Ubisoft
Ubisoft is getting sued over shutting down servers for open-world racing game ‘The Crew ‘
After they shut down a 10-year-old game forever, Ubisoft has been hit with a lawsuit accusing them of misleading users about the fact that they had a revocable license.
The video game industry is going through some tough times. From studio acquisitions to massive layoffs in the highest playing field of the entertainment sector, It’s been a rough few years as a fan. But just a few months ago it was the fans themselves who were affected by Ubisoft, as the company swiftly announced and proceeded to shut down the servers of ‘The Crew, leaving the game completely unplayable to everyone. Now, two players are striking back.
For those unaware, The Crew was an open-world racing game that touted a massive representation of the United States that players could traverse seamlessly. While it wasn’t exactly one of the most popular games in the genre, the 10-year-old title managed to keep a big enough fanbase to justify two equally successful sequels. However, all of these titles happened to be “online-only” games. As such, when the publisher decided to shut down the original game it became completely inaccessible to everyone with it, no matter if they had a digital or physical copy of the game.
“Imagine you buy a pinball machine, and years later, you enter your den to go play it, only to discover that all the paddles are missing, the pinball and bumpers are gone, and the monitor that proudly displayed your unassailable high score is removed,” reads the lawsuit (via Polygon) presented on November 4 to a California court. “Turns out the pinball manufacturer decided to come into your home, gut the insides of the pinball machine, and remove your ability to play the game that you bought and thought you owned.”
The people vs Ubisoft
The statement above serves as an explanation of the entire discourse, claiming that Ubisoft misled its users when it came to ownership of the game. The plaintiffs (who purchased the game themselves) claim that Ubisoft deceived players who thought they were buying a game when instead they were only getting a license to it, even when acquiring a physical copy. Additionally, they propose that Ubisoft “falsely represented” the idea that the software’s files were in its physical discs, available for free access, and instead were simply used as keys to the title.
In doing both of these things, Ubisoft would be violating consumer protection laws as they are established in the state of California. Whether or not the lawsuit proceeds is still to be seen, but if it is approved as a class action lawsuit, any owner of The Crew that was affected (meaning, anyone with a physical or digital copy) could join in on the lawsuit freely.
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