A pair of Californian avid gamers are suing Ubisoft for closing down racing sport The Crew.
In December 2023, the writer quietly delisted The Crew from digital storefronts, and confirmed that the online-only sport would now not be playable starting this April.
“After nearly a decade of assist, we will likely be decommissioning The Crew 1 on March 31, 2024,” it stated on the time. “We perceive this can be disappointing for gamers nonetheless having fun with the sport, however it’s needed as a consequence of upcoming server infrastructure and licensing constraints.”
Now, as noticed by Polygon, two impacted gamers have launched a proposed class motion lawsuit accusing Ubisoft of violating California shopper safety legal guidelines.
They declare it duped shoppers “by telling them they have been shopping for a sport, when actually, all they have been renting was a restricted license to entry a sport that Defendants select to keep up at their very own noblesse oblige”.
Plaintiffs additionally declare the product’s packaging “falsely represented that The Crew itself was encoded onto bodily disks shoppers may purchase or the digital recordsdata shoppers may pay to obtain”, when actually “the bodily disks and downloaded recordsdata shoppers paid for have been extra akin to a key they may use to open the gates of this distant server, which Defendants may in the future determine to fail to keep up”.
The plaintiffs need the courtroom to approve the lawsuit as a category motion, and are in search of financial reduction and damages for affected gamers.
The swimsuit additionally notes that Ubisoft beforehand shut down on-line servers for outdated video games whereas preserving their offline options, as was the case with Murderer’s Creed 2 and Murderer’s Creed 3.
In response to a fan backlash, in September Ubisoft introduced plans to launch offline modes for The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest.
“We wish to acknowledge that a few of you voiced concern concerning the entry to The Crew video games,” stated Stéphane Beley, senior artistic director of the franchise at Ivory Tower.
“Right now, we wish to specific our dedication to the way forward for The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest. We’re presently exploring totally different options, and might verify an offline mode to make sure long-term entry to each titles.”
