I booted Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced at 2 a.m. and for an hour the island chains and cannon fire felt like home. Then I scrolled the Steam reviews and the mood shifted—cheers split with anger. You could almost hear the same people who praised the visuals asking why so much of the game now lives behind price tags.
At a crowded Steam thread, praise and anger landed fast
I watched a dozen posts scroll past: screenshots, applause, then someone pointing at the DLC list. The game checks a lot of boxes—Metacritic sits at 84, Moyens I/O gave it a 9, and concurrent players on Steam topped roughly 100,000 within days. That commercial and critical momentum reads like a win on paper, but your feed tells a different story: many players have labeled the Steam page Mostly Negative.
The tension comes down to perception. You can enjoy Edward Kenway’s return and still bristle when major cosmetic and gameplay shortcuts arrive as paid content on day one. The delight of the remaster feels, to some, like a sugar-coated coin—pretty to hold but with an edge you can cut your fingers on.
Why are players angry about Black Flag Resynced’s day-one DLC?
Because nine paid DLC packs launched alongside the base game, and they include not just aesthetics but some in-game shortcuts. The packs range from $5 (€5) to $10 (€9) each, adding up to roughly $85 (€80) if you buy them all. Many players expected a Deluxe Edition—priced at $70 (€66)—to include that content. It didn’t, and that mismatch between price and expectation is what ignited review threads and social posts.
At the storefront, the numbers tell a mixed story
I checked the Steam store several times and the indicators conflicted: high player counts and strong press scores versus an angry review graph. Sales-wise, the title is clearly moving units. Press outlets like Moyens I/O and aggregated scores on Metacritic lean favorable. But consumers voting with reviews—especially on Steam—can turn a commercial win into a PR headache overnight.
This is the modern product paradox: you can have critical acclaim and still be pilloried for how monetization is handled. Platforms such as Steam and social channels amplify that dissonance faster than ever, and publishers are learning the cost of that amplification in real time.
Is the DLC worth the price?
That’s subjective. If you want every cosmetic, every skin, and the convenience of shortcuts, the bundles will appeal to you. If you value a full-feel release where premium editions include the expected extras, seeing essential-feeling content sold separately on day one will register as stingy. Either way, the $85 (€80) total and the $70 (€66) Deluxe gap are the flashpoints.
At the studio, the layoffs changed the mood
I read LinkedIn threads and studio statements: developers who contributed to the remake at Ubisoft Barcelona and Ubisoft Belgrade were let go last month. That single observation reframes the launch. You’re enjoying a polished game while some of the people who made it are suddenly out of work.
From an optics standpoint, a profitable launch plus immediate DLC pushes, paired with layoffs, looks bad. It’s not just about money—it’s morale and reputation. The situation feels like a leaking ship where surface polish hides structural problems, and players notice when those two realities collide.
Are the layoffs connected to the game’s launch and DLC strategy?
Officially, publishers rarely tie specific layoffs to a single title’s performance in public statements. But industry observers point to timing and internal restructures—Yves Guillemot and other executives at Ubisoft have overseen waves of consolidation in recent years—as context. Whether causation is direct or not, the optics are stark: the product is selling well, but staffing decisions still cut roles across collaborating studios.
I’m not here to tell you whether to buy every cosmetic pack or castigate a studio, but I am saying this: when a remake can be both a critical win and a cause for outrage, you’re witnessing how modern game launches are judged by more than screenshots. Where do you stand when the art you love comes with a price tag and a story you didn’t expect?