Ubisoft is being sued by two gamers in California over its shutdown of open-world racing game The Crew in March.
A class action lawsuit spotted by Polygon was filed November 4 by Matthew Cassell, who bought The Crew from a GameStop in early 2020, and Alan Liu, who also bought it from a GameStop but in November 2018.
Both plaintiffs were "under the impression" they were "paying to own and possess the video game The Crew instead of paying for a limited license to use The Crew." This license over product argument will likely be at the crux of Ubisoft's defence.
"Imagine you buy a pinball machine, and years later, you enter your den to go play it, only to discover that the all the paddles are missing, the pinball and bumpers are gone, and the monitor that proudly displayed your unassailable high score is removed," the lawsuit reads.
"Turns out the pinball machine manufacturer decided to come into your home, gut the insides of the pinball machine, and remove your ability to play the game that you bought and thought you owned. Even though you paid full price to receive this game, you never knew that the manufacturer could come in one day, and, without your control, leave you with a skeleton of what you thought you paid for."
The Crew is, indeed, no longer playable. No version of the game, whether it's physical or digital or even if it's owned already and has been since it launched in 2014, can be bought and played in any capacity. Ubisoft has taken measures to create offline versions of The Crew 2 and sequel The Crew: Motorfest, but no similar action was taken for the original, rendering it non-existent.
The lawsuit seeks monetary relief and damages for those impacted by The Crew's shutdown but only time will tell whether it is successful. Ubisoft declined to comment when contacted by Polygon.
Storefronts including Steam are now adding an up-front warning to customers that they’re buying a license, not a game ahead of a Californian law going into effect in 2025. The change to Steam came after California governor Gavin Newsom signed a law forcing digital marketplaces to make it clear to customers that when they buy media, they only buy a license to that media.
It’s worth noting that the new law still doesn't prevent companies from yanking your content away from you, but at least they'll have to warn you about the true nature of your purchase before you click that buy button.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
