Somebody at Ubisoft thought it was a good idea to include chests in Assassin's Creed Unity that, upon attempting to open them, minimised the game and loaded up the 'Initiates' browser thing. This person—possibly an 'Engagement Tzar' or 'Social Enabler'—was high enough up the chain of command that it made it into the game.

It didn't stop there: want the other mysteriously lost chests? That'll require the smartphone companion app.

This was all awful, obviously. Real people don't want to engage with a brand across a variety of time consuming skinner boxes masquerading as fun. They'll do it, sure, but they don't want to. The good news is that Ubisoft has finally realised the gaping, immersion breaking horror of what they had wrought, and are taking steps to fix it.

Patch 05 for Assassin's Creed Unity will, among other things, make available all exclusive stuff from both Initiates and the Companion app. Importantly, it will do it without you ever needing to use Initiates or the Companion app.

You can find the full patch list below. The update is due to go live for PC tomorrow.

Stability & performance

Fixed numerous random crashes both on Campaign and Coop

Save game & Progression

Fixed gear and outfit rewards getting relocked

Added users profile corrector to resolve companion synchronization issues

Made Initiate and companion app exclusive content accessible to all players

Fixed the ‘Find Leon’ objective not spawning on Dead Kings Memory 2

Online matchmaking, connectivity & replication

Fixed various matchmaking and connection issues both in matches and when starting a match.

Fixed various replication issues between host and clients

Fixed issues with the My Club feature

Gameplay (navigation, fight, stealth)

Fixed issue with Arno losing control after trying to launch Initiates from the pause menu

Fixed minor navigation issues

Menus and HUD

Fixed issues occurring when hacking gears

Fixed additional issues with notifications

World & 3D