Ubisoft strips The Crew digital license from players

[kidson2004]

If you bought this digitally (raises hand) go to search for it online on the PSN, you won't find it. They LITERALLY took the game from players who bought it!! This could be the start of a dangerous trend for digital games as Devs can literally strip you of the game at any given moment without warning. This is a wild practice.

Edited April 17 by kidson2004

[MidnightDragon]

It's offline now, so not like you can play it anyway. Still, that sucks. Hopefully doesn't happen to anything I have!

Edited April 17 by MidnightDragon

[NxtDoc]

Everyone, look into Stop Killing Games.  It is a legal movement, and one of our few chances to actually get respect from Publishers.  

 

Just because the internet exists, doesn't mean they should be able to just take our purchases away.

 

The Publishers are so preoccupied with whether or not they could steal from us, they didn't stop to think if they should.  Thanks Jeff Goldblum

Edited April 17 by NxtDoc
Correction

[Dry]

18 minutes ago, MidnightDragon said:

It's offline now, so not like you can play it anyway. 

That’s true but still…

 

…there’s no good justification for a game like The Crew to be always online, period.

Edited April 17 by Dry

[MidnightDragon]

1 minute ago, Dry said:

That’s true but still…

 

…a game like The Crew should not have been an always online title, period.

Yeah, true. And as I said above, it does suck.

[LukeTheGooner]

wasn't this game apart of the latest ps plus games?

[ObsiEez]

Not the first time they've done this either. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood DLC, Assassin's Creed 3's DLC, & apparently even Liberation itself isn't playable on PC anymore. So even if you spent money on them, you can't play them. Honestly the fact that they keep surpassing their scummy practices time & time again is absolutely laughable & the fact that people still support them is laughable.

 

After all, according to Ubisoft gamers should get used to not owning their games anymore & they're doubling down on that.

 

Remember kids, it's ok to pirate an Ubisoft game. Encouraged even!

Edited April 17 by ObsiEez

[shipper321]

13 minutes ago, GoonerLukeThe said:

wasn't this game apart of the latest ps plus games?

It was on Extra for a brief period, yes.

 

What's funny with all of this is that my Steam copy still has all of the files, but I can only boot into the trial version. There's no need to strip the licence, whether this was due to the Stop Killing Games campaign or The Crew Unlimited private server group is anyone's guess, but it's still incredibly petty.

 

I've asked Valve for a refund, especially since Sony refunded one player via PSN. No dice, just a generic bot response regarding hours played. Usually if a game is revoked at all, you get a refund, or it's an open beta or technical test.

[HusKy]

1 hour ago, GoonerLukeThe said:

wasn't this game apart of the latest ps plus games?

 

That's The Crew 2.

[ZOLANTON]

This move and Sony pulling off the Stellar Blade demo last month from everyone's library is a sign of things to come. It's terrible that companies can strip you off a purchased product whenever they want, while keeping your money at the same time. People bought The Crew as a product, not a live-service, and now Ubisoft blatantly took that away from them. Be careful of the games you buy and how you buy them (physical or digital).

 

In the case of Stellar Blade demo for anyone that is wondering, it was accidentally released early on March and Sony pulled it off from everyone's libraries. It didn't matter if you were offline or if you had it installed, the demo would be deleted from your console and your library. It may seem as no big deal (cause it's only a demo), but Sony having the ability to do that is quite concerning. They didn't even pull this move for P.T. when it was delisted some years ago.

[alexandra-jane09]

That's why physical media is so much sort after and this digital only future isn't a good thing, it is still licensed but its not like they can knock on your door and take all your physical disks from you. 

[Mendarxis]

I do not want to offend anyone, but I actually find it pretty fun. That is the consequence of buying games digitally. That comes neither unexpected nor is it illegal. Everyone who had bought digital games should have been aware of this. That shit is the reason why I always buy my favorite blockbusters and also cheap games as a disc. 

 

And that game could only be the beginning. Maybe that is going to become a "trend"? 

 

I remember people smiling at me because I still stick to disc games. 

Thus, I cannot resist smiling at the people who have bought a digital only playstation and thus jump on Sony's money-hungry campaign. 

 

Remeber: You only buy the right to play the game as long as it is up in the library. You do NOT buy the game.

 

 

 

[Paleblood]

1 hour ago, Mendarxis said:

I do not want to offend anyone, but I actually find it pretty fun. That is the consequence of buying games digitally. That comes neither unexpected nor is it illegal. Everyone who had bought digital games should have been aware of this. That shit is the reason why I always buy my favorite blockbusters and also cheap games as a disc. 

 

And that game could only be the beginning. Maybe that is going to become a "trend"? 

 

I remember people smiling at me because I still stick to disc games. 

Thus, I cannot resist smiling at the people who have bought a digital only playstation and thus jump on Sony's money-hungry campaign. 

 

Remeber: You only buy the right to play the game as long as it is up in the library. You do NOT buy the game.

 

 

 

I kinda get why comments like these always pop up in similair discussions, but serious question:

Why...are you explaining this? For me, it reads like you endorse this practice and even kinda scold gamers for being "dumb enough" to participate.

Wouldn't you also like to keep the games you bought? (Even if I only bought the license 🙄)

 

It's not that you're wrong factually, it's just like, why defend this crap?

1 hour ago, alexandra-jane09 said:

That's why physical media is so much sort after and this digital only future isn't a good thing, it is still licensed but its not like they can knock on your door and take all your physical disks from you. 

I can, and I will. Gimmie your discs 💩

[ThatDrunkGuy]

Vote with your wallet...one more reason to never buy from Ubisoft again. I will call Sony soon to ask for a refund, and if denied, I will write a letter to corporate to explain why I deserve one. Mind you, I got the game for 5 bucks...but it's worth letting Sony know. Take games away, give me the money back or never get my money again.

 

[Riiszk]

5 hours ago, MidnightDragon said:

It's offline now, so not like you can play it anyway. Still, that sucks. Hopefully doesn't happen to anything I have!

While that's true and it ultimately doesn't matter regarding The Crew, unless you're some sort of digital game collector and want the app, this still sets a bad precedent. I can already see a future where it leads into playable games getting pulled from your library, or things that only need a delisting getting taken off you as well. Maybe even worse..

 

These sort of companies are always testing the waters and seeing what they can get away with while gradually taking it further and further. PS+ is also a good example of that. It reminds me of the fable about the frog and boiling water which I'm sure many have heard before. 'Drop a frog into a pot of boiling water and it'll frantically jump out. Place it into room temp water and very slowly bring it to a boil and the frog will be content in the water until it's boiled alive'. Let's not be frogs.

[Dry]

3 hours ago, alexandra-jane09 said:

That's why physical media is so much sort after and this digital only future isn't a good thing, it is still licensed but its not like they can knock on your door and take all your physical disks from you.

Worst case scenario…

 

…should a video game publisher ordering such wild actions become reality, I’d say they can suck my disc!

[Mendarxis]

1 hour ago, Paleblood said:

I kinda get why comments like these always pop up in similair discussions, but serious question:

Why...are you explaining this? For me, it reads like you endorse this practice and even kinda scold gamers for being "dumb enough" to participate.

Wouldn't you also like to keep the games you bought? (Even if I only bought the license 🙄)

 

It's not that you're wrong factually, it's just like, why defend this crap?

I can, and I will. Gimmie your discs 💩

I do not defend these actions, I despise the insatiable greed of Sony and publishers like Ubisoft. But my point is: It was kinda obvious that something like this would happen at some point. Digital only devices is the beginning of the extinction of physical discs. 

 

But you are right, I actually scold these digital only guys. No one forced them to buy digital games. They should have been aware of the risk, but they still support that stupid process.

 

As already said, some people made fun of me because I persistently keep buying physical discs. It is funny that their beloved digital games are apparently not as great as it seems if delisting becomes a trend.

 

But you are right. You should keep the game if you have paid for it.

[Paleblood]

7 minutes ago, Mendarxis said:

I do not defend these actions, I despise the insatiable greed of Sony and publishers like Ubisoft. But my point is: It was kinda obvious that something like this would happen at some point. Digital only devices is the beginning of the extinction of physical discs. 

 

But you are right, I actually scold these digital only guys. No one forced them to buy digital games. They should have been aware of the risk, but they still support that stupid process.

 

As already said, some people made fun of me because I persistently keep buying physical discs. It is funny that their beloved digital games are apparently not as great as it seems if delisting becomes a trend.

 

But you are right. You should keep the game if you have paid for it.

For me, the biggest issue nowdays is that both options kinda suck.

If I buy digital I don't need to have physical space for my game collection (BIG plus as I get older), on the other hand... yeah, delisting is a thing. A sucky one at that.
Also you need good internet connction to download these massive games. But this becomes more of a neutral point because you will need to download big patches anyway, even with physical games.

But if I buy physical, I need to install the disc first, to then load a patch, to then always have the disc in the system, to then needing to switch discs constantly and store them of course.
If I could play games like on the PS1/PS2 with discs I would NEVER buy anything digitally.

[KingSkovald]

Not sure why all the fuss about, people just need to read a manual how PS4 and PS5 works before witnessing another digital apocalypse.

Game is still available for those who purchased it, no one has stripped anything from anyone.

It's just a digital waste and +1 useless icon in your library anyway at this point, unless you like to come back to see its title screen time after time.

[NamoPh]

22 minutes ago, KingSkovald said:

Not sure why all the fuss about, people just need to read a manual how PS4 and PS5 works before witnessing another digital apocalypse.

Game is still available for those who purchased it, no one has stripped anything from anyone.

It's just a digital waste and +1 useless icon in your library anyway at this point, unless you like to come back to see its title screen time after time.

 

I'm pretty sure the fuss is about the game being removed from libraries entirely, so you're kinda wrong on that point. Worse still, even players who downloaded the Stellar Blade demo and had it installed on their consoles got locked out of it, which is the worst case scenario anyone defending this said would never happen.

[KingSkovald]

2 minutes ago, NamoPh said:

 

I'm pretty sure the fuss is about the game being removed from libraries entirely, so you're kinda wrong on that point. Worse still, even players who downloaded the Stellar Blade demo and had it installed on their consoles got locked out of it, which is the worst case scenario anyone defending this said would never happen.

I checked my library before posting that and it's still there. OPs problem is that he tries to search the delisted game in storefront rather than in his library and can't find it because it's... delisted?

For Stellar Blade it's a different story, just a fuck up on sony's side, they didn't want to reveal the demo prematurely. But IMO they shouldn't have done what they done, if you claimed it, it should be yours, it's their problem that this was released prematurely. Anyway demo is back and everyone can download it again, so not sure why the fuss is about...

[shadaik]

56 minutes ago, KingSkovald said:

so not sure why the fuss is about...

Youtubers desperate for views telling people whatever gets them to click, actual reality be damned, and people swallowing that nonsense as the one and only truth. So surprising...

[Dantes_994]

On 4/17/2024 at 8:34 AM, alexandra-jane09 said:

That's why physical media is so much sort after and this digital only future isn't a good thing, it is still licensed but its not like they can knock on your door and take all your physical disks from you. 

I'm pretty sure you still can't play the game because it is online only

 

also, people should really just vote with their wallets. Both EA and Ubisoft have been itching for years for their games to fail, but if people just swallow their crap and still buy their games, these companies won't stop. Plain and simple. 

[KingSkovald]

11 minutes ago, shadaik said:

Youtubers desperate for views telling people whatever gets them to click, actual reality be damned, and people swallowing that nonsense as the one and only truth. So surprising...

Yeah, I've checked the video briefly just now. It's funny how the guy is talking 16+ minutes about the game being pulled from libraries and how masons and illuminati are plotting behind our backs to steal our digital games and destroy physical media but never actually shows him trying to look up the game in his library to show that it's gone 🤣

[Conqueror0411]

my english isn't good enough to explain my thoughts in the last detail, BUT it's always the same.... something just happened ...now people complain how could ubisoft do this. They will keep doing it because people still give them money. Sure 10 people in the thread are saying i don't buy the games anymore, but first are you? And second the majority of people either don't care or don't see it happen.

It's the same with EA, they are releasing FIFA games which are basically gambilng games. 10 people complain, the majority buys the game

Call of duty, GTA it's always the same

You cannot stop would big publishers are doing because the don't care if 1 person or even 1000 don't buy the next release. The time games were developed for the gamers is long gone, i'd say since the start of PS3 / Xbox 360.