Florida gamers are suing Ubisoft over consumer fraud and server shutdowns of racing game The Crew

In the spring of 2024, Ubisoft shut down the servers of the racing game The Crew, not providing players with offline mode, and it was removed from the libraries of gamers, without returning the money.

Such an act of the French publisher caused a wave of indignation, and now two guys from Florida have sued the company.

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Based on the law on consumer protection, gamers demand to recognise Ubisoft's actions and return the money to everyone who bought The Crew. They claim that the French company misled buyers by concealing that it sells only a temporary licence to access the game, not the product itself.

The plaintiffs are also demanding compensation for moral damages and asking that the appeal be classified as a class action.

Imagine you purchased a pinball machine. A few years later, you look again in the room where it stands and find that the machine has lost its flippers, ball and bumpers, and the screen on which your unrivalled record was displayed has been removed. It turned out that the manufacturer of the pinball machine had decided to break into your house and ripped out its components, depriving you of the ability to play the game you bought and thought you owned.

In addition, outraged Florida gamers said that Ubisoft's deception began with the physical editions of The Crew, as the discs don't contain the entire game, and are essentially just download keys from the company's servers and are useless without an internet connection.

Of course, it's costly for developers to keep the servers of their old games active, but a company of Ubisoft's level could care less about adding an offline mode. Note that after the scandal with the racing game, the studio announced that it will introduce such modes in The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest.

Source: Polygon