Ubisoft is closing inactive accounts, do you really risk losing your games?

Perhaps you too have received an email from Ubisoft asking you to log into your account or risk losing your account. It looks like phishing, but no, it’s official: Ubisoft wants to remove inactive accounts from its database and, by extension, access to associated games. AntiDRM Twitter account posted a screenshot of the received email and Ubisoft confirms it’s genuine. In this process, many internet users testified, some of which were to say: their account was already deleted.

Systematically, the firm replies:To regain access to your account and therefore your game library, all you have to do is open a ticket to your customer service.. This contradicts the page dedicated to the (voluntary) closure of his account: “[…] we will not be able to recover the account after it is closed[…]”, but Ubisoft does not indicate this on their exchanges. What is the purpose of the maneuver under these conditions? And is there really a risk of not being able to play the games we bought again? We’re swimming in a bit of a blur for now.

Can Ubisoft prevent us from accessing our games by deleting our account?

Technically, yes. A special page on the Ubisoft site says: “[…] To comply with local data protection laws, we may close inactive accounts immediately. […] We can also close accounts that have been inactive for a long time to protect our database. You will be notified by email if we initiate the closing process […]”.

The two reasons mentioned are therefore law enforcement (eg GDPR) and servers maintenance. The problem is that it remains pretty vague. When does Ubisoft consider an account disabled? In AntiDRM’s tweet, a context added by users makes it clear company does not delete accounts that have been inactive for less than 4 years. Concisely, therefore there is a risk of losing access to games associated with a Ubisoft account.. But in reality, this must be very rare.

UBISOFT will close your account if you haven’t logged in for a while.

You will lose all your purchased games forever. pic.twitter.com/exC78bUt93

— AntiDRM???? (@PC_enjoyer) 19 July 2023

This system for deleting inactive accounts and associated data is not new. Google has already warned that it will clean up on its part. Many online services have a similar policy. To avoid any inconvenience, it’s still best to link to accounts you don’t use often from time to time.. Especially if dematerialized products or important data are associated with them.