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[cormack12]

Source: https://archive.is/BxD7J

Ubisoft has made it clear, lawyers claimed, that when you buy a copy of The Crew, you're merely buying a limited access license.

Ubisoft released The Crew, its open-world racing game, in 2014 and shut down its servers a decade later, in 2024, due to "server infrastructure and licensing constraints." Because The Crew was online-only, it meant the game became totally unplayable when the servers were turned off. Ubisoft offered refunds to players who "recently" purchased the game, but lots of people were unable to get refunds; the majority of players likely purchased the game much earlier.

Included in the response are a few pictures of The Crew's video game packaging, presented to prove that Ubisoft has labeled at least some of its versions with the licensing note.

 

[Rush2112]

Before raging, know that Steam has the same policy.

IMO the only way that you can be 100% sure that you own a game is:

A) you have a physical copy in your possession (or at least a full DRM-free install on your drive) AND
B) You can play it offline.

If you answered "No" to either A or B, you do not really own the game.

As a note, the only full digital DRM-free games that I know of are sold on GoG or pirated.

 

[Zacfoldor]

This is the devil you sucked when you bought AC Shadows.

Hey, at least you don't own the game anymore than I do. I take great solace in that.

 

[K' Dash]

This is the devil you sucked when you bought AC Shadows.

Hey, at least you don't own the game anymore than I do. I take great solace in that.

Whatever digital content you buy has the same issue. If you want to own your stuff then buy physical.

 

[Topher]

This is the devil you sucked when you bought AC Shadows.

Hey, at least you don't own the game anymore than I do. I take great solace in that.

 

[Gaiff]

This has always been the case, but until the digital era, corporations had no way to enforce this.

If Steam bans your account, you lose access to your purchases, correct?

 

[Fbh]

Whatever digital content you buy has the same issue. If you want to own your stuff then buy physical.

Physical isn't going to do anything for you when an online only game goes offline.
A physical copy of Concord is just as useless as a digital one (though I guess if you hold on to it long enough you'll be able to sell it as a some sort of collector item)

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

gamers are waaaay overvalued.

 

[Sybrix]

We are licensees

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Before raging, know that Steam has the same policy.

Yup which is why I stick to GOG.

 

[adamsapple]

This is the devil you sucked when you bought AC Shadows.

Hey, at least you don't own the game anymore than I do. I take great solace in that.

 

[nkarafo]

If Steam bans your account, you lose access to your purchases, correct?

Wait, is that true? I have no idea.

I guess having some cracks around to make the games workable again is a good thing.

Too bad you can't do that when most of the logic code is on the server. But thankfully on STEAM it's just the license.

 

[K' Dash]

Physical isn't going to do anything for you when an online only game goes offline.
A physical copy of Concord is just as useless as a digital one (though I guess if you hold on to it long enough you'll be able to sell it as a some sort of collector item)

How is this case different from any other online game that shuts down its server?

 

[StereoVsn]

Wait, is that true? I have no idea.

I guess having some cracks around to make the games workable again is a good thing.

Too bad you can't do that when most of the logic code is on the server. But thankfully on STEAM it's just the license.

Valve doesn't normally do account bans. They might ban you for MP but you will still have access to games in your account.

 

[A.Romero]

Wait, is that true? I have no idea.

I guess having some cracks around to make the games workable again is a good thing.

Too bad you can't do that when most of the logic code is on the server. But thankfully on STEAM it's just the license.

It's true and not only Steam but any other digital platform.

Piracy would be the way but you would still be blocked from playing online or using any online features most cases.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

And you don't own your company, Yves. Have fun shlucking that Tencent cock.

 

[Puscifer]

Before raging, know that Steam has the same policy.

I have to say, though, it's mildly worrying to me that people think online only games have infinite lifespans.

 

[nemiroff]

These PvE focused games should at a minimum be patched to work offline when servers gets shut down.

 

[Fbh]

How is this case different from any other online game that shuts down its server?

It's not.
Which is why I'm saying in this case buying the game digitally or physically doesn't make a difference.
Every online only game will eventually be shut down and stop working, regardless of which format you got it in.

 

[Thabass]

If I don't own them, do mind if I pirate them then.

 

[Pejo]

You would have thought that the damning thing for Ubi's case was that they offered SOME people refunds. Meaning that they agreed in those cases that it was wrong for them to sell the game and then take it offline. In theory, that should have set the precedent and made all purchases up for refund. There was no minimum "duration" of licensing in the ToS as far as I know.

 

[Clear]

If you actually owned any game you ever bought, you'd have the right to disassemble it and repurpose it for your own products or uses.

For obvious reasons, this is unacceptable. Hence all games are licensed. The only difference between physical artifacts like discs, carts, etc and purely digital items is that the former are anchored to some degree to an object that then may be resold, essentially like a token.

 

[nkarafo]

It's not.
Which is why I'm saying in this case buying the game digitally or physically doesn't make a difference.
Every online only game will eventually be shut down and stop working, regardless of which format you got it in.

This is pretty obvious with actual MP games. Like WoW for instance. Everyone knows what they are getting.

The Crew though is somewhat sneaky. It blurs the lines because the single player mode doesn't really need to be on the server side. It's not as obvious. And i'm not sure if the initial box-art made it very clear or if it was hidden with small letters.

 

[Vlodril]

This is why Gog is such a good alternative. I try to get as many games as i can there.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Before raging, know that Steam has the same policy.

IMO the only way that you can be 100% sure that you own a game is:

A) you have a physical copy in your possession AND
B) You can play it offline.

If you answered "No" to either A or B, you do not really own the game.

Exactly

 

[Putonahappyface]

Obligatory.

 

[64gigabyteram]

If you actually owned any game you ever bought, you'd have the right to disassemble it and repurpose it for your own products or uses.

For obvious reasons, this is unacceptable.

It shouldn't be.

 

[nkarafo]

If I don't own them, do mind if I pirate them then.

I mean, if you already bought a game it's not really piracy if you crack it. I used to crack all my CD/DVD games with a no-CD crack so i don't have to swap disks.

 

[Kurotri]

 

[Clear]

It shouldn't be.

Too easy to abuse. People would, and you know it!

 

[nkarafo]

Obligatory.

Is this real?

Not a satire gif or anything?

Someone actually tries to make this a selling point?

 

[Roni]

Some of you may be too young or too tech illiterate to remember companies used to ship online games with dedicated servers. This is what this is about: Ubisoft wasn't expected to keep servers running forever, but they should have handed over the dedicated server to the community day 1 or, at the very least, when they shut the official servers down.

 

[bender]

I have to say, though, it's mildly worrying to me that people think online only games have infinite lifespans.

Well, in the old days you could host your own servers so some online games are relatively eternal. And some online only games feel like that's a forced implementation as they offer a lot of single player content (the game in question here certainly fits the bill) and this feels like a maneuver for planned obsolescence. I do think consumers have some responsibility to better educate themselves before making a purchase.

 

[Putonahappyface]

Is this real?

Not a satire gif or anything?

Someone actually tries to make this a selling point?

It's certainly heading in that direction. I can see the PS6/PRO having a detachable disc drive and physical media for one more generation.

 

[Memati187]

I'm very familiar with this feeling of owning nothing. I don't even own my own pants, I just licence them from my bro, till he needs them back and I stay there without pants.

Fml I guess.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Wait, is that true? I have no idea.

I guess having some cracks around to make the games workable again is a good thing.

Too bad you can't do that when most of the logic code is on the server. But thankfully on STEAM it's just the license.

Yeah it's true. In fact, they recently have a disclaimer when you buy a game that you only have the license and not the actual game.

 

[nkarafo]

Yeah it's true. In fact, they recently have a disclaimer when you buy a game that you only have the license and not the actual game.

Yes but what does it say about them revoking these licenses?

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Yes but what does it say about them revoking these licenses?

I don't know but I guess they can pull the game from your library at their leisure. Well I probably should say at the leisure of the publisher.

 

[TGO]

Everyone knows you don't own the IP on the disc, you have no rights to make duplicates or sell them.
but the copy of it you do own, and you can sell that copy
This why you can back it up and emulate your backups that you own.
It's a whole grey area that they wish didn't exist, but it does.
It's why they want to push digital forward, it's their loophole.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Before raging, know that Steam has the same policy.

IMO the only way that you can be 100% sure that you own a game is:

A) you have a physical copy in your possession (or at least a full DRM-free install on your drive) AND
B) You can play it offline.

If you answered "No" to either A or B, you do not really own the game.

B) is kind of a tough feature to have for an online-only game like The Crew.

Game servers lasted a surprising 10 years. I didn't even think it released that far back.

 

[GHG]

And some wonder why so many people don't give a shit if Ubisoft ultimately go under.

 

[Guilty_AI]

If Steam bans your account, you lose access to your purchases, correct?

Steam has multiple layers of "banning", some for forums, for specific multiplayer games, from the trade market, etc. The one where you'd lose access to your games (assuming you didn't download them), would be an account suspension which is actually pretty rare, usually done against straight up illegal activity or smurf accounts. But yes, they could still technically do it.

As mentioned before, the only sure-fire way of 'owning' your game digitally is to have a local install of a DRM-Free (or DRM bypassed) game.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Yeah it's true. In fact, they recently have a disclaimer when you buy a game that you only have the license and not the actual game.

Yes but what does it say about them revoking these licenses?

It's worth mentioning that disclaimer was very likely added due to a new california law that requires digital licenses to be clearly stated as so upon purchase. None of their terms changed from before.

 

[Denton]

Before raging

Fuck off?

Steam may "technically" have that policy, but Steam is not shutting down our games. And in fact Steam sells thousands of DRM-free games, DRM is completely up to the developer.

Meanwhile Ubisoft literally stole a game with singleplayer story campaign from people who bought it - myself included.

I will never buy fullpriced Ubisoft game again.

 

[winjer]

And this is one of the main reasons why I avoid buying games at full price.
With Ubisoft, I'm already so used to not owning their games, that I haven't bought anything from them in several years.

 

[lughnasadh123]

That familiar feeling being an old time PC MMO player.

 

[DanielG165]

Nintendo made that pretty clear a few days ago, I feel.

 

[wipeout364]

They should pass a copyright law that puts software/code into the public domain once it is no longer usable or accessible by license holders.

 

[forsakkenSoul]

Ubisoft has made it clear, lawyers claimed, that when you buy a copy of The Crew, you're merely buying a limited access license.

It's explicit in the contract you agree when you buy the game, if I'm not mistaken, that you're only buying a license for it.

Ubisoft should have created a way for people to continue playing The Crew offline. It would have been the least they could have done.

 

[chromhound]

What the hell