Ubisoft

Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. 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 itself as a "AAAA" game company. This claim is debatable.

Anti-consumer practices

The Crew shutdown

One of the most significant consumer protection issues surrounding Ubisoft in recent years relates to the 2014 game The Crew. In 2022, Ubisoft announced the shutdown of the online services for The Crew, effectively making the game unplayable for many players who relied on its online features. 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 online functionality, found that they could no longer access key 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.

Executive comments

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 NFT's (Non-fungible tokens) into Ubisoft’s business model.