Ubisoft’s feudal Japan adventure might have been marred by various promotional disasters, from repeated delays to controversial marketing decisions. Nevertheless, the game’s release was met with widespread commercial success, becoming the second-best-selling game in 2025. But not everyone’s samurai journey has been smooth — especially for fans hoping to play it on certain platforms. A YouTuber is stuck with 123 GB of unplayable Assassin’s Creed Shadows when his Ubisoft+ expired and the PC game refused to be uninstalled.
“I no longer has Ubisoft Connect+, right? I used the one-month trial and it’s over,” said user @khaliltooshort, also known as YouTuber Kaida, in an X post.
“But there’s an update for the game, that I can’t do, because I don’t have it. […] But I can’t uninstall the game because it saying some of the files cannot be deleted, because of the update.”
The post quickly blew up, reaching more than 1,600 Likes and 171 replies. With many users joking that Ubisoft had invented the first-ever uninstall tax.
“What do you mean, bro? Gotta pay that uninstall fee,” joked @TheDezembro. “software development isn’t cheap! 😤😤 chop chop 💰”
“Bro just pay Ubisoft to delete the game. What’s the big deal?” added @Cyka_Delik snarkily.
“It would be a full-time job to keep a log of Ubisoft’s missteps,” replied @TheGamingCynic.
However, Kaida’s problem does not seem to be an isolated case. Over on Reddit, user spunky255 asked a similar question about Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. They had no way to remove the game straight from the PC launcher once their Ubisoft+ subscription expired.
“is there a way to uninstal game i have played through ubisoft+ subscription?” opened spunky255’s thread. “mine just expired and i cant get rid of AC valhalla, just dont have option to uninstall anywhere only to renew sub.”
Many X users replied that Kaida should’ve been able to uninstall Assassin’s Creed Shadows even without Ubisoft+ and Ubisoft Connect. Programs and games on Windows PC usually can be uninstalled straight from the ‘Installed Apps’ or ‘Programs and Features’ menu in the Control Panel. Otherwise, some also recommend just deleting the installation folder.
However, Kaida insists that he has already tried uninstalling it through that method — as shown in the video. But the Ubisoft Connect app keeps popping in and the game refuses to be removed. Simply deleting the installation folder is also not a safe course of action, as any programs come with hidden files, registry entries, and system links. Leftover junk files and registries can easily take up space and slow down your computer’s startup and running processes
An Ubisoft Support representative has weighed in to clarify this issue. In a message to The Nerd Stash, the company explained that an active subscription is not required to uninstall a game from Ubisoft Connect.
“Please note that uninstalling a game from the Ubisoft Connect launcher does not require an active subscription,” they wrote. The message also included suggestions to delete Ubisoft Connect caches or completely uninstall and then reinstall the application. Still, Ubisoft+’s Support Page explicitly said that you’ll lose access to any games tied to the subscription service.
This confusion highlights how clunky DRM-laced PC launchers can still get in the way of simple tasks. It doesn’t help that players have voiced their issues about Ubisoft’s app for many years, even when it’s still called Uplay. For PC players no longer having active Ubisoft+, escaping Assassin’s Creed Shadows might be harder than avoiding battle-hardened Templars.
