Ubisoft has been sued by two players affected by the shutdown of The Crew. They are seeking compensation for the loss of the game.
What happened to The Crew?
- A senior employee at Ubisoft said back in January 2024, that players should get used to not owning their games. Instead, buyers of a game only acquire the license to use the services and access the content, not the full game itself.
- Three months later, the servers for The Crew were shut down. Even with a disc, the game can no longer be used because there is no offline mode in the game.
- This resulted in the Steam version also becoming unplayable. Many players became angry as a result.
The affected individuals include two people from California who want to hold Ubisoft accountable. They are suing the company and hope for an outcome that could impact all buyers of The Crew.
You can find The Crew in the following trailer:
Players demand compensation for The Crew
Why are they suing? The players are suing Ubisoft because they shut down the servers for The Crew without providing a replacement like an offline mode. While Ubisoft offered a refund, it was only for players who “recently” purchased The Crew.
However, the two Californians had already purchased the game in 2018 and 2020 and therefore do not qualify for the refund program. Their lawyer describes their situation as follows:
Imagine you buy a pinball machine, and years later you go into your study to play it and find that all the paddles are missing, the pinball and the dampers are gone, and the monitor on which you proudly displayed your unbeatable high score has been removed. It turns out that the pinball manufacturer decided to come into your home, gut the inside of the pinball machine, and take away your ability to play the game you bought and thought you owned.
According to the lawsuit, Ubisoft misled players into thinking they were buying not only a license but the game itself, even as a physical version with a disc.
The company allegedly misrepresented that the files of The Crew on the physical discs were freely accessible and not just a key to the game. This would constitute a violation of California’s consumer protection laws, according to the lawsuit.
What is being demanded? The two players want the court to recognize the lawsuit as a class action. This means other affected individuals could also participate. They seek financial compensation and damages for everyone affected by the server shutdown.
What does the community say about this? In a thread on Reddit, many players express divided opinions. On one side, there are those who think it has “always been this way and the whole thing is stupid.” One user even commended Ubisoft for running the servers for another 10 years, even after The Crew 2 was released.
On the other hand, there are users who think that maintaining the status quo is the worst-case scenario. It could be that Ubisoft would be forced to provide an offline patch. Some players are tired of companies like Ubisoft getting away with such practices.
Is anything being done about it? There is already a campaign by YouTuber Ross Scott called “Stop Destroying Videogames”. He demands that games must remain playable even when the publisher ceases support. So far, over 379,000 signatures have been collected for the initiative. You can read more about the campaign here: “Disgusting and dangerous” – Developer warns on Twitch about an EU initiative that aims to save video games
