Full title: Ubisoft says you "cannot complain" it shut down The Crew because you never actually owned it, and you weren't "deceived" by the lack of an offline version "to access a decade-old, discontinued video game"

Ubisoft's lawyers have responded to a class action lawsuit over the shutdown of The Crew, arguing that it was always clear that you didn't own the game and calling for a dismissal of the case outright.

The class action was filed in November 2024, and Ubisoft's response came in February 2025, though it's only come to the public's attention now courtesy of Polygon. The full response from Ubisoft attorney Steven A. Marenberg picks apart the claims of plaintiffs Matthew Cassell and Alan Liu piece by piece, but the most common refrain is that The Crew's box made clear both that the game required an internet connection and that Ubisoft retained the right to revoke access "to one or more specific online features" with a 30-day notice at its own discretion.

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[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 25 points 1 month ago

Looks like I'll be pirating Black Flag for my next replay.

[–] Puzzlehead@reddthat.com 40 points 1 month ago (1 children)

If you have to buy it, you own it. Make it free to play but have in game purchases. Everyone knows free games can shut down any time. I play lot of mobile apps until I get tired of playing it, then delete.

I avoid buying games that requires online connection. It means the game is unplayable without it.

It's sickening what companies can get away with just because it's legal. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

[–] Contemporarium@lemm.ee 7 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Get balatro you’ll never get bored :)

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

I've beaten most of the Gold Stakes and all of the challenges, its not a forever game. But it is fun.

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[–] Goretantath@lemm.ee 30 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Definitely deceived into thinking you are purchasing a game though.

[+] kevin2107@lemmy.world -25 points 1 month ago (6 children)

servers ain't free. I know ubisofts are a bunch of pricks but if you run servers indefinitely without generating income you'll eventually run out of money.

[–] TheGreenWizard@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Good point, thats why we should be able to run servers ourselves after the game dies

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[–] omarfw@lemmy.world 22 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Not every game is an MMO requiring vast server farms. A game like the crew 1 that is past it's prime is not expensive to keep a few servers running for. It's a negligible cost.

They could also put in the time to give players the tools to host their own servers, or simply allow offline play. This used to be standard for all PC games. They chose to do neither of these things in an obvious effort to force players towards the sequel or their other games. They should not be permitted to do anti-consumer things like this.

[–] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Even MMOs have been run by amateurs. If you make the servers available, someone will figure out how to run it.

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[–] Sauerkraut@discuss.tchncs.de 31 points 1 month ago

Sure, but in that case they need to make the server code open source so game owners can run their own servers.

Or they need to include a lan / offline mode

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[–] the_trash_man@lemmy.world 29 points 1 month ago (2 children)

🏴‍☠️

[–] samus12345@lemm.ee 12 points 1 month ago

It becomes more and more ethical as everything becomes more and more enshittified.

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[–] LordWiggle@lemmy.world 30 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Although ubisoft is a shit company, don't think it's the only one. Every game you bought on Steam, Origin and Epic aren't your property either. You just bought the right to play their game for as long as they allow you to.

If you truly want to own your products, buy on GoG (you will get the offline installer as a download) or pirate. Because when you pirate, you have more rights and benifits than a paying customer.

Companies don't even care anymore, it's just a money grab with the newest bug simulator. As soon as the first purchase bubble ended, the project is abandoned and people are stuck with a piece of junk they do not even own.

In the exceptional case a dev truly delivers, like indie studios or Larian studio, the game dev world goes mental as it shows how corrupt and fucked up they are.

Support the few proper devs, pirate the rest. I pirate everything these days and when the game is good I'll buy it.

[–] Joeffect@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago (1 children)

If steam ever goes away pirating will increase by at least 1000%...

[–] LordWiggle@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I have over 500 games on steam. If the platform dies, that would be a major loss for me.

Honestly, platforms like steam and Netflix made me stop pirating. But with the increasing amount of streaming services, with increasing prices and more and more limitations and loss of rights, loads money grab junk content, I dusted off me old pirate hat. I am a paying usenet user, I automated all my movie and TV show downloads, I pirate games first and only buy them when they are worth it. I use Grayjay to view YouTube, because it has more freedom than a premium user.

I'm happy to pay for stuff which is good, I refuse to pay for junk, limitations and loss of my rights.

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[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 month ago (1 children)

They’re right but it would be great if companies had to allow self hosting for products they make money from

[–] Weirdfish@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

That's my argument, release the server code and the fans can host them.

Take your servers down, move on to your new games, but give us the tools to enjoy what we bought. It costs them nothing.

[–] GhostedIC@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Go Ross Go!

[–] Killer_Tree@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Obligatory Stop Killing Games Link

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Fuck Ubisoft.

If you want a good open world racing game, well Motor Town: Behind The Wheel isn't strictly a racing game.. nor technically even focused on being a racing game, it is an open world driving job simulator and there are lots of sports cars and you can do lots of jobs where you are racing against a clock.

There is also multiplayer and a custom race system (as well as actual race tracks interspersed in the world).

The reason I really recommend it though is the driving feels better then just about any other game I have ever played, especially tire grip modelling. I don't know how to describe it other than it makes me uninterested in driving cars in most other games lol.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1369670/Motor_Town_Behind_The_Wheel/

[–] LordWiggle@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Anything you buy on Steam is also not owned by you, you only buy the rights to play their game for as long as they allow you to. Just like with Ubisoft.

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

That is exactly why I also buy things on Good Old Games and also play open source games like Beyond All Reason, Xonotic, Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead, Luanti and other games like Vintage Story that I can purchase from itch or directly from the developer and install directly on my computer as well!

[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

I never actually "paid" them, so they "cannot complain" when I take my money back

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