Your Ubisoft account can be suspended and subsequently permanently deleted for 'inactivity,' taking your games library with it

Ah money.

I used to play Everquest, but stopped for a good spell because of life reasons (measured in years). I was really worried they'd delete the account.
Nope. Went right back in, and Because Curious, sent support a msg asking how long they'd keep accounts.

"We want people to remember the fun, and come back. We don't delete accounts."

This was forever-ago, so may be different - but I can't argue with the logic. But that's a subscription game, where your progression is worth a very large amount of money. If not to you - to someone else.

If the "account" is skins, mostly, then I can see why they don't feel terribly motivated to keep them. In fact, perhaps opposite pressure.
 
Pretty sure this is illegal in most countries. If you bought the game and have a record of purchase, they can be sued for a LOT of money and will be forced to settle to avoid losing millions of dollars. It won't even get to court because someone smart will decide to avoid losing even more money.

Look at the yahoo settlement recently. I got a nice $61 from that and you know that that cost them millions.
 
I wonder if this is a marketing ploy. You see this more and more these days where a company will try something outrageous to draw attention. Seems crazy a gaming platform would delete your library, who would patronize that policy, a gen Z'er?
 
M76 said:
I meant the one you linked: https://www.pcworld.com/article/559...games-it-happened-to-an-ubisoft-customer.html
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But if true that was a clear bug in the system or something that they rapidly changed (he didn't had a long inactivity period to start with). Like I said that type of code on millions of account can easily generated some false positive issues there, no reason to think he lied that he had title lost even if it is obviously possible that he would he does not even seem to provide the email of the purchase he made.... which would be the first thing you do to give them the transaction numbers.

I really do not see why ubisoft would want to ever close legit account of paying customer, they downside are obvious and how much money do they save ? The chance that anyone would ever recreate and account and repurchase the lost game would be close to nill.
 
LukeTbk said:
no reason to think he lied that he had title lost even if it is obviously possible that he would he does not even seem to provide the email of the purchase he made.... which would be the first thing you do to give them the transaction numbers.
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It happened to me recently with another company that I lost the email address I used to sign up and pay for the service. I tried to contact them to change over the email address, but they refused to play ball. They kept insisting that I provide the purchase receipt, but obviously that was tied to the same email account I'm no longer able to access. It all went to nowhere until I eventually gave up trying.
LukeTbk said:
I really do not see why ubisoft would want to ever close legit account of paying customer, they downside are obvious and how much money do they save ? The chance that anyone would ever recreate and account and repurchase the lost game would be close to nill.
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The same reason they shut down servers for games that are just 4-5 years old. If there are only a few players ii wouldn't eat much resources anyway, and probably would work unattended for the most part. But they value the $1000 bucks they save on server maintenance in a year more than continued customer satisfaction.

They have a lot of inactive accounts storing a ton of cloud saves and user data, I could absolutely believe they'd want to get rid of them to save a fistful of dollars.
 
M76 said:
The same reason they shut down servers for games that are just 4-5 years old. If there are only a few players ii wouldn't eat much resources anyway, and probably would work unattended for the most part. But they value the $1000 bucks they save on server maintenance in a year more than continued customer satisfaction.
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Running a server seem way more expensive and complicated than a customer database entry. Running a server mean receiving emails, seeing complain online when it is down, etc.. Inactive customer are by definition quite low maintenance.

M76 said:
They have a lot of inactive accounts storing a ton of cloud saves and user data, I could absolutely believe they'd want to get rid of them to save a fistful of dollars.
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Yes those with 0 transaction, I am sure it is not just because they feel they are forced by the Euro laws, they would want to delete accounts, but those of paying customer (very possible future customer that now are certainly lost) seem a bad strategy.
 
Just tried Ubisoft Connect and was able to log in and see my 4 games, even though the main site showed zero games.
 
Reminds me of a bank I used to use. It was the bank from my childhood home, and so it was filled with the money I had made suffering at Jimmy John's as a teenager. (yuck.)
Well, I eventually realized that they were stealing money out of my account each month, with "inactivity" as their justification for their theft.

Obviously I closed my account as soon as I realized what sort of wicked people they were, but before they closed it, they gave me the most amazing offer: "Well, if you don't close your account, we'll give back the last three months of money we took."

This is the way of the world. Either change it or smile.
 
I imagine my Ubisoft account is dead now. I haven't logged on in quite some time. Good riddance, they killed or dragged down several series and now they endlessly pump out the same garbage.

GoldenTiger said:
Hm. I had two ubisoft accounts and while I can login to them on the website, they show no attached games. I had a few older far cry and assassin's creed games plus Rayman legends on there! I also recently bought ac odyssey and origins on epic but hadn't linked them in yet.

I may just get a wii u copy of Rayman legends and pretend the rest never existed while not buying ubisoft games again.

We tried to warn against steam and digital game libraries that could be yanked at a company's whim, but everyone wanted the convenience of online :(.

Now it's been normalized and people hate physical media like blu-ray or cartridges for the most part. I still value them and buy blurays whenever I can... No digital streaming movie collection here. Better quality anyway especially on audio.
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BD would still be faster than a lot of connections, you'd need a 200+mbps connection to be comparable. Only the newest and most bloated games would be pushing capacity for DL/XL discs. As you say though, the masses wanted convenience whatever the cost.
 
I'm not sure it was the masses that wanted digital only media.

That was the publisher, just another way to try and combat piracy but also a way to eliminate used game sales. They tried making half of the games as DLC, so the resold copies would miss some portion of the game. But digital only is even better. There's nothing to resell. For several decades the publishers lost quite a bit to used game sales.
Digital distribution, even on Steam with Steam taking a 30% cut, is cheaper than physical media too.

If you have logged into the Ubi website, but didn't see all of your games, be sure to also login to the Ubi connect app and check there.

I bought Far Cry 5 and still haven't played it, for now all my games are showing up. Not sure when I am going to set aside the time to play that. Far Cry 2 thru whatever it's up to now, are all just copies of the same game, set in a new location. Go activate the radio towers, go ambush this convoy, go kill this person, go escort that person.

It's not nearly as good at making games as it was 15 years ago...
 
LukeTbk said:
a bad strategy
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That didn't stop ubisoft before :D

Running a server seem way more expensive and complicated than a customer database entry. Running a server mean receiving emails, seeing complain online when it is down, etc.. Inactive customer are by definition quite low maintenance.
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As someone who has been running multiple low capacity servers for 10+ years, they are pretty low maintenance as long as they work. But the user database at ubisoft is growing daily, if they can defer capacity upgrades by purging older inactive accounts I can absolutely believe they'd do it, even if it is a PR nightmare when it gets out like now.
 
Ahh so that is what happened. I picked up FC6 on the steam sale this year and I probably haven't looked at a Ubisoft account since FC5. That explains why I had to create a new one.
 
Guess I better log in since I haven't done so in two months.
 
I just have Ubisoft Connect automatically start up with Windows. It literally doesn't do anything while sitting in the background.
 
The online game "accounts" are something I've always detested. If I buy a game (or a movie, or any other content), I feel that I OWN that content and should be able to store that content where and how I like so that I always have access to it.

A cd allows that. I prefer bluray movies over streaming for quality and "ownership". Ditto games.

No...I don't want to go back to cd drives and all that, but used that as an example. I should not have to login to have access. Nor, once purchased, should a provider wipe out my content...for any reason.

Sometimes "progress"...isn't.
 
c3k said:
The online game "accounts" are something I've always detested. If I buy a game (or a movie, or any other content), I feel that I OWN that content and should be able to store that content where and how I like so that I always have access to it.

A cd allows that. I prefer bluray movies over streaming for quality and "ownership". Ditto games.

No...I don't want to go back to cd drives and all that, but used that as an example. I should not have to login to have access. Nor, once purchased, should a provider wipe out my content...for any reason.

Sometimes "progress"...isn't.
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Basically why I buy from GoG if possible. They go out of business I'll still have all my games.
 
In a new statement today, Ubisoft stated that it takes 4 criteria into consideration before an account is deleted:

1) the gaming activity of the account since its creation 2) the account's libraries 3) the duration of inactivity of the account (in practice, as of today, we have never deleted accounts that have been inactive for less than 4 years) and 4) the existence of an active subscription tied to the account

regarding the account's libraries, Ubisoft confirmed that any account that includes purchased PC games is not eligible for deletion...before the deletion is permanent, three emails are sent to the player, allowing them to restore their account within 30 days
 
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polonyc2 said:
In a new statement today, Ubisoft stated that it takes 4 criteria into consideration before an account is deleted...these are the gaming activity of the account since its creation, the account's libraries, the duration of inactivity of the account (in practice, as of today, we have never deleted accounts that have been inactive for less than 4 years), and the existence of an active subscription tied to the account...regarding the account's libraries, Ubisoft confirmed that any account that includes purchased PC games is not eligible for deletion...before the deletion is permanent, three emails are sent to the player, allowing them to restore their account within 30 days
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(breathes easier) Glad it was just another sensationalist news story. Thanks for posting that.
 
Hasn't this been their policy for a long time? Why is this news now? I know it was last year some time I got an email saying I was about to lose my account due to inactivity even though it had probably only been a few months since I logged in. In fact, I almost ignored it thinking it was just some kind of scam.
 
jobert said:
Hasn't this been their policy for a long time? Why is this news now? I know it was last year. I got an email saying I was about to lose my account due to inactivity even though it probably only been a few months since I logged in. In fact, I almost ignored it thinking it was just some kind of scam.
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It went viral on the X.
 
Good to know just incase I want to play that one lone game of SplinterCell.......

FFS UbiShit, how much user data takes up at your data center!? Not like players' game installs are on your side on the interwebbs. I haven't logged into my Steam account for years and they still have it.
 
jobert said:
Hasn't this been their policy for a long time? Why is this news now? I know it was last year some time I got an email saying I was about to lose my account due to inactivity even though it had probably only been a few months since I logged in. In fact, I almost ignored it thinking it was just some kind of scam.
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There was an article from last year I believe where someone complained about his account being deleted for inactivity. And people complain when I say Ubisoft is perhaps the lowest of the major AAA publisher/developers.
 
DrezKill said:
Ironically, the Steam version of Rayman Origins does NOT require a Ubisoft account or Ubisoft uPlay/Connect. There's no 3rd-party DRM at all on the game. Also currently $6 on Steam in case anyone is interested.

EDIT:

This article reminds me that I somehow have an Ubisoft account. I still have no idea where it came from. I have no recollection of ever making such an account, and I can't imagine why I would have ever needed to do so. No idea when I last logged into it, so I guess I gotta keep an eye out for a closure email. Not that I care. I have no paid items on it.
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I logged into my account via web browser. It says I have had my account for 14 years. That seems highly incorrect. It also says I own one game, The Crew 2. Also incorrect. I only played a free weekend trial for the game on Steam a couple year ago. I still have no idea how I ended up with an Ubisoft account.
 
hmm... I think? I had a Ubi account at one point.... but since I had forgot they existed to some extent... I assume it is nuked... I honestly don't care enough to try to find out at this point.
 
DrezKill said:
I logged into my account via web browser. It says I have had my account for 14 years. That seems highly incorrect. It also says I own one game, The Crew 2. Also incorrect. I only played a free weekend trial for the game on Steam a couple year ago. I still have no idea how I ended up with an Ubisoft account.
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You needed an account to play that demo.
 
even shadier companies like War Gaming dont even do this. If you made an account when their first game came out and never played anything, they won't remove that account.
 
Bigbacon said:
the PC gamer article was updated to say they will only delete the account if you have ZERO items attached to the account.
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The usual journalists making something go viral and get people worked up so they can get clicks. Kinda figured they werent just deleting peoples purchases. Would just be too much trouble in the end.
 
Armenius said:
You needed an account to play that demo.
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Yes, and the game of course uses Ubisoft Connect. But I had the account waaaaay before I played that demo, and I don't know from where, or why. In fact, I think it was when I was playing that demo that I discovered I had an account.
 
TaintedSquirrel said:
This shit blew up so hard they had to make a blog post.

https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/help/account/article/closure-of-inactive-ubisoft-accounts/000079595

Inactive Ubisoft accounts, with no PC purchases or active subscriptions tied to them, may be closed in order to comply with data protection laws after long periods of inactivity.

Accounts tied to an active Ubisoft subscription, or PC games that have been purchased from the Ubisoft store, are not eligible for deletion.
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And what about PC games that have been bought retail and activated by CD key? Because I know for a fact that I never purchased any games from the ubisoft store.
 
Almost every attempt by Ubisoft to clarify the issue seems to result in even more confusion. :D

It appears they've updated their blog post to stress that games needn't have been purchased from Ubisoft's store: "Accounts tied to an active Ubisoft subscription, or an activated PC game, no matter where it was purchased will not be eligible for deletion."
 
M76 said:
And what about PC games that have been bought retail and activated by CD key? Because I know for a fact that I never purchased any games from the ubisoft store.
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If it is activated by CD key and thereby bound to a particular account, that doesn't sound to be an issue. Heck, you can buy Ubi games with either a la carte digital keys or through Steam (or for the past several years due to foolishness, Epic exclusives) that basically also register with Uplay/Ubisoft connect, to say nothing for physical disc keys with stuff like say... early Assassin's Creed titles or the like. I'm pretty sure my Assassin's Creed 2 originally came on disc and registered on Uplay via game key (I remember that there was controversy because it was one of the first single player games where Ubi had a DRM that checked to ensure you were online every so often; I actually wrote an emulator that would eventually spoof such checks out of principle (and to see if I could do it); Ubi themselves eventually removed the always-online DRM requirement later on.

ElementDave said:
Almost every attempt by Ubisoft to clarify the issue seems to result in even more confusion. :D

It appears they've updated their blog post to stress that games needn't have been purchased from Ubisoft's store: "Accounts tied to an active Ubisoft subscription, or an activated PC game, no matter where it was purchased will not be eligible for deletion."
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This is what I'd expect frankly and the whole thing seems like a lot of shady controversy that generates clickbait especially in light of Ubi's response, but I'm glad they responded as they did basically saying this is a non-issue. There are a lot o companies that delete totally unused accounts, but especially for something like registering games I can't imagine Ubi would kick the proverbial hornets nest to delete accounts with games on them (even old games or infrequently accessed accounts etc) as it runs afoul not just of PR and gains you almost nothing, but also depending on jurisdiction has legal implications. What's more is there's just no real benefit to it and a lot of downsides ; its not like how they disabled the server hosting for some of their older titles online play modes which has a cost to keep up going unused (and were completely upfront about that happening as I recall ).
 
RanceJustice said:
If it is activated by CD key and thereby bound to a particular account, that doesn't sound to be an issue. Heck, you can buy Ubi games with either a la carte digital keys or through Steam (or for the past several years due to foolishness, Epic exclusives) that basically also register with Uplay/Ubisoft connect, to say nothing for physical disc keys with stuff like say... early Assassin's Creed titles or the like. I'm pretty sure my Assassin's Creed 2 originally came on disc and registered on Uplay via game key (I remember that there was controversy because it was one of the first single player games where Ubi had a DRM that checked to ensure you were online every so often; I actually wrote an emulator that would eventually spoof such checks out of principle (and to see if I could do it); Ubi themselves eventually removed the always-online DRM requirement later on.
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I don't know what do you mean. Yeah you can buy games elsewhere, that is exactly the point. That is why I raise an eyebrow that they specified accounts that purchased games from the ubisoft store, and not all accounts that have games tied to it regardless of where they were obtained from.
 
M76 said:
I don't know what do you mean. Yeah you can buy games elsewhere, that is exactly the point. That is why I raise an eyebrow that they specified accounts that purchased games from the ubisoft store, and not all accounts that have games tied to it regardless of where they were obtained from.
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That's probably why they updated it for the sake of clarity. However even prior to that update, my point was that it was highly likely the intent was that CD keys "counted" under the previous description as any Ubi account that had a PC game CD key from a physical product would qualify; the process of registering the CD key would associate it with the account in the same way that purchasing a digital copy directly would do so.
 
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