Single-player Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag mode requires online pass

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag requires players to redeem a valid online pass if they want to take part in the single-player Kenway's Fleet minigame.

Kenway's Fleet is the latest iteration in the series' usual macromanagement mode, allowing players to send off Assassin subordinates on potentially lucrative and dangerous missions, hoping they survive to bring in the bounty.

Spotted by GameInformer, the mode is now available only to players with a Uplay Passport, a unique code that is either supplied with new copies of the game or purchasable from each platform's digital storefront.

In Assassin's Creed IV, players send off ships captured and folded into the fleet's ranks instead of groups of Assassins. Missions are completed faster if other players on your friends list are also playing Assassin's Creed IV, and players are now required to connect to Ubisoft's Uplay servers in order to connect at all.

New ships can be added to the player's fleet after their crew yields from a successful boarding. Ships can also be sold for scrap, which is another way to make money in the game.

Ubisoft recently confirmed that the PlayStation-exclusive DLC for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag will not be coming to other platforms.

For more information on the game, check out GameSpot's Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag review.