1 yr. ago • 100%

Ubisoft Can Delete Inactive Accounts, Making Users Lose Access to Their Games

gamerant.com Ubisoft Can Delete Inactive Accounts, Making Users Lose Access to Their Games

In a move sure to draw ire from players, Ubisoft reveals that users who don’t sign into their Ubisoft account could lose access to their games.

In a response to a post from the AntiDRM Twitter account, Ubisoft Support has clarified that users who don’t sign in to their account can potentially lose access to Ubisoft games they’ve purchased. The initial post from AntiDRM featured a snippet of an e-mail sent to a user from Ubisoft notifying them that their account had been temporarily suspended due to inactivity and warning that it would be closed permanently in 30 days. Responding to the ominous e-mail, the Ubisoft Support Twitter account stated “We certainly do not want you to lose access to your games or account” and noted that account closure could be avoided by signing in to the account again.

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Gaming @lemmy.zip Ubisoft thinks it's okay to delete your games library if you don't log in for some time

AssholeDesign @lemmy.world Ubisoft will delete your account if you haven't logged for some time (Even if you owned games in it)

114 comments

Unless they also refund the price paid for the game, this is theft (or fraud), and should be punished as such.

81
Oooh, I would really like to see that challanged in front of a German court after such a deletion happened. There are so many different legal facettes here.

Is the deletion maybe necessary due to GDPR? (they have to keep the minimum amount of data)

What's with the physical copies / codes that were bought. Should they automatically be freed up for re-use once the account that claimed them is deleted? (That would kinda make sense to me.)

What about stricly digitally bought games?

How far are their ToS valid in our jurisdiction?

Damn I really hope they do this to the wrong person and rub them the wrong way so they get dragged to court for this.
41
I knew putting Ubisoft on the blacklist was a good idea a decade ago. Everyone should blacklist them as well, just let them die as a company.

34
This is why I buy all my games on either GOG or Itch.

Yes, they definitely have their problems, but at least I can download an offline installer for pretty much any game I buy. Sure, GOG or Itch could still take them down in the future, but they can't take away the offline installers I have backed up on separate external HDDs.

24
The thing is, just like software subscriptions, you aren't buying a piece of software, you're buying the right to use it. You can be pretty sure that they have legalese in the eula that says that your right to use the software expires with non-use. I wouldn't be surprised if they can even let it expire by simple deciding to no longer support it.

And what do you think will happen if their license servers ever go offline?

For the longest time I never bought anything digital, but I eventually caved to steam. I still blatantly refuse to join other digital platforms, except gog where I can download the software and it works without any remote server.

Same for music: I refuse to use Spotify. I buy from 7digital and the like, where I can download either mp3 or FLAC.

23
People need to realize that you do not own the games that you buy from stores such as Ubisoft and Steam. You are renting these games at best. These companies can deny access to your games at any time they see fit. Whether it's deleting inactive accounts, a change of policy, business going bankrupt or any act of god.

This is why I only buy games from stores such as GOG or itch.io where I actually receive a DRM-free copy of the game. It's mine forever so long as I back it up; which is not hard to do since storage is so cheap nowadays.

18
So, if you want access to the games you paid for, you need to pirate them?

17
Yikes. Why... Going to have to hope EU saves people again from losing digital content they purchased due to inactivity. Or maybe it's a push towards piracy if honest paying customers get screwed like this.

14
If you are still buying Ubisoft games in 2023 you are part of the problem.

13
Why do people think they are "buying" something when in fact they are "renting". Everything that's not in your power is not in your posession, hence it's not something you have bought. This counts for ebooks with DRM as well as those online games. Amazon and other companies call it "buying" to make people believe it's equal to real books, games ect. in their posession, and people do believe it.

11
I wonder if this is an attempt at cutting down on bought or stolen accounts somehow. Buying or breaking into old accounts is a thing, so I wonder if this is their solution (a bad one I might add).

9
It's annoying enough that Netflix removes my account and watched history, after I go a few months without the service. But I still deal with it a couple times a year. This... this makes me just want to never touch anything Ubisoft ever again.

6
Well. This certainly has me reconsidering buying any Ubisoft games. I get that we just license all our entertainment now when we purchase it legally, but most companies are smart enough to not remind you of that fact and how easily they could cut you off from everything you've bought.

5
Isn't this a GDPR requirement if enough time passes without account activity?

2
seems i lost my games then will check it now.

1
You only pay to use it, not to own it

Similar moves come from microsoft and google

In the end, you'll own nothing and you'll be happy

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