this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2024
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Ubisoft is being sued over The Crew in a lawsuit that compares the server shutdown to a bumperless pinball machine (www.rockpapershotgun.com)
submitted 1 day ago by ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net to c/gaming@lemmy.world
32 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

"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". As reported by Polygon, that's an argument put forth by a new lawsuit against Ubisoft, filed by two Californian players of The Crew. They're suing the company in a proposed class action lawsuit over shutting down the racing game's servers, rendering it unplayable.

Ubisoft pulled the ol’ snippy Johnson on The Crew’s server wires back in March, effectively killing the online-only game. The following month, it started disappearing from owner's Ubisoft Connect libraries. In response, YouTuber Ross Scott started a Stop Killing Games initiative, petitioning France's Directorate General For Competition, Consumer Affairs And Fraud Protection (DGCCRF) to investigate.

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[–] nek0d3r@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

I still fondly remember how Spellbreak just dropped the tools to run dedicated servers when they shut down. I don't think forcing companies to run servers forever is tenable, and slapping an expiration date on the games is less helpful than it seems. Would be nice to enforce distributing those tools on shutdown, but that seems like a difficult fight considering what right to repair looks like.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 5 points 22 hours ago

The oldie judges need some analogies they can relate to, nothing wrong with that.

[–] penquin@lemm.ee 88 points 1 day ago (1 children)

At least let people run their own servers. What fucking scum bags, man.

[–] chryan@lemmy.world 58 points 1 day ago (2 children)

But how else will they sell you the same 'remastered' game 10 years from now?

Think of the corporations!

[–] scops@reddthat.com 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Now I'm picturing a video game version of the Disney Vault. "Play now through the end of the year for just $129.99* before GTA 9 goes back in the Vault for another decade! *Not including Microtransactions, Online Pass, BattlePass, Totally-Not-A-Lootboxes, or Megalodon Cards"

[–] EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If they could, they would. But a lot of the time, they don't even bother to keep the source code of the games that they make. It's estimated that more than 50% of all games are lost to history because the companies that made them never kept the source code or a copy.

I remember there being a little scandal a few years ago when a remaster of a game came out and it still had the cracker's logo in it from the pirated copy they used for the source code.

[–] dragonfucker@lemmy.nz 5 points 1 day ago

Piracy is preservation.

[–] brian@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago

I mean they essentially already released it with The Crew 2. How else would they sell copies to the people who played the first?

[–] RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 82 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I hope Ubisoft loses.

[–] AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net 3 points 16 hours ago

I always hope that Ubisoft loses.

[–] Kaiserschmarrn 42 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Stop Killing Games

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago (1 children)

First off, I support both this campaign and linking to it. More awareness is always good.

However, as Ross himself posted, the problem with this comparison is that the "Stop Killing Games" campaign is aiming to end the tradition of simply turning off game servers. This Californian lawsuit, though not a bad thing, is very likely to simply change the labeling of games, which doesn't help the end goal of Stop Killing Games.

I want both to succeed and am not attempting to attack your post, just provide clarity.

For more context: https://youtu.be/sitLQg02Mn4

[–] DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

IMO if every such game came with a large "Playable until [Date]" sticker, a lot more people would care about preserving them. And just the market pressure may save a lot of games.

[–] OCATMBBL@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

I'd also probably care a lot less about buying them.

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

That seems like an optimistic but reasonable take.

[–] positiveWHAT@lemmy.world 39 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I feel like Ubisoft is like a European EA. But somehow worse.

[–] Don_alForno 39 points 1 day ago

"Why is EA the most hated American game company? Because Ubisoft is based in France."

[–] murmelade@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Ubisoft pulled the ol’ snippy Johnson

They... Circumcised it?