Ubisoft has quietly started to remove The Crew from players' libraries weeks after a server shutdown that acted as a grim reminder of how digital ownership currently works.
The Crew is a 2014 racing game that closed its servers on Mar. 31, 2024, and when players launched their copy after that date, it took them to a splash screen. It then presented an error message when they tried to advance, noting that the servers were no longer operational.
Ubisoft Revokes The Crew Licenses
(Photo : Ubisoft / Screenshot taken from official website)
The video game company has now taken the extra effort to revoke The Crew licenses from players who bought the game and removed it from their library. People have reported that their copies of The Crew have moved to a new "Inactive Games" section.
From here, the game can no longer be downloaded and installed despite being bought. Clicking on the entry would show players a message that reads, "You no longer have access to this game. Why not check the Store to pursue your adventures?" according to Rock Paper Shotgun.
Ubisoft was previously approached for comment regarding the situation and they pointed back to their earlier announcement about the game's closure. The company said that they already told the public on Dec. 14, 2023, that they would stop supporting the game after a decade.
The company noted that while the decision would be disappointing for players, it was a necessary choice due to server infrastructure and licensing constraints. While the game is playable alone, it relies heavily on online servers to operate normally.
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As those servers are now offline, it has become unplayable for everyone, even for people who own physical copies of The Crew. Despite the announcement last year, some players still hoped that someone could reverse engineer the game enough to launch fan servers to keep the community running, similar to other defunct MMOs.
The general feedback from the developments has been far from positive as many took to social media to vent their frustrations. One user on Reddit called the decision "abhorrent behavior that needs to stop being legal," said Eurogamer.
Purchase of Digital Goods
Another user said that it was the saddest and the most ruthless decision that they have ever seen in the history of gaming. Many then turned their attention to the recently launched "Stop Killing Games" initiative.
The campaign was spearheaded by YouTuber Ross Scott following Ubisoft's decision to shut down The Crew's servers. The initiative is trying to mount political and legal challenges to the increasingly common occurrence of purchased games becoming unplayable due to the end of support.
Many users likened Ubisoft's decision to theft, as they had bought the game with their own money and received no warning that the company would be deleting their license. When the company made its December announcement, it offered refunds to those who had recently purchased the game.
However, as The Crew has been around for a decade, the refund offer would probably not affect that many players at all. It highlights a major problem in the purchase and use of digital goods as players are tricked into believing that they own their copies, according to Engadget.
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