A few weeks after switching off the game's servers, Ubisoft has now started removing The Crew from players libraries altogether - sparking more controversy.
When the announcement that The Crew's servers would be switched off on March 31 was made, it was at least with three months of lead time. Regardless, players were not happy with the decision - the game is a racing MMO after all, so it needed servers to be played. With official support ending, privately hosted servers seemed like a possibility to keep The Crew going for those who wanted to keep playing it.
Granted, the game did not see many players take it to the US-based open world map anymore, cracking the 100 player average mark for the last time all the way back in January 2019. Recently, the average was just over 20 players.
Obviously, there was not a big demand for the game anymore, but Ubisoft's latest course of action related to The Crew sparked more controversy among gamers: According to multiple reports, the publisher has started deleting the game from players' Ubisoft Connect libraries - apparently without warning. Expiring licenses for in-game content apparently also led to the decision.
While The Crew was not officially playable anymore anyway, it is the practice itself that enraged some. Reddit comments on the matter range from "With this move, Ubisoft seems to be begging for digital consumer protection legislation to be passed. In an ideal world, revoking a license like this should entitle the buyer to a refund." to "Delisting is one thing, but actively revoking licenses customers paid for? Nah, that's something else entirely. I'm hoping this is just a mistake on Ubisoft's part. If not, bye bye Ubisoft I guess."
As a result, some players are vocal about demanding a refund for something they bought. The root of the deletion of The Crew from players' accounts is the fact that for digital games especially, you do not buy a copy of the game as such, but rather a license to access it. This is also part of Ubisoft's Terms of Use and EULA (End User License Agreement), which state:
The initiative hopes to set a precedent via the The Crew case so that other publishers might stay away from similar practices. Just recently in early March, fans of the F1 series were irritated when it was announced that F1 22 would be removed from online stores only about a year and a half after its release. The game does remain playable, however.
What are your thoughts on the The Crew situation? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
When the announcement that The Crew's servers would be switched off on March 31 was made, it was at least with three months of lead time. Regardless, players were not happy with the decision - the game is a racing MMO after all, so it needed servers to be played. With official support ending, privately hosted servers seemed like a possibility to keep The Crew going for those who wanted to keep playing it.
Granted, the game did not see many players take it to the US-based open world map anymore, cracking the 100 player average mark for the last time all the way back in January 2019. Recently, the average was just over 20 players.
Obviously, there was not a big demand for the game anymore, but Ubisoft's latest course of action related to The Crew sparked more controversy among gamers: According to multiple reports, the publisher has started deleting the game from players' Ubisoft Connect libraries - apparently without warning. Expiring licenses for in-game content apparently also led to the decision.
Gamers Are Outraged
Enquiring about the The Crew license removal, OverTake received the following reply from Ubisoft:While The Crew was not officially playable anymore anyway, it is the practice itself that enraged some. Reddit comments on the matter range from "With this move, Ubisoft seems to be begging for digital consumer protection legislation to be passed. In an ideal world, revoking a license like this should entitle the buyer to a refund." to "Delisting is one thing, but actively revoking licenses customers paid for? Nah, that's something else entirely. I'm hoping this is just a mistake on Ubisoft's part. If not, bye bye Ubisoft I guess."
As a result, some players are vocal about demanding a refund for something they bought. The root of the deletion of The Crew from players' accounts is the fact that for digital games especially, you do not buy a copy of the game as such, but rather a license to access it. This is also part of Ubisoft's Terms of Use and EULA (End User License Agreement), which state:
"Stop Killing Games" Initiative
Of course, player have to agree with these terms in order to play. Still, this does not make the deletion of games or making them unplayable via the shutdown of its often vital online functionality okay in the eyes of most. In fact, the announcement of the server shutdown led to the creation of the "Stop Killing Games" initiative by YouTuber Ross Scott, which lists options available for players to take action depending on the country they live in.The initiative hopes to set a precedent via the The Crew case so that other publishers might stay away from similar practices. Just recently in early March, fans of the F1 series were irritated when it was announced that F1 22 would be removed from online stores only about a year and a half after its release. The game does remain playable, however.
What are your thoughts on the The Crew situation? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
