This decision will probably surprise many who enjoyed The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest, especially since Ubisoft shut down the servers earlier this year. In addition to the controversial move to close down the servers, they then began revoking the licenses to the games, and they delisted The Crew from digital storefronts last December. So far, Ubisoft has continued to make a lot of mistakes with this franchise, especially since it was one that was well-liked by many people.
While they are now trying to fix the situation by giving the games offline modes, the damage was already done when the servers shut down, as it also meant that any single-player content in the game was equally unavailable. By delisting the games and putting them in the “inactive games” section in the Ubisoft launcher, players couldn’t launch the game at all, no matter how hard they tried. For those who owned it on Steam, they were prompted to put in a game key, which, of course, many didn’t have. Ubisoft tried to cover their backs by saying, “While we understand this may be disappointing for players, it was necessary due to server infrastructure and licensing constraints,” as mentioned in a comment to Eurogamer.
Today, Ubisoft posted a statement on social media addressing concerns about access to The Crew franchise. In this short trailer and statement, Ubisoft officially confirmed the offline mode for both The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest “to ensure long-term access to both titles,” with more news about the franchise due to be released in the coming months.
It’s possible that this decision comes after Ubisoft began revoking the licenses of those who owned The Crew 1, as multiple consumer agencies began investigating the legality of the situation, with Stop Killing Games founder Ross Scott speaking out on this issue frequently on his YouTube channel and his other social media. The Crew was released as a one-time purchase, and there was never any notice about an expiration date, which is where the legalities of the situation become a little bit murky.
Stop Killing Games currently has an active petition to try and get The Crew’s situation investigated, as it had a strong 12 million-person player base. France has robust protection laws regarding consumerism, with the website quoting that “it’s one of the best opportunities to hold a publisher accountable for this action.”
Whether this means that The Crew will be given back to the players and get something similar like The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest remains to be seen, but it’s a start in the right direction.
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