Ubisoft sparks controversy by deleting game: A case of theft?

Like many gaming publishers, Ubisoft has already made a few mistakes when dealing with the community. Now the Assassin's Creed developer is pulling the plug on a game and is finally turning fans against itself.

Ubisoft shuts down The Crew: Shitstorm follows immediately

Ubisoft is finally putting the racing game MMO The Crew, which was released in 2014, on the sidelines. In this case, the server shutdown on April 1st also means an end to the entire game. An offline mode does not exist at all. Fans on Reddit now have to realize that Ubisoft wasn't satisfied with that: The Crew was even deleted from players' libraries.

Owners of the game can no longer download it. However, a message in the game library indicates that access to the game is not possible. Instead, the user should simply visit the digital storeto continue the adventure. Apparently in another game.

A potential fan patch that brings an offline mode would also no longer work. The Crew seems to have completely disappeared from tangible gaming history. For gamers on Reddit, this is absolutely unforgivable. The comments are full of angry players who can't believe such an action is legal at all. User Teftell even accuses Ubisoft of theft, achieving almost 2,500 upvotes (source: Reddit).

How legal is shutting down games?

For many Reddit users, Ubisoft has failed morally by shutting down The Crew to such an extent that they no longer want to support the publisher in the future. Whether the procedure is legal could also come under scrutiny. The “Stop Killing Games” initiative offers instructions for customers on its own website, to complain to official bodies about Ubisoft. The goal is to put an end to similar plans across the gaming industry. German customers are recommended to contact the consumer advice center first (source: Stop Killing Games).

In addition, the Pirate Party is also becoming active in the European Parliament. According to BR24, the MP Dr. Patrick Breyer made a request to the European Commission to examine whether whether Ubisoft is violating EU law here and what limits EU law generally sets for such cases (source: BR24).