Summary
- Ubisoft has been accused of stealing from customers after revoking access to The Crew following the server shutdown last month.
- Buyers are confirming they no longer have access to The Crew, which is seemingly being removed from Ubisoft Connect accounts.
- The whole ordeal has once again sparked concerns over digital rights and preservation.
Last year, it was announced that the open world racing title The Crew would be delisted from storefronts and have its servers shut down in 2024, as developer Ubisoft claimed it was necessary to do so due to "server infrastructure and licensing constraints."🏅; With The Crew being an online-only title, it meant that the game was made completely unplayable when the servers were eventually shut💝 down on March 31.
Now, just under two weeks after the shutdown, those who previously owned The Crew are accusing Ubisoft of stealing from them, as there have been several reports of players completely losing access to the game after being revoked from their Ubisoft Connect accounts. has been campaigning to stop the destruction of games for quite some time, and has that they've been receiving several reports of people losing access to The Crew despite having paid for the title.
There are several people in the replies to Accursed Farms' tweet confirming these reports, providing screenshots of themselves trying to access The Crew but being told that they "no longer have access to this game." Right now, we can only verify that those who purchased the game via Ubisoft Connect are having The Crew revoked from them, but it's possible the same could be happening on other platforms.
Why Is This A Big Deal?
You might think that this isn't a problem, given that The Crew's servers have been shut down and the game is literally unplayable right now, but it's not a great look for Ubisoft to be taking away the digital purchases of paying customers, especially when you throw the publisher's recent 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:controversial statements abo𒉰ut game ownership into the mix.
Many also point out that just because The Crew is no longer supported by Ubisoft's servers, it doesn't mean that the game will stay dead forever. There are plenty of preservationists out there that work to keep online-only titles working long after their servers have been shut down, evidenced by the surge in the popularity of the Pretendo𓂃 Network, which has been working tirelessly to recreatꦺe the Nintendo Network to try and keep games such as Super Smash Bros. and the first Splatoon running online.
Ubisoft taking The Crew away from buyers deprives them of the game's files (which they paid for), and also stops preservationists from archiving The Crew and potentially creating their own servers. It's also very concerning that a publisher has the power to do this, as we slowly transition into the all-digital future that many preservationists are worried about. With Ubisoft pulling these kinds of stunts, you can see why.