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In late March, Ubisoft shut down the servers for the racing game The Crew, rendering it unplayable due to the need for constant connectivity. At that point, the title stopped selling, and due to “always online”, it couldn’t even be launched after that. However, not long after, players began sharing that they had completely lost access to the game in their library, which they didn’t like. Those who bought the game as recently as before the announcement of the end of the servers were entitled to a refund, but long-time players were not affected. While some fans are attempting to revive the first installment using server emulation, others have decided to file a class action lawsuit against Ubisoft.
The lawsuit was filed on November 4 in a California court by two gamers, Matthew Cassell and Alan Liu, as reported by Polygon magazine. The lawsuit claims that Ubisoft denied consumers access to something they purchased and assumed they owned. According to the lawsuit, gamers were deceived on two occasions – first, they were misled into thinking they were buying a game and not just a license, even if they bought a physical copy on disc. The second offence is Ubisoft’s “false claim” that the game files are actually on the physical discs and that they are not just a key to access the digital game. In this way, Ubisoft was alleged to have violated California consumer protection laws.
Both plaintiffs alleged that they would not have purchased the game on the discs under “these conditions,” and further allege that the servers were shut down and not made available offline play so that The Crew could continue to be played. While Ubisoft has previously partially responded to the server shutdowns by promising offline modes for The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest, this obviously does not solve the problem with the first game. This situation is then likened to a pimball manufacturer eventually coming to a slot machine owner’s home and taking away their flippers or displayed scores.
Plaintiffs are seeking a class action lawsuit so that other players can join them in an effort to seek financial compensation for all those affected by the server shutdown. Coincidentally, a new law, AB 2426, was just recently passed in California and will go into effect next year. It will require all retailers to explicitly state that they are only purchasing a license when purchasing digital content.
