Octopus Overlords

Ubisoft responded to California gamers’ The Crew shutdown lawsuit in late February, filing to dismiss the case. The company’s lawyers argued in that filing, reviewed by Polygon, that there was no reason for players to believe they were purchasing “unfettered ownership rights in the game.” Ubisoft has made it clear, lawyers claimed, that when you buy a copy of The Crew, you’re merely buying a limited access license.

“Frustrated with Ubisoft’s recent decision to retire the game following a notice period delineated on the product’s packaging, Plaintiffs apply a kitchen sink approach on behalf of a putative class of nationwide customers, alleging eight causes of action including violations of California’s False Advertising Law, Unfair Competition Law, and Consumer Legal Remedies Act, as well as common law fraud and breach of warranty claims,” Ubisoft’s lawyers wrote.
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On March 18, the plaintiffs responded with an amended complaint to address the issues brought up by Ubisoft, and added an additional accusation — that Ubisoft is breaking rules around the sale of gift certifications, something they argue The Crew’s currency could be considered. In California, gift cards can’t expire — and the argument is that Ubisoft broke the law when The Crew was shut down, rendered the credits expired. The plaintiff’s lawyer argued that The Crew’s currency system meets all the requirements to be considered a gift certificate or gift card.

Replying to Ubisoft’s argument that the statute of limitations is up, the plaintiffs responded with their own photos of The Crew’s packaging, which states that the activation code for the game doesn’t expire until 2099; that’s an example of how Ubisoft “implied that [The Crew] would remain playable during this time and long thereafter,” per the amended complaint. There was no reason to suggest The Crew would shut down, the lawyer said, until 2023 when the game was announced to be shut down — so that statute of limitations is not up.