It’s Tuesday, but it feels like Monday thanks to Labor Day giving many of us the day off. But that weird feeling and a short week won’t stop the Morning Checkpoint. Today, we learn more about Ubisoft’s potential plans for Rayman, catch up on PAX West 2025 news, and see how a group of modders is reviving The Crew after Ubisoft killed its servers last year. Also, another game gets delayed to avoid Silksong. And good news: The next Benoit Blanc murder mystery movie hits theaters this Thanksgiving.
The Crew Unlimited brings the racing game back online
In April 2024, Ubisoft shut down the servers powering its 10-year-old open-world racing game The Crew. This made it unplayable, and that didn’t go over well with fans. In fact, the shutdown led to legal battles and a whole “Stop Killing Games” movement. Now, as reported by RPS, the game that started all of it has been revived, but not by Ubisoft.
Instead, The Crew Unlimited, a free mod for the PC version of the racing game, is being built and supported by a group of modders. The mod, which has been in development for about a year now, is set to arrive on September 15. The core of the mod is a server emulator that will let players essentially trick the game into thinking the official Ubisoft servers are still operating like it’s 2014. You can even, with some work, run the server emulator on your own PC, effectively giving players the offline mode they’ve begged Ubisoft for over the last decade. (And something which Ubisoft is adding to The Crew 2 and its sequel.)
While the mod looks like it won’t be the easiest thing to set up, videos of it in action look great, with the devs even making some minor fixes and tweaks to The Crew based on fan feedback. If publishers won’t help preserve video games, fans will do it. It’s been like this for decades, and I doubt anything will change soon.
Another game has been delayed because of Silksong
Silksong’s surprise September 4 launch and $20 price tag have caused many other indie games to panic and flee the days around the game’s release date. And we can add another game to the list: Star Birds. This is the next game from the Dofromantik developers and it’s a colorful strategy management game based on a popular educational YouTube channel. Star Birds was set to arrive on September 4, but will now launch six days later on September 10.
Ubisoft reportedly wants to make a Rayman 4
👊 🎉Rayman turns 30! Join us on our official channels to celebrate an incredible legacy 🎂🥳
Let’s kick it off with a special message from Ubisoft Montpellier that was broadcast as part of the fan event Rayman Alive, just minutes ago. pic.twitter.com/BQ6qavIrVr
— Rayman (@RaymanGame) September 1, 2025
A new report from Insider Gaming claims that the previously reported Rayman remake is progressing nicely, and the plan is to launch the game in 2026. In a new video from Ubisoft celebrating the 30th anniversary of the platforming series, Ubisoft confirmed that it was working on a new Rayman game but warned that more news wouldn’t come anytime soon. Insider Gaming reports that the remake is the new game and that if it sells well enough, Ubisoft will develop a Rayman 4. Reportedly, there are already “preliminary plans” in place for that sequel.
Capcom president blames PS5’s high price for soft numbers
As spotted by GamesIndustry.biz, in a recent interview, Capcom president Haruhiro Tsujimoto partially blamed the “soft” sales of Monster Hunter Wilds on the high cost of the PlayStation 5. While MonHun Wilds sold incredibly well out of the gate, becoming the fastest-selling Capcom game in the company’s history, the publisher’s most recent financial results called the game’s sales in Q1 2025 “soft.” According to Tsujimoto, you can blame that on the high price of a PS5 in most parts of the world.
“The console costs about ¥80,000 ($538). When you factor in the cost of software and monthly subscriptions, it comes to about ¥100,000 ($672) at the time of purchase. This is not an amount that can be easily reached, especially for younger generations. This situation is not limited to Japan, but is similar overseas as well,” said Tsujimoto.