Readers may remember that a pair of gamers have been pursuing Ubisoft to court via a class action lawsuit over The Crew’s sunset and store removal, arguing that the move by the company broke California laws and was tantamount to various levels of fraud. Ubisoft has since filed a response to the suit, as first shared by Polygon, and it is infuriating, as the company’s lawyers have said the quiet part out loud: that gamers aren’t buying games but buying licenses that can be discontinued at any time.
“The gravamen of Plaintiffs’ complaint is that Ubisoft allegedly misled purchasers of its video game The Crew into believing they were purchasing unfettered ownership rights in the game, rather than a limited license to access the game. But the reality is that consumers […] were explicitly notified, at the time of purchase, that they were purchasing a license.”
The response also argues that the class action suit is applying a “kitchen sink approach” in its allegations of broken laws out of “frustrations” with Ubisoft’s decision to shut The Crew down “following a notice period delineated on the product’s packaging,” that the plaintiffs cannot claim injury because they got to play the game, and that the suit has no merit since it has passed a statue of limitations. The suit also points out how some versions of the game’s packaging provide “clear notices” that Ubisoft could cancel services at any time and calls the assumptions of buyers of a physical copy getting full access to the game in perpetuity “unreasonable and unfounded.”
Polygon reports that the plaintiffs amended their original complaint in March in response, providing their own examples of original game packaging that state the game’s activation code wouldn’t expire until 2099, leaving the original filing within the statue of limitations. The amended complaint also tacks on a new charge: that in-game currency broke a California law that stops gift cards and gift certificates from expiring and that currency meets that law’s definition. (Polygon’s link to that amended complaint has since gone dead.)
Readers may note that Ubisoft’s legal team is effectively parroting director of subscriptions Philippe Tremblay’s comments that gamers need to get comfortable with not owning their games, arguing it as “a consumer shift that needs to happen” in order for games subscription services like Ubisoft+ to become more successful.
