The Crew kicks you to the title screen whenever you lose your internet connection

The Crew’s permanent internet connection requirements mean that players will be returned to the title screen whenever they lose their connection – even while playing solo, creative director Julian Gerighty has told VideoGamer.com.

“I think it’s going to kick you out of the race,” Gerighty said, discussing what happens when the player’s connection drops. “It’s one of those things that the game needs to work with an internet connection so I think you’re going to lose the race you’re in.”

Asked to clarify where the player would be sent should they lose their connection, Gerighty replied: “Probably [the] title screen.”

“It’s not the most elegant of solutions,” he continued. “It’s not good news, I’m afraid, but it’s just part and parcel of… You know, you’re doing an instance on World of Warcraft, you lose your internet connection and that’s it.

“I’ve got to admit though that I think our connection is a little bit more elegant than the Origin/EA server thing,” he added, “but I’d have to get more details to give you a complete rundown. That said, it’s safe to say that if you’re doing a mission, you lose your internet connection, you’re kicked back to the boot screen.”

The game will rely on peer-to-peer connections, too, Gerighty says, leading to host migration whenever the host leaves.

“Yes, there’s host migration,” he added. “We have servers that handle most of the connections, but it’s peer-to-peer also. So if you lose a connection, then the host will migrate to somebody else. That’s something that is very efficient today.”

Again, though, Gerighty admits that host migration “won’t be a great experience” for the player.

“It’s something definitely that we’ve made huge progress with,” he continued. “I mean, this was the team that did Test Drive Unlimited, so it’s definitely improved from that and that was already ahead of it’s time. It’s something that we’re still doing tests on. I’m sure it won’t be a great experience, but it will be as little impacting as possible on the race.”

As for why The Crew requires a permanent internet connection in the first place, though – especially when it doesn’t take advantage of cloud processing – Gerighty says that “it’s something that is completely natural for this game”.

“It’s a little bit like, if you think of World of Warcraft, nobody would ever complain about the fact that you need an internet connection to play,” he says. “Just like that The Crew [requires] an internet connection to play. It doesn’t stop you from playing solo. In fact, I’m more of a solo player. But you’re playing in a world that’s alive, that has anecdotes that emerge out of somebody who does a jump over you and that you try and catch him and you create a crew and you go on missions together. But you do need that internet connection for the game.”

A permanent internet connection may not be the only thing that could rile players either – the game’s adoption of microtransactions may disappoint some players, too…

To find out what Brett thought of the whole thing when he went hands-on with The Crew late last month, head through here.

The Crew launches later this year on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.