Ubisoft will delete your account, along with your game library, if it's inactive for too...

[midian182]

A hot potato: Has it been a while since you signed into your Ubisoft account? It might be prudent to log in as soon as possible; otherwise, there's a risk of it being deleted and your purchased games along with it.

Twitter user @PC_enjoyer, a piracy and anti-DRM advocate, tweeted a very phishing-like email from Ubisoft informing them that they have not been using their Ubisoft account. As such, the company has temporarily suspended the inactive account and said it would be closed in 30 days in accordance with the Terms of Use.

UBISOFT closes your account if you haven't logged in for some time.

You will lose all your games purchased forever. pic.twitter.com/exC78bUt93

– AntiDRM�"' (@PC_enjoyer) July 19, 2023

The message includes a Cancel button for the user to keep their Ubisoft account open. Again, this all looks pretty suspicious, but the company's support staff later confirmed it's not a scam.

Hey there. We just wanted to chime in that you can avoid the account closure by logging into your account within the 30 days (since receiving the email pictured) and selecting the Cancel Account Closure link contained in the email. We certainly do not want you to lose access to…

– Ubisoft Support (@UbisoftSupport) July 20, 2023

"We just wanted to chime in that you can avoid the account closure by logging into your account within the 30 days (since receiving the email pictured) and selecting the Cancel Account Closure link contained in the email," the Ubisoft Support team tweeted.

News that users of Ubisoft's online store could have their entire accounts, complete with games, progress, other purchases, etc., deleted isn't going down well and has reignited the debate over how much control companies retain when selling digital items.

Like many others, Ubisoft reserves the right to suspend or end its services at any time. The developer states that it does not automatically close inactive accounts. However, as per its Terms of Use, there are instances where it may immediately close inactive accounts to comply with local data protection legislation, but only if it has strong reasons to believe that the account in question will remain unused.

Ubisoft adds that it may also close long-term inactive accounts to maintain its database, but "You will be notified by email if we begin the process of closing your inactive account."

As per PC Gamer, Ubisoft states in the voluntary account closure page that accounts cannot be recovered once they have been closed, which is why a 30-day cooling-off suspension period is activated before deletion.

The big question is how long a Ubisoft account must remain inactive before the threat of losing it and all your purchases looms large. According to a Twitter note, Ubisoft claims they don't close accounts that are inactive for less than 4 years.

Some commentators have noted that what Ubisoft is doing is illegal in some countries, even its home location of France, and that it feels like an underhand way to push people into buying more games on its platform.

Ubisoft, once voted the most hated video game company in 23 countries, is no stranger to controversy. Its decision to shutter online services for some of its older games across several different platforms last year, making some purchased content inaccessible, brought plenty of flak. There was also the ill-fated NFT experiment. Whether the company listens to the criticism and walks back its policy of deleting inactive accounts remains to be seen.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/99507-ubisoft-delete-account-game-library-if-inactive-long.html

 

[RudyBob]

Bummer Man

 

[loki1944]

So basically Ubisoft gives the middle finger to soldiers and private contractors/ngos working in remote areas.

 

[texasrattler]

My Ubisoft hasn't been opened in years. Go ahead and close it. It's not like anything was worth playing.
Maybe make games people want or better close that crap platform and sell on steam.

Hell even Activision and EA learned that leaving steam was a big mistake. Ubisoft going to learn it real hard.

 

[ID10T]

The ef? Are they thinking

 

[kiwigraeme]

I haven't played any of my Ubisoft games I got for free - though my email may be linked to PS4 games my wife played like Farcry

See if this posts TS real strange at moment

 

[godrilla]

What happens to the ubisoft games you bought on steam or Epic games store?

 

[Mr Majestyk]

How the fcuk is this even legal?

 

[torchyear]

How the fcuk is this even legal?

Unfortunately it probably is because of the Terms of Use we happily clicked on when creating our accounts.

Ref: Ubisoft Terms of Use, Article 8 (Section 8.2), last updated May 12th 2020
https://legal.ubi.com/termsofuse/en-INTL

Although I'm not aware of this actually being tested in a court of law anywhere.

 

[VariableSpike]

Unfortunately it probably is because of the Terms of Use we happily clicked on when creating our accounts.

Ref: Ubisoft Terms of Use, Article 8 (Section 8.2), last updated May 12th 2020
https://legal.ubi.com/termsofuse/en-INTL

Although I'm not aware of this actually being tested in a court of law anywhere.

You can write anything in a terms of use, doesn't mean it's legal, however it does mean you have to mess around in a court to prove its illegal first

 

[Jroc187]

My Ubisoft hasn't been opened in years. Go ahead and close it. It's not like anything was worth playing.
Maybe make games people want or better close that crap platform and sell on steam.

He'll even Activision and EA learned that leaving steam was a big mistake. Ubisoft going to learn it real hard.

intresting because all of Ubisoft games are on steam so I'm not sure what you are mad about

 

[JamesBlond]

Then they must pay us for what we spent

 

[OortCloud]

Oh no I wont be able to play Soporific-Generic-Open-World-Tedium-12 anymore!

 

[GoldenGoat]

This doesn't seem like smart business. People aren't going to want to buy stuff on a store that will take it back for inactivity of an undefined amount of time. This could cost them sales if it hasn't already. It is definitely going to make me think twice before buying more stuff on that store. There are lots of games I could play and none of Ubi's are must-plays in my book. This makes me feel like buying on Ubi store is a risk and I'd rather not take unnecessary risks. Ubi should really econsider this policy.

 

[hahahanoobs]

intresting because all of Ubisoft games are on steam so I'm not sure what you are mad about

AntiDRM, who originally reported on the issue, provided an update coming straight from Ubisoft support confirming that a closed Ubisoft account will prevent access to games purchased on Steam, too, as they still require an account to play

 

[PEnnn]

Thanks for the reminder to play Far Cry 2 and 5. I missed those games!!

But the policy sux green Wieners any way!!

 

[kira setsu]

Bummer,

but not a new tactic, in ff14 if you dont login for awhile theyll demolish your in-game house.

you keep the account I know, but its not easy to snag a crib in that game.

 

[WestleyTDPR]

AntiDRM, who originally reported on the issue, provided an update coming straight from Ubisoft support confirming that a closed Ubisoft account will prevent access to games purchased on Steam, too, as they still require an account to play

If I was Steam I'd be making sure I'm not gonna end up liable for games purchased through steam that have disappeared irrespective of EULA which probably wont stand up in court

 

[Uncle Al]

Happened to me in the past so I contacted them and raised hell. They immediately restored all of mine. No guarantee's for the future but it's worth a try ....

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Yet another reason to never buy the always online DRMed trash that ubisoft puts out.

If I was Steam I'd be making sure I'm not gonna end up liable for games purchased through steam that have disappeared irrespective of EULA which probably wont stand up in court

If I were valve, I'd simply ban all ubisoft products from the steam store until they reverse course, they dont need ubi.

Even better, issue an ultimatum that ubisoft preserve access to all steam purchased ubi games, really make ubi the bad guy here.

 

[DukeJukem]

Ubisoft should close themselves

 

[captaincranky]

You know what I miss the most about PC gaming? Stories about what's going on with "Star Citizen" these days.

 

[OinkySqueak]

Earlier this year Ubisoft deleted/blocked all my games because I wanted to correct my email address. They refused to update the email then blocked all my games. I sure won't be buying another game from them!

 

[texasrattler]

intresting because all of Ubisoft games are on steam so I'm not sure what you are mad about

Mad, I'm not. I don't even play ubisoft games or use that platform anymore. As stated, I haven't in years.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

I don't support any kind of digital DRM - be it for games, music or movies/shows. You never own the item itself and therefore it can be taken away anytime and you're screwed.

Look at what happened to the Sony when they lost the rights to distribute/play movies on their Playstation store in the recent past. Folks that paid for movies/shows (which, from my understanding, Sony doesn't offer as a service anymore - but those that paid for such things would still have access to them on their accounts) had some of them pulled (probably due to contractual rights) and are no longer accessible. You have now paid for a movie/show and no longer get to watch it.

That's why I don't buy anything that needs to be handled on a digital platform. Any movies/shows I want to own, I buy physical copies only - which is getting harder and harder to do these days.

Any games I get are from GoG only so I can download them on my side and I can freely install/uninstall them anytime I want. I don't have to be connected to the internet (after the initial download) and they don't require a digital platform to run from. Sure, I may miss out on some games I think may be fun to play because they don't end up on GoG, but it's not the end of the world. I have so many backlog games that it won't hurt my feelings if I miss out on some titles here and there.

Yet another reason to never buy the always online DRMed trash that ubisoft puts out.

Or buy anything from Valve or keys from other sites for Steam (or any other digital DRM platform). You never know when something like this may happen from other online DRM platforms.