Ubisoft has disabled online functionality in 91 games, some purchased content is now inaccessible

[midian182]

What just happened? Ubisoft has announced the shuttering of online services for 91 of its older games across several different platforms, including Anno 1404, Far Cry Blood Dragon, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six Vegas, and several Just Dance games. Anyone who purchased unlockable content for these titles can no longer access it on PC.

Ubisoft notes that in-game news and player statistics for the listed games have also been disabled. Moreover, any that used Ubisoft Connect services will find that Units and Challenges are now disabled, meaning players will no longer be able to earn Units by completing Challenges.

It's bad news for anyone who bought "ULC" (Unlockable Content), such as maps and skins for games. Ubisoft said that in addition to these being disabled—meaning they can't be unlocked—ULC on the PC would no longer be available even if it was purchased previously. Owners will still be able to access it on console, however, unless they reset their save game files.

Game	Platforms
America's Army	Xbox 360
Anno 1404	PC
Anno Online	PC
Assassin's Creed 2	PC | MAC | iOS | OnLive
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood	OnLive
Assassin's Creed: Recollection	MAC | iOS
Assassin's Creed: Revelations	OnLive
Avatar	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Beyond Good and Evil	PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Blazing Angels 2	PC | Xbox 360
Call of Juarez 2: Bound in Blood	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Call of Juarez 3: The Cartel	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Driver: San Francisco	OnLive
ESPN Sport Connections	Wii U
Far Cry	PC
Far Cry 2	PC
Far Cry Blood Dragon	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Flashback Origins	PC
Ghost Recon	PC
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
H.A.W.X.	PC
H.A.W.X. 2	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | OnLive
Haze	PlayStation 3
Heroes of Might and Magic 5	PC
I Am Alive	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Just Dance 3	Xbox 360
Just Dance 3 Greatest Hits	Xbox 360
Just Dance 3 Kids	Xbox 360 | Wii | Wii U
Just Dance 4	PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii U
Just Dance 2014	PlayStation 3 | PlayStation 4| Xbox 360 | Xbox One | Wii | Wii U
Just Dance 2015	PlayStation 3 | PlayStation 4 | Xbox 360 | Xbox One | Wii | Wii U
Just Dance 2016	PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii
Just Dance 2017	PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii
Just Dance 2018	PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii
Just Dance Disney Party	Xbox 360 | Wii
Just Dance Disney Party 2	Xbox 360
Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth	Xbox 360 | Wii U
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes	PC
Might & Magic Duel of Champions	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Might & Magic Showdown	PC
Might & Magic Showdown Paint Workshop	PC
Might & Magic X: Legacy	PC
MotionSports	Xbox 360
MotionSport Adrenaline	PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
My Fitness Coach Club	PlayStation 3
PowerUp Heroes	Xbox 360
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | OnLive
PureFootball	PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Rabbids Alive and Kicking	Xbox 360
Rabbids Go Home	Wii
Rabbids Land	Wii U
Rabbids Travel in Time	Wii
Rainbow Six - Raven Shield	PC
Rainbow Six Lockdown	PC | Nintendo GameCube | PlayStation 2 | Xbox
Rainbow Six Vegas	PC | PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Portable | Xbox 360
Rainbow Six Vegas 2	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Xbox One
Rayman 3	PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Rayman 3 HD	PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Rayman Legends	PC
Rayman Origins	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
R.U.S.E.	MAC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
R.U.S.E. Beta	PC
Scrabble 2007	PC
Scrabble 2009	PC
Settlers 3	PC
Settlers 4	PC
Settlers 6: Rise of an Empire	PC
Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom	PC | MAC
Settlers: Heritage of Kings	PC
Shape Fitness Evolved	Xbox 360
Shape Up	Xbox One
Shaun White Skateboarding	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | OnLive
Shaun White Snowboarding	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | OnLive
Silent Hunter 3	PC
Silent Hunter 4: U-boat Missions	PC
Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific	PC
Silent Hunter 5	OnLive
Smurfs 2	PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Spartacus Legends	PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Splinter Cell: Blacklist	Wii U
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory	PC
Splinter Cell: Conviction	PC | MAC | OnLive
Splinter Cell: Double Agent	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
The Adventures of Tintin	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Tom Clancy's EndWar	PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360
Toy Soldiers War Chest	PC | PlayStation 4 | Xbox One
Watch Dogs Companion	Android | iOS
World in Conflict	PC
Your Shape Fitness Evolved	Xbox 360
Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012	Xbox 360
Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2013	Wii U

Some games are only losing online features on select platforms, often consoles from two generations ago. Just Dance 2016 through to 2018, for example, is dropping online support for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii, but it remains on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U.

All the games' offline functionality and features will remain unchanged.

Older titles see their online support dropped all the time, though not usually so many at once, and losing paid-for DLC is always going to sting, even if you rarely play the games in question. Ubisoft never gave any reason for its decision.

Last week brought reports that Ubisoft was attracting takeover attention from private equity companies Blackstone Inc, KKR & Co, and others. It's unclear whether this is in any way related to the 91 games' online services being shuttered.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/94350-ubisoft-shutters-online-functions-90-games-purchased-content.html

 

[VaRmeNsI]

Scumbags

 

[NintPlayBox]

It's so damn criminal that these companies don't give game owners a heads up on which titles are being taken off their servers.

They just take them down with such disrespect to gamers.

 

[wiak]

Thats just dumb, no wonder people pirate

how is this legal? someone should sue ubisoft
*I bought a product with this content now ubisoft remove said content* or "I just bought this car with wheels and ubisoft removed said wheels"

anyway I just dont buy overpriced games at launch prices and I rarely buy DLC junk anymore

 

[envirovore]

It's so damn criminal that these companies don't give game owners a heads up on which titles are being taken off their servers.

They just take them down with such disrespect to gamers.

They dont have to.
Read any game (or software) EULA sometime, as it's obvious you haven't.

You don't own a game, you purchased a license that allows you to play the game.
A licence which you agreed to that states that the company can make any changes they see fit to said game, including suspension or termination of said game or associated services at their will, with or without notice, and without any compensation to user required.

It's nearly universal language in any game or software agreement.

Doesn't mean I think that's how it should be, but it is.

And I'm glad I don't 'own' any Ubisoft games, nor plan on purchasing any in the future.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

I didn't see it mentioned specifically, is online co-op/multiplayer being stopped, too? It says online services, but only really makes mention of unlockable content and challenges.

My brother wants to go back and replay through the Splinter Cell games in co-op, he keeps bugging me to play through them again. Sadly, though, we had a lot of connectivity issues when we did play them co-op and I doubt those issues were ever fixed since the games are old.

I have other games on that list, but they are old physical copies that don't have to be linked to Ubisoft so nothing else on the list impacts me.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Well, they just made a huge case for piracy... if I ever DO want to play those games in the future, I know the route I'll be taking...

 

[Dimitriid]

Some of these are on Steam so it's also bad news for Valve: their refunds policy is not really set up for this so they will have to manually make exceptions for anyone who owns these games since they should be entitled to a full refund, or at the very least the content purchased that's no longer available.

 

[m4a4]

Well, at least on PC there's an easy fix

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Some of these are on Steam so it's also bad news for Valve: their refunds policy is not really set up for this so they will have to manually make exceptions for anyone who owns these games since they should be entitled to a full refund, or at the very least the content purchased that's no longer available.

Steam won't give a rip. I have a game on Steam that I picked up and about 6 months later online support was pulled. Steam was like "too bad, nothing we can do".

 

[ZackL04]

It's so damn criminal that these companies don't give game owners a heads up on which titles are being taken off their servers.

They just take them down with such disrespect to gamers.

If they gave you a heads up, how does that help? Would you scramble to log a few more hours on a game you had all but forgot you owned? Doubt it.

Such is the lifecycle if digital media. Just make a mental note, anything digital is not physically yours, you should never expect them to host anything for the rest of your life. You’re not a “game owner” your just paying to play their game for an extended period of time.

This will only get worse as time passes, we are still in the infancy of digital media IMO.

 

[envirovore]

Some of these are on Steam so it's also bad news for Valve: their refunds policy is not really set up for this so they will have to manually make exceptions for anyone who owns these games since they should be entitled to a full refund, or at the very least the content purchased that's no longer available.

Why would Valve/Steam have to compensate anything for a third party developer doing what they say they can do in the EULA that the end user agreed to in order to use a product?

Ubisoft could choose to refund, but won't because they don't have to. Valve/steam have nothing to do with this in any way.

 

[Nobina]

You should always have this in mind when buying a game from the likes of Ubisoft.

If I deal with an unreliable person and I get done by him, it's on me.

 

[emmzo]

I, personally, own the Splinter Cell series and a couple of other games on the list, but I haven`t used the online MP in about 7-8 years and you can hardly find anyone to play online these games anyway. Offline is working ok, so, I`m ok. As for lost DLCs, there might be a handful of people getting upset for a map or for their favorite skin, but that`s all. I have never expected any online licensed game to be fully supported forever.

 

[Dimitriid]

Why would Valve/Steam have to compensate anything for a third party developer doing what they say they can do in the EULA that the end user agreed to in order to use a product?

Ubisoft could choose to refund, but won't because they don't have to. Valve/steam have nothing to do with this in any way.

It's their store, their transaction. Unless it was specifically purchased through uplay or in game that links to uplay, to my knowledge, Valve is still the store front for DLC content sales: that's kind of the entire point of them getting 30% they're supposed to mediate these kind of disputes between consumers and developers and publishers because well, they're literally the store that's what stores do.

 

[envirovore]

It's their store, their transaction. Unless it was specifically purchased through uplay or in game that links to uplay, to my knowledge, Valve is still the store front for DLC content sales: that's kind of the entire point of them getting 30% they're supposed to mediate these kind of disputes between consumers and developers and publishers because well, they're literally the store that's what stores do.

So what?

It's not their product, and even if it was there's still the same language in Valve games EULAs, that they have the right to change, and/or fully terminate access to the game or any part of associated services with or without notice and/or compensation.

That has nothing to do with a storefront, be it Steam, Epic, GoG, whatever. That is a developer/publisher deal, which the storefront itself must also adhere to (read: push the termination of services if the publisher/developer chooses to do so) if they wish to continue doing business with said publisher/developer.
Installing and using the game is agreeing to those terms, which is clearly stated, and why EULAs are now available on Steams storefront pages to review BEFORE purchase of a game.

But along those lines, read the Steam service EULA itself, you'll see that they're not responsible at all for any terminations of services or subscriptions provided on their platform, and you agreed to it by using it.
(Recently reviewed their EULA in full when a debate over whether Valve/Steam had the right to delete users downloaded Workshop content for games if it got pulled for a DMCA strike, turns out that yes they do have that right and they do not have to give any sort of notice about the content being removed from your machine.)

 

[Dimitriid]

So what?

It's not their product, and even if it was there's still the same language in Valve games EULAs, that they have the right to change, and/or fully terminate access to the game or any part of associated services with or without notice and/or compensation.

That has nothing to do with a storefront, be it Steam, Epic, GoG, whatever. That is a developer/publisher deal, which the storefront itself must also adhere to (read: push the termination of services if the publisher/developer chooses to do so) if they wish to continue doing business with said publisher/developer.
Installing and using the game is agreeing to those terms, which is clearly stated, and why EULAs are now available on Steams storefront pages to review BEFORE purchase of a game.

But along those lines, read the Steam service EULA itself, you'll see that they're not responsible at all for any terminations of services or subscriptions provided on their platform, and you agreed to it by using it.
(Recently reviewed their EULA in full when a debate over whether Valve/Steam had the right to delete users downloaded Workshop content for games if it got pulled for a DMCA strike, turns out that yes they do have that right and they do not have to give any sort of notice about the content being removed from your machine.)

You seem to think that anything you put on an EULA can and does supersedes the actual law and consumer protections.

It does not: You paid money for a digital product the digital store front makes available. If at any point and for any reason they decide *NOT* to make it available, then you're entitled to your money back.

This is why when it comes to full games, You can actually own and still fully download several games that were removed from the Steam storefront: Valve can stop future sales but cannot "Un-Sell" things people already paid money for.

If people paid VALVE money for DLC content, then VALVE it's responsible to provide the content. If they were stupid enough to take the money (And the omission) from the DLC content and not actually host it on their servers for download AND activation then it's their fault.

Their dealings with Ubisoft have always been very tenuous but bottom line is that if the product was purchased from Valve, then Valve said they're ok with having Ubisoft handle an additional activation of the product then the legal understanding is that Valve would need to refund the money if Ubisoft takes down the activation process and then Valve and Ubisoft can discuss or even legally fight among themselves to settle or recover that money they had to refund.

Sorry but just saying "It's on the EULA!" Is not legal or moral justification to side step the responsability: Valve took my money so Valve is responsible for delivering the product.

 

[Aceseven]

So what?

It's not their product, and even if it was there's still the same language in Valve games EULAs, that they have the right to change, and/or fully terminate access to the game or any part of associated services with or without notice and/or compensation.

That has nothing to do with a storefront, be it Steam, Epic, GoG, whatever. That is a developer/publisher deal, which the storefront itself must also adhere to (read: push the termination of services if the publisher/developer chooses to do so) if they wish to continue doing business with said publisher/developer.
Installing and using the game is agreeing to those terms, which is clearly stated, and why EULAs are now available on Steams storefront pages to review BEFORE purchase of a game.

But along those lines, read the Steam service EULA itself, you'll see that they're not responsible at all for any terminations of services or subscriptions provided on their platform, and you agreed to it by using it.
(Recently reviewed their EULA in full when a debate over whether Valve/Steam had the right to delete users downloaded Workshop content for games if it got pulled for a DMCA strike, turns out that yes they do have that right and they do not have to give any sort of notice about the content being removed from your machine.)

your response is why these companies pull this BS, they know gamers wont put up any fight.

if youre robbed, which this is, then you damn well should fight back, I dont care if all I get back is a nickel, its the principle of it. "so what" is just a loud beacon to these scumbags to continue fleecing people for whatever theyre worth cause they'll just roll over and silently take it.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

You seem to think that anything you put on an EULA can and does supersedes the actual law and consumer protections.

It does not: You paid money for a digital product the digital store front makes available. If at any point and for any reason they decide *NOT* to make it available, then you're entitled to your money back.

This is why when it comes to full games, You can actually own and still fully download several games that were removed from the Steam storefront: Valve can stop future sales but cannot "Un-Sell" things people already paid money for.

If people paid VALVE money for DLC content, then VALVE it's responsible to provide the content. If they were stupid enough to take the money (And the omission) from the DLC content and not actually host it on their servers for download AND activation then it's their fault.

Their dealings with Ubisoft have always been very tenuous but bottom line is that if the product was purchased from Valve, then Valve said they're ok with having Ubisoft handle an additional activation of the product then the legal understanding is that Valve would need to refund the money if Ubisoft takes down the activation process and then Valve and Ubisoft can discuss or even legally fight among themselves to settle or recover that money they had to refund.

Sorry but just saying "It's on the EULA!" Is not legal or moral justification to side step the responsability: Valve took my money so Valve is responsible for delivering the product.

You’re not entitled to your money back. There is no law that says this.

If I go buy a ps4 from wall mart and 6 months later Sony pulls support, wal mart does not owe me my money back. Valve is no different

 

[Tantor]

You’re not entitled to your money back. There is no law that says this.

If I go buy a ps4 from wall mart and 6 months later Sony pulls support, wal mart does not owe me my money back. Valve is no different

Walmart could be on the hook, it depends entirely on their contract with Sony. At a minimum, Sony would have to pay for violating their own maintenance contract with the purchaser.

Buyer have rights. Manufacturers and retailers cannot simply waive their responsibilities on a whim. They used to say that the customer is always right.

There's this strange attitude that Western leaders can do whatever they want. For example, the 'west' unilaterally impounded $300 billion dollars of Russian assets. In response to that theft, the Russian Duma has been talking about voiding all Western patent and copyrights. That would mean they could simply take any intellectual property they want. Unless the West relents, there will be enormous pressure from the Russian people to do exactly that. Pirate all new games. Computer tech. etc.

We're in interesting times.

 

[gamerk2]

Some of these are on Steam so it's also bad news for Valve: their refunds policy is not really set up for this so they will have to manually make exceptions for anyone who owns these games since they should be entitled to a full refund, or at the very least the content purchased that's no longer available.

Some of these are on Steam so it's also bad news for Valve: their refunds policy is not really set up for this so they will have to manually make exceptions for anyone who owns these games since they should be entitled to a full refund, or at the very least the content purchased that's no longer available.

Ubisoft games on Steam have been just keys that unlock the game on Uplay, unless that's changed recently? Haven't purchased anything from Ubi since Uplay came out.

 

[Avro Arrow]

This is the reason why I NEVER pay full price for a game, I only buy "grey market" keys instead. When you haven't shelled out a lot, it doesn't sting so bad when they do this.

 

[Dimitriid]

Ubisoft games on Steam have been just keys that unlock the game on Uplay, unless that's changed recently? Haven't purchased anything from Ubi since Uplay came out.

Who hosts the files though? I know you're right on the uplay as it's required to activate a.k.a. use the key on uplay but afaik the files are still hosted by Valve on Steam and you don't actually download them on uplay, which lands Valve in an unfortunate and pretty bad position.

But yes this is also why it's been like 8 years since I don't buy any Ubisoft games: I do have a couple of them on steam that were given away during humble bundle deals along with other games from other publishers but if it's just "Get this from Ubi" I just don't: I know some of their games like their Anno series are infamous for having a limited number of allowed installations so that told me a while ago that Ubisoft doesn't wants my money if they think I'll keep buying the same game just because I had to format my machine or upgrade my hardware.

But if I wanted and had a lot of money, I could buy games from Ubi on steam and them demand Valve and not Ubisoft refunds me and complain or even sue if they refuse because well, if you pay Valve and Valve directly provides the service via hosting the files after processing the transaction themselves then they're still responsible and liable for the sale.

 

[AMDGeForceRX4090]

Yohohoho

 

[Darth Shiv]

You seem to think that anything you put on an EULA can and does supersedes the actual law and consumer protections.

It does not: You paid money for a digital product the digital store front makes available. If at any point and for any reason they decide *NOT* to make it available, then you're entitled to your money back.

This is why when it comes to full games, You can actually own and still fully download several games that were removed from the Steam storefront: Valve can stop future sales but cannot "Un-Sell" things people already paid money for.

If people paid VALVE money for DLC content, then VALVE it's responsible to provide the content. If they were stupid enough to take the money (And the omission) from the DLC content and not actually host it on their servers for download AND activation then it's their fault.

Their dealings with Ubisoft have always been very tenuous but bottom line is that if the product was purchased from Valve, then Valve said they're ok with having Ubisoft handle an additional activation of the product then the legal understanding is that Valve would need to refund the money if Ubisoft takes down the activation process and then Valve and Ubisoft can discuss or even legally fight among themselves to settle or recover that money they had to refund.

Sorry but just saying "It's on the EULA!" Is not legal or moral justification to side step the responsability: Valve took my money so Valve is responsible for delivering the product.

Yes in countries with decent consumer protections, Ubisoft will get spanked for this. Because it's not legal.