It appears that the Stop Killing Games initiative is finally causing real consequences for major video game publishers, as Ubisoft, the company that first caused this whole ordeal, is now facing a lawsuit from a consumer advocacy group over its shutdown of The Crew.
As per Ross Scott, also known as Accursed Farms on YouTube, French consumer advocacy group UFC-Que Choisir is seeking legal action against Ubisoft, also based in France, due to its removal of access to The Crew on March 31, 2024.
“UFC-Que Choisir believes that by brutally depriving players of all access to The Crew, Ubisoft has violated essential consumer rights,” the group said on its website (in a quote machine-translated from the original French).
“It is unacceptable that Ubisoft considers, in its general conditions, that players only acquire a simple ‘user license’ for the game, which would then be revocable at any time by the publisher. The legality of all clauses limiting players’ rights must be questioned,” it added.
UFC-Que Choisir intends to tackle several of Ubisoft’s EULA clauses and primarily wishes to allow users to claim property rights over video game copies, disallow publishers from “withdraw[ing] all access to the game, without guarantee of maintaining an alternative mode of operation for consumers,” and prevent games from being “subordinated” to “online services likely to be interrupted at any time by the publisher.”
As it says, this legal action is being supported by the Stop Killing Games initiative, which itself started in response to Ubisoft’s shuttering of The Crew without providing the means to play the game offline. Anyone who enjoyed the game or had spent money on its store was permanently prevented from ever playing the game again via official channels, as its online-only nature meant that once servers were gone, the game was gone too.
This isn’t an issue solely applicable to Ubisoft. Publishers across the board shutter games and services every single day, with the likes of EA games taking access away from a dozen titles annually. It recently permanently killed off Anthem and took numerous other games offline in the past, including some of its first-party, major releases in the FIFA, Need for Speed, and other franchises.
If this lawsuit ends up being successful (and that will take quite a long time), it could cause a ripple effect in the games industry and perhaps even lead to EU legislation to protect the rights that groups like UFC-Que Choisir and SKG are advocating for.
Owning games today is pure fiction, as we’re all just renting out a license that can go away at any point. Live-service games are the most affected, and as dedicated servers are phased out of contemporary releases, this issue becomes increasingly prevalent.
