards, if claimed) to bootstrap an offline save. Some content tied closely to online features — such as Race Creator, UGC, and certain achievements — won’t transfer.
Why does this matter? Over the past year, fan frustration has mounted, especially after the shutdown of aging game servers in Ubisoft’s portfolio. In one notable case, The Crew (the original game) was delisted without an offline fallback, sparking community backlash and even legal action — #StopKillingGames. Hybrid Mode is Ubisoft’s supposed promise to preserve The Crew 2‘s accessibility for years, even when online support eventually winds down.
The timing also coincides with updates to The Crew Motorfest’s roadmap: Year 3 kicks off November 5 with Season 8, deeper vehicle customization, new playlists, and cross-brand content partnerships. While Motorfest hasn’t received Hybrid Mode yet, Ubisoft has confirmed it’s in development.
This is a massive win for anyone passionate about video game preservation. What’s even more surprising is that Ubisoft — the same publisher long blamed for these kinds of problems — is the one fixing them. Hopefully, it inspires other studios that create online-only games to provide single-player-friendly offramps for their games as well. That might sound like wishful thinking, but again, Ubisoft just preserved a game. Anything is possible!
