Digital Game Ownership: Ubisoft Lawsuit on The Crew

 Once, buying a game meant holding a physical cartridge or disc, able to play it whenever we chose. But as cloud servers and online access become more integral to how games operate, the question arises: Do players really own the games they buy? This issue has come to a head with Ubisoft, which is now facing a proposed class action lawsuit over its decision to shut down the servers for The Crew, effectively making the game unplayable for its buyers.

The lawsuit, filed in California on November 4, 2024, claims that Ubisoft "duped consumers" into purchasing The Crew without notifying them of the possibility of server shutdowns. The plaintiffs argue that this decision left them with an unplayable product, as the game’s data was stored on Ubisoft's servers, not on players’ devices. According to the filing, Ubisoft "misled consumers by telling them they were buying a game, when in fact, all they were renting was a limited license to access a game."

Adding to this concern is the reality that some players who bought The Crew years ago were left out of Ubisoft's refund policy, which only applied to those who had purchased the game shortly before the shutdown. The game originally launched in 2014, and for long-time players who bought physical copies in 2018 and 2020, Ubisoft’s refund policy offered no recourse.

A new California state law passed in September 2024 is attempting to address these concerns. It mandates that all digital storefronts inform consumers that they are buying a license rather than owning the games outright. This law aims to increase transparency around game purchases and ensure that consumers understand the limitations of digital ownership. The move reflects a broader effort to redefine consumer rights in the digital age and address the implications of remote access.

The Ubisoft lawsuit and the new legislation reveal the growing disconnect between how consumers perceive game ownership and the reality of modern game licensing. For players, this issue raises critical questions: Can a game really be considered “owned” if access to it depends on a third-party server? What protections should exist for consumers who want to retain long-term access to their games?

As gaming continues to evolve, so too must our understanding of ownership. For now, buyers may need to read the fine print carefully, recognize the limits of digital licenses, and consider that what they’re buying is, in most cases, not ownership of a game, but rather permission to play it — for as long as it’s accessible.