Back in November, it was revealed that these two fans were suing Ubisoft, as they claim the publisher misled customers into believing they were paying for the ownership of the game rather than a license. The goal was to eventually expand the suit into a class-action, allowing The Crew owners to demand monetary relief for the shutdown.
Ubisoft Says “Ownership Rights” Were Never Promised In The Crew Shutdown Lawsuit
Fast-forward a few months, and now a Ubisoft response to the lawsuit filed in February has been shared by Polygon, as lawyers representing the company claim that the company never made players believe they were purchasing “unfettered ownership rights in the game.” They also claim that the plaintiffs used a “kitchen sink approach” due to frustration over the shutdown, and “fail to state a plausible claim under any of their eight causes of action”.
“Frustrated with Ubisoft’s recent decision to retire the game following a notice period delineated on the product’s packaging, Plaintiffs apply a kitchen sink approach on behalf of a putative class of nationwide customers, alleging eight causes of action including violations of California’s False Advertising Law, Unfair Competition Law, and Consumer Legal Remedies Act, as well as common law fraud and breach of warranty claims,” says Ubisoft’s lawyers.
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Sorry Ubisoft, But I’d Like To Keep Owning My Games
The future doesn’t look pretty when it comes to keeping the games we love.
While this doesn’t come from the horse’s mouth directly, it is an indication that Ubisoft simply sees people buying games as licenses, and nothing more, and should be able to revoke access when it pleases. We know Ubisoft has this attitude, ever since its director of subscriptions, Phillipe Tremblay, claimed that gamers need to “get comfortable” with not owning their games.
It’s not looking too good for the overall case, but the two fighting against Ubisoft have since responded with an amendment, using images of the game with activation codes for 2099. They claim that this is proof that Ubisoft suggested the game would stick around for the foreseeable future.
They also claim that Ubisoft broke the law in California, as gift cards (which legally don’t expire in the state) for the game’s virtual currency technically expired once the servers shut down. Ubisoft has until March 29 to respond to this new amendment, but something tells me that Ubisoft is going to get a dismissal regardless.
The Crew
- Released
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December 2, 2014
- ESRB
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T For Teen due to Language, Mild Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
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Ubisoft Ivory Tower, Ubisoft Reflections
- Engine
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Babel Engine