Why The Crew Deserves to Be on GOG and Why It’s the Best in the Series
The Crew (2014) is not only the foundation of Ubisoft's open-world racing franchise—it’s also the most ambitious and unique entry in the series, making it a prime candidate for preservation on GOG. What set The Crew apart from the start was its massive recreation of the United States, allowing players to drive coast-to-coast through a condensed but impressively detailed map featuring iconic cities, rural towns, mountains, forests, and deserts. Few racing games have ever dared to offer that kind of scale.
What makes The Crew the best in the series isn’t just the size of the world—it’s the sheer variety of experiences it delivers. From off-road adventures to highway chases and urban street racing, the game encourages exploration and rewards it with new challenges, hidden collectibles, and vehicle customization options. The seamless integration of multiplayer and single-player elements added a layer of depth that gave players freedom while still offering a strong, story-driven campaign.
Its RPG-lite mechanics—like car leveling and performance tuning—added an addictive layer of progression. While later entries in the series refined the formula, many fans still consider the first Crew the most raw, focused, and creatively daring.
Releasing The Crew on GOG would preserve a unique piece of racing game history, DRM-free, allowing fans to relive (or discover) its massive world and innovative gameplay without modern service limitations. It's a racing game that went beyond the track—it delivered an American road trip like no other