Games

The Crew Lawsuit Has Ubisoft Asserting That Players Shouldn’t Expect ‘Unfettered’ Access to an Online-Only Game

BBG News

Ubisoft’s decision to remove “The Crew” from online access and render it unplayable for those who thought they had permanent ownership has led them to assert that people buying any video game should not assume they will retain ownership in perpetuity.

For over a year now, “The Crew” has been absent from digital marketplaces, having been pulled down in December 2023. Since then, a legal dispute has arisen between the players and Ubisoft, with the accusers stating that they were not made aware at the time of purchase that an online-only game like “The Crew” could potentially be discontinued.

The lawsuit claims that Ubisoft deceived players by suggesting that the game The Crew was actually included on the physical disks or digital files they were purchasing. In actuality, these items functioned more like a key to access a remote server, and Ubisoft could potentially choose to neglect maintaining this server in the future.

Polygon (through VGC) reports that Ubisoft is attempting to dismiss a lawsuit by arguing that consumers should not expect unlimited access to an online-only game, even if they bought a physical version of the game.

Displeased by Ubisoft’s announcement to discontinue the game after a specified notice period (as stated on the product), lawyers for the affected customers are using a comprehensive strategy, representing a potential nationwide group, and listing eight complaints. These complaints involve alleged violations of California’s False Advertising Law, Unfair Competition Law, Consumer Legal Remedies Act, as well as common law claims of fraud and breach of warranty. Furthermore, Ubisoft clarified that players should not presume they possess absolute ownership rights in the game.

Based on the plaintiffs’ claim in their revised lawsuit, it is argued that The Crew video game was bought using gift card activation keys with a year of no expiration (2099), implying the game would last more than ten years. They allege that Ubisoft violated California law by permitting these gift cards to expire, which is prohibited in the state. Ubisoft has until April 29th to respond.

Moving forward, Ubisoft aimed to prevent any more problems similar to this one from arising by introducing offline gameplay options for both The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest.

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2025-04-10 15:42

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