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Is it possible to add a game acquired through Uplay to my Steam library so I can play it in Big Picture mode?

I got Assassin's Creed IV free with my video card, but I had to get it through Uplay. I realize that I won't be able to get updates or synchronize saved games via Steam, but I'd like to play it using Steam's Big Picture mode.

I've been able to add other non-Steam games to my Steam library and play them in Big Picture, but I can't figure out how to do that with Assassin's Creed IV. It doesn't show up in the list of games on my system when I select "Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library" in Steam.

I was able to add Uplay to my Steam library as a "game", and then launch Assassin's Creed through Uplay, but that's not ideal. I can't figure out how to navigate Uplay with the controller, so I have to get a mouse for that. Once I launch Assassin's Creed, it runs ok with just a controller.

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    If you buy AC on Steam there is actually just a batch script which starts uplay and from there AC. I remember that even there the Overlay and so the Bic Picture was kind of buggy. Maybe it's a help if you research for those scripts or something.
    – h0ch5tr4355
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 6:46
  • You could try to find the executable for AC and link that one to steam, even though I doubt that uplay will let you run it before launching uplay itself.
    – Marv
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 8:42
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    I found a thread on adding uplay games to steam on the steam forums. It works by adding uplay.exe and modifying the launch parameters to launch the game directly. I suggest you try that and make it a nice detailed answer if it works.
    – MrLemon
    Commented Nov 12, 2015 at 12:25
  • @MrLemon, thanks. I was able to get it working reasonably well based on that thread.
    – cjm
    Commented Nov 13, 2015 at 6:27

2 Answers 2

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MrLemon pointed me in the right direction, but I was able to improve on the procedure presented there.

  1. In Steam, pick "Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library..." from the Games menu.

  2. If Uplay appears in the dialog box, select it. Otherwise, click BROWSE... and find Uplay.exe (I found it in C:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher.) The Browse method should allow you to add more than one Uplay game to Steam.

  3. Click ADD SELECTED PROGRAMS.

  4. You should now have Uplay in your Steam Library. Find it, right click on it, and select Properties.

  5. In the first box, change the name from "Uplay" to the name of the game.

  6. Find the shortcut for the game in your Start menu, right click on it, select Properties, the Web Document tab, and copy the URL field. It should look like uplay://launch/273.

  7. Back in the Steam properties dialog, click SET LAUNCH OPTIONS... and enter the contents of the URL field surrounded by double quotes, e.g. "uplay://launch/273".

  8. If you use Big Picture mode, find a suitable image for the Steam launcher, e.g. the picture on the upper right of the Steam store page. You'll need to convert it to PNG format if it's not one already. Click CHOOSE ICON... and navigate to your image file.

  9. CLOSE the Steam properties dialog.

You should now be able to launch your Uplay game directly from Steam. Steam will start Uplay, which will automatically launch the game. It's not perfect, because Uplay won't go away when you exit the game.

However, if you're using Big Picture mode, you can press the Guide button on your controller to return to Steam. Uplay will still be running in the background, but you should be able to ignore it.

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    If a shortcut is not created for your game (happened to me with The Division on Windows 10), you can right click the game in the library and select "Create desktop shortcut".
    – House
    Commented Mar 12, 2016 at 1:28
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Very simple: Steam "external link" -> AC4BFMP.exe --> voilà

  • Steam Link support
  • Steam Big Picture works
  • Steam Controller works

(though uplay may has to be running in background)

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