The Ubisoft Connect client on personal computers also serves as a storefront and digital download management tool.

In October 2013, Ubisoft announced that it would discontinue its use of online passes on future games, and made the Uplay Passport for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag available at no charge effective immediately.

[11] In July 2023, it was reported that Ubisoft had started to permanently delete accounts it deemed "inactive", including purchased games.

[15] The scheme quickly came under fire after a denial-of-service attack on Ubisoft's DRM servers in early March 2010 rendered Silent Hunter 5 and Assassin's Creed II unplayable for several days.

[21] John Walker, writing for Rock, Paper, Shotgun, called it a "technical mess" and saying that "it desperately needs to just go away" in the wake of a server collapse around the release of Far Cry 3 that temporarily made the game unplayable.

[22] Ars Technica's Kyle Orland says that "Uplay has not exactly endeared itself to the PC gaming community", describing a history of technical errors and problems related to its DRM.

[24] Patrick Klepek, writing for Giant Bomb, criticized the same point, saying that Ubisoft's desire to run its own distribution service offered no real benefit to consumers, and describing the tactics they used to try to get people to use it as irritating and unappealing.

[25] Writing a comparison for GadgetReview in which he compared the three major distribution platforms—Uplay, Valve's Steam and Electronic Arts' Origin—Shawn Sanders criticized it for using large amounts of memory while offering fewer features than its competitors.

"[27] Joshua Wolens of PC Gamer said that "Have you ever launched a game from Steam, only to watch Origin or UPlay spark to life, and thought "Ah, yes, how pleased I am to see you"?