Ubisoft persists in its stance of regarding consumers’ inability to retain ownership of purchased products.
This commitment has been evident in instances where access to DLC content in several single-player games like Assassin’s Creed 3, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, and Far Cry 3 was revoked due to the reliance on now-defunct online services for authentication.
Now, Ubisoft is retroactively removing “The Crew” from the libraries of its owners.
Previously, we mentioned the delisting of Ivory Tower’s open-world racing “RPG” titled “The Crew,” scheduled for removal from purchases as its online servers were set to terminate on March 31st.
Published by Ubisoft, the game, despite being a full-priced title, faced an inevitable demise due to its inherent always-online nature as a live-service game. While “The Crew” garnered mixed reviews, it was lauded for its expansive open-world portrayal of the United States.
Regardless of its quality, the game’s demise is significant: nearly a decade after its December 2014 release, this full-priced AAA title is effectively being shut down for good. This occurrence reflects the modern theme of “you’ll own nothing” in the realm of digital media and DRM platforms.
Ubisoft’s decision to terminate The Crew’s online servers, rendering the game unplayable and inaccessible, is one issue. However, it’s an entirely different matter for Ubisoft to revoke users’ licenses for digital purchases, effectively removing The Crew from players’ libraries as if they never owned the game in the first place.
This move disregards the ownership rights of players and further cements the heinous nature of digital purchases and why piracy is morally acceptable.
Players swiftly and loudly voiced their response, expressing outrage on social media platforms. Comments ranged from labeling Ubisoft’s actions as “abhorrent” and illegal.
Ubisoft has effectively prevented players who digitally purchased the game on their UPlay/Ubisoft Connect DRM platform from accessing it. PC Gamer discovered that while the game can still be downloaded if owned on Valve’s Steam store, playing it now necessitates an activation code.
Let’s not overlook the statement made just a few months ago by Ubisoft executive Philippe Tremblay, the director of subscriptions. During an interview, he remarked that consumers should “get used” to the idea that they “don’t own their games.”
Tremblay emphasized the necessity for a shift in consumer behavior and entitlement, suggesting that it’s crucial for them to accept and tolerate authoritarian game companies delivering underwhelming $70 products that consumers don’t actually own. Instead, they are merely paying to lease a license of activation, subject to revocation at any time for any reason.
There’s been a deliberate push towards digitalization across various domains, including cash and notably physical media, due to the easier control of digital goods.
Even with the purchase of physical copies of games, particularly on PC in recent times, you’re essentially buying a license tied to platforms like Valve’s Steam Store, Epic’s Game Store, or other third-party DRM platforms.
The closure of servers and license revocations underscore the fragile nature of digital ownership, where access to purchased content can be arbitrarily withdrawn, leaving players with little to no forms of recourse for their loss.
The controversy surroundingĀ The CrewĀ serves as a stark reminder of the challenges facing the gaming industry in the digital age. As games increasingly rely on online infrastructure and live service models, the reality of losing access to purchased content becomes ever-present.
Players should have the right to access such products they’ve purchased even after its online services have been terminated, but of course as consumers continue to entrap themselves in digitalized ecosystems this will never actually happen.
In response to these concerns, initiatives like Stop Killing Games have emerged, advocating for stronger protections for players and greater accountability from publishers.
Under the leadership of YouTuber Ross Scott, Stop Killing Games aims to shed light on the importance of game preservation and advocate for legislative measures to protect player rights. However, despite these efforts, consumers persist in funding companies like Ubisoft by repeatedly purchasing formulaic titles such as Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry.
If you genuinely wish to retaliate and reclaim control, the solution may lie in a ruthless boycott of these companies, coupled with reclaiming what you feel has been unjustly taken by either ignoring or perhaps pirating their products instead, asserting true ownership or rather your lack of desire to fund such a heinous corporation.
Given the bloated state of modern game development companies, with their increasingly inflated budgets resulting in half-baked and lackluster products, steering clear of their subpar offerings is the most prudent course of action.
Despite Ubisoft’s attempts to erase the open-world racer from existence, community-driven projects like The Crew Offline+Online Server Emulation are tirelessly working to preserve the spirit of such games.
Through their passion and determination, players are showcasing the resilience of gaming communities and the lasting allure of their beloved titles, even in the face of being taken away and their live services terminated.
Another notable example is the revival of Test Drive Unlimited 2 with “Project Paradise 2,” which resurrects the game’s online services.
I personally hold the belief that digital media is the most effective means of preserving things like video games, albeit not in the conventional sense. As mentioned earlier, even modern “physical” copies of games remain tethered to DRM-laden ecosystems like Valve’s Steam store.
Consumers continue to buy their games from this platform, notorious for banning games featuring depictions of “underaged” female characters, while hypocritically endorsing and promoting those with “underaged” male characters instead, rather than exploring DRM-free outlets like GOG.
Physical game discs are prone to rotting over long periods of time, while cartridges can be finicky and may require cleaning or even a replacement battery for game saves. In comparison, the concept of digital media presents the ideal solution, but is only applicable to piracy and emulation.
The freedom to store, transfer, and play a diverse range of games without being beholden to a vindictive anti-consumer platform is truly remarkable. This is especially evident in the ease with which previous-generation consoles like Sony’s PlayStation, Microsoft’s Xbox, and Nintendo’s Wii can be modified to play downloaded or even stored ROMs/ISOs on internal or external storage devices to be played on native hardware.
As is often the case with events of this nature, The Crew’s shutdown has reignited discussions surrounding digital “ownership,” player rights, and the ongoing imperative for game preservation. Ubisoft’s actions emulate those by Electronic Arts, suggesting that the company is more or less EA’s French equivalent.
