Ubisoft

Ubisoft

Basic information
Founded	1986
Type	Public
Industry	Video Games
Official website	https://ubisoft.com/

Ubisoft Entertainment SA is a multinational video-game company, known for developing and publishing popular franchises such as Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six. The company has positioned itself as a leader in the video game industry, referring to some of its releases as "AAAA" games.

Relevant incidents

The Crew shutdown

One of the most significant consumer protection issues surrounding Ubisoft in recent years relates to the 2014 game The Crew. In late 2023, Ubisoft announced the shutdown of the online services for The Crew, making the game unplayable entirely, even the single-player content. The decision to decommission the game's servers was controversial, as Ubisoft retroactively altered the terms of sale. Players who had purchased the game, which was initially marketed with certain single-player functionality, found that they could no longer access said single-player features after the servers were shut down.

The decommissioning of The Crew also sparked a wider debate on the viability of "games-as-a-service" models, which Ubisoft has heavily invested in. These models often require ongoing internet connectivity to function and rely on servers run by the company. At any time, the company can decide to shut down the servers and the games will no longer be playable, as seen with The Crew.

Weeks after the shutdown of The Crew, Ubisoft also revoked the licenses for players off the Ubisoft Connect PC app, so the game was no longer downloadable.

Star Wars Outlaws forced update

Star Wars Outlaws was released in August 2024, with two editions that allowed players to have early access to the game for $110 and $130, respectively, approximately twice the cost of the game on release day. Ubisoft then pushed an update just before the full release that caused players on PlayStation 5 who had paid extra for the game as early access to have their save file deleted. Although the update was intended to fix a game-breaking bug, upon full release many bugs remained. This behavior also highlights an ongoing pattern in which Ubisoft releases an incomplete game, expects players to buy the game and act as the testers, and then patches the game later.

Inclusion of lawsuit-waiving clauses in game-giveaway license

In December of 2014, Ubisoft was giving away free licenses for a game, but with a catch: the terms for the clickwrap agreement in obtaining the game for free contained a clause stating that the user could not sue Ubisoft in relation to Assassin's Creed Unity or its season pass:

You hereby irrevocably and unconditionally RELEASE, WAIVE, AND FOREVER DISCHARGE AND COVENANT NOT TO SUE Ubisoft Entertainment S.A., and each of its past, present and future divisions, parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, predecessors, successors and assigns, together with all of their respective past, present and future employees, officers, shareholders, directors and agents, and those who give recommendations, directions, or instructions or engage in risk evaluation or loss control activities regarding the Campaign (all for the purposes herein referred to as “Released Parties”) FROM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY TO YOU, your assigns, heirs, and next of kin FOR ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, DEMANDS, CHARGES, LAWSUITS, DEBTS, DEFENSES, ACTIONS OR CAUSES OF ACTION, OBLIGATIONS, DAMAGES, LOSS OF SERVICE, COMPENSATION, PAIN AND SUFFERING, ATTORNEYS’ FEES, AND COST AND EXPENSES OF SUIT, KNOWN OR UNKNOWN, SUSPECTED OR UNSUSPECTED, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE PURCHASE, ACQUISITION, RENTAL, POSSESSION AND/OR USAGE, AND/OR THE INTENT TO PURCHASE, ACQUIRE, RENT, POSSESS AND/OR USE, THE ASSASSIN’S CREED UNITY VIDEO GAME AND/OR THE ASSASSIN’S CREED UNITY SEASON PASS ON ANY AND ALL PLATFORMS, AND/OR RELATED TO THE CAMPAIGN, WHETHER CAUSED BY THE NEGLIGENCE OF THE RELEASED PARTIES OR OTHERWISE.

Comments by executives

Ubisoft's CEO, Yves Guillemot, has repeatedly stated that "games-as-a-service" is the future of the gaming industry, and Ubisoft's director of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, said that players should get used to not owning their games. These comments have been met with criticism, particularly when juxtaposed with decisions like the shutdown of The Crew and the introduction of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into Ubisoft’s business model.

On January 15, 2024, Ubisoft's director of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, was interviewed by gamesindustry.biz. During this interview, Tremblay made the following comment on ownership:

"One of the things we saw is that gamers are used to, a little bit like DVD, having and owning their games. That's the consumer shift that needs to happen. They got comfortable not owning their CD collection or DVD collection. That's a transformation that's been a bit slower to happen [in games]. As gamers grow comfortable in that aspect… you don't lose your progress. If you resume your game at another time, your progress file is still there. That's not been deleted. You don't lose what you've built in the game or your engagement with the game. So it's about feeling comfortable with not owning your game."

California class action lawsuit

Polygon reported on November 11, 2024 about two owners of the crew filing a class action lawsuit against Ubisoft on November 04, 2024 alleging violations of unfair competition, false advertising, fraudulent misrepresentation and breach of implied warranty, according to California Law.

"Imagine you buy a pinball machine, and years later, you enter your den to go play it, only to discover that all the paddles are missing, the pinball and bumpers are gone, and the monitor that proudly displayed your unassailable high score is removed."

Ubisoft responded to this lawsuit with a motion to dismiss on February 05, 20205, also reported by Polygon, arguing that plaintiffs don’t have a case reiterating that fact that you don't own the video game you bought:

"The [essence] of the plaintiffs’ complaint is that Ubisoft allegedly misled purchasers of its video game The Crew into believing they were purchasing unfettered ownership rights in the game, rather than a limited license to access the game. But the reality is that consumers received the benefit of their bargain and were explicitly notified, at the time of purchase, that they were purchasing a license."

On March 18, 2025 plaintiffs  ammended the complain with pictures of the physical copy arguing that the in-box Activation Code for The Crew had an expiration date of 2099. Additionally, the game’s in-game currency could be considered a form of gift certificate. In California, a gift certificate is not allowed to expire.

Switch to subscription model for the game Rocksmith

Main article: Rocksmith

Rocksmith is a Ubisoft video game that got delisted from every storefront to switch to Rocksmith+, a subscribtion based game.