Strategy Informer  

There's trouble for UK PC gamers looking to expand their Steam library with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed 3 this week as the publisher confirms it's absent "for the time being", despite being available in Europe.

Also noticeably tardy is Far Cry 3 which is due imminently for PC as well. Ubisoft's response to UK fans is this: buy it from Uplay, "our retail partners or other digital distributors."

The finger of blame among the UK gamer community is pointing at retailers like GAME for 'strong arming' Ubisoft into keeping big PC titles off Steam for a while.

"We’ve been in discussions with Valve about Assassin’s Creed 3 and Far Cry 3, but for the time being the games are not available via Steam in the UK,” Ubisoft told PCGamesN.

"In the meantime, UK customers wishing to purchase either of these games can do so by visiting the Uplay store, our retail partners or other digital distributors. Assassin’s Creed 3 and Far Cry 3 are available on Steam in other regions outside the UK.” Assassin’s Creed 3 was listed on Steam in the UK region for a while but disappeared weeks ago.

Some clever fans have used Amazon's US website to purchase digital copies of Assassin’s Creed 3 because they contain Steamworks, meaning you can just activate the key, download, install and play. This has been tested and works perfectly for any UK Steam account. Standard and Deluxe editions are available - just give yourself a US billing address.

Partners are free to employ the use of Steamworks but not have the title sold through Steam, revealed Valve's director of business development Jason Holtman back in July. There's obviously no issue with the Steam's digital version of Assassin’s Creed 3 as it has been available since Tuesday in the US and yesterday in Europe; it's all retail related.

Source: PCGamesN

Related games: Assassin's Creed 3 (PC), Assassin's Creed 3 (Xbox360), Assassin's Creed 3 (PS3), Far Cry 3 (PC), Far Cry 3 (Xbox360), Far Cry 3 (PS3)