Overview
- UFC-Que Choisir filed a lawsuit in France accusing Ubisoft of unlawfully stripping access to The Crew after a 2024 server shutdown that left the game unplayable and revoked owners’ licenses without refunds.
- The complaint seeks to challenge end-user license terms that treat a purchase as a revocable license and to require either continued access through an offline mode or meaningful remedies for buyers.
- Stop Killing Games, a consumer campaign launched by YouTuber Ross Scott, is backing the case, and the European Parliament has a public hearing on game shutdowns scheduled for April 16, 2026.
- Ubisoft’s stance, as reported, is that online game services cannot run forever and that maintaining them indefinitely is not feasible.
- The outcome could shape rules for always-online titles across the industry, pushing clearer warnings at purchase, offline fallbacks, or refunds as more games tie even solo play to internet servers.