It looks like Ubisoft has removed The Crew from players’ personal libraries. This comes after Ubisoft shut down The Crew’s online servers on March 31, 2024, rendering the game unplayable due to its “always online” operation. While server shutdowns due to aging games are unfortunately a common occurrence, Players are protesting that Ubisoft has gone further and completely removed The Crew from their game libraries on the Ubisoft Connect platform.
Although the scope of the removal is unclear, it has reignited a heated debate about the misconception that we actually “own” the digital video games, movies, music, and other media we purchase. Seemingly, We pay a license to access this digitally distributed entertainment.
Also read – Ubisoft says physical games will never disappear in favor of digital
Ubisoft completely blocks access to The Crew game
Critics claim that by revoking access to The Crew’s files, Ubisoft is effectively stealing a product from paying customers. They also say the move hinders legal efforts by game curators to revive the online functionality of abandoned games like The Crew through reverse-engineered private servers.
This debacle follows Ubisoft’s controversial statements earlier this year that increased consumer distrust regarding digital game ownership. A Ubisoft executive claimed: players didn’t actually own their digital games and compared library access to video rentals from stores like Blockbuster; This view was not well received.
While Ubisoft offered refunds to anyone who purchased The Crew shortly before the shutdown, those who purchased the game a few years ago and find themselves faced with a deleted game today do not appear to have been offered any refunds retroactively.
From a practical perspective, The Crew is currently unplayable without servers. But companies’ policy of infiltrating users’ libraries and removing products sets a worrying precedent; especially as more and more games are adopting the same “always online” system of The Crew.
