Ubisoft is being sued over accusations of misleading players by discontinuing The Crew

A lawsuit has been filed against Ubisoft, alleging they tricked consumers into buying The Crew by not disclosing that the game could become inoperative if its servers were to be shut down.

The legal complaint was filed on November 4, 2024, in a California court by two players. It claims that Ubisoft misrepresented the sale of The Crew, misleading buyers into thinking they were purchasing a permanent game rather than a temporary license to play it.

According to the filing, Ubisoft deceived consumers by suggesting they owned a game when, in reality, the physical discs or digital downloads merely provided access to remotely stored data.

The plaintiffs argue that this misled consumers into believing they had perpetual ownership of the game. Instead, the physical and digital game copies only acted as a gateway to data kept on a remote server.

The legal action seeks to address violations of California state consumer protection laws and asks for financial compensation as well as class action status to include other impacted buyers.

Ubisoft had made the decision to discontinue The Crew servers by March 31, 2024. This was initially announced in December 2023 due to licensing issues and server infrastructure challenges.

As reported by Polygon, Ubisoft did provide refunds for recent purchasers. Still, because the game was first launched in 2014, those who bought it in earlier years, like the plaintiffs who made their purchases in 2018 and 2020, were not eligible for these refunds.

Meanwhile, a new law in California established in September 2024 mandates that digital storefronts inform customers they are acquiring a license, not ownership of digital games.