After
shutting
down
the
game’s
servers
at
the
end
of
March,
it
seems
that
Ubisoft
have
now
begun
removing
and/or
revoking
player’s
copies
of
The
Crew,
sparking
outrage
amongst
fans
and
even
discussions
about
the
legality
of
what
Ubisoft
are
doing.

This
story
needs
some
context,
though,
so
let’s
get
to
that:
last
year
Ubisoft
announced
that
it
would
be
delisting
The
Crew
from
storefronts,
and
then
shutting
down
the
servers
in
March
of
2024.
This
wouldn’t
be
hugely
surprising
for
a
multiplayer-only
game
that’s
nearly
a
decade
old,
but
it
was
a
controversial
move
for
one
simple
reason:
The
Crew
has
singleplayer
content
as
well.
Unfortunately,
it’s
also
one
of
those
frustrating
games
that
demands
an
online
connection
to
its
servers
to
function,
meaning
when
the
servers
were
shut
down,
anybody
who
owned
the
game
couldn’t
even
access
the
singleplayer
content.

This
move
actually
sparked
a
Youtuber
by
the
name
of
Accursed
Farms
to
begin
a
campaign
to
defend
consumer
rights.
Using
The
Crew
as
a
rallying
point,
Ross
has
created

stopkillinggames.com.

“The
videogame
‘The
Crew’,
published
by
Ubisoft,
was
recently
destroyed
for
all
players
and
had
a
playerbase
of
at
least
12
million
people.”
reads
the
website.
“Due
to
the
game’s
size
and
France’s
strong
consumer
protection
laws,
this
represents
one
of
the
best
opportunities
to
hold
a
publisher
accountable
for
this
action.
If
we
are
successful
in
charges
being
pressed
against
Ubisoft,
this
can
have
a
ripple
effect
on
the
videogames
industry
to
prevent
publishers
from
destroying
more
games”.

Petitions
in
various
countries,
including
here
in
the
UK,
have
begun
circulating
in
an
effort
to
persuade
governments
to
look
into
legislation
that
could
help
protect
consumers.

But
back
to
The
Crew.
Following
the
news
of
the
servers
being
retired
and
the
game
essentially
being
killed.
various
people
began
efforts
to
circumvent
Ubisoft’s
decision
by
either
creating
dummy
servers
or
designing
unofficial
patches
to
remove
the
online
requirement.
It
was
hoped
that
Ubisoft
might
consider
patching
the
game
to
strip
out
the
need
for
an
online
connection,
but
Ubisoft
seemingly
never
acknowledged
the
idea.

Now,
Ubisoft
has
gone
one
step
further
in
its
destruction
of
the
game
as
people
have
begun
reporting
that
The
Crew
is
being
actively
removed
from
their
libraries.

On
Ubisoft
Connect,
people
are
reporting
that
The
Crew
has
been
moved
to
a
new
“inactive”
section
in
their
library
and
that
attempting
to
play
it
results
in
the
message:
“”You
no
longer
have
access
to
this
game.
Why
not
check
the
Store
to
pursue
your
adventures?”
Meanwhile,
trying
to
run
the
game
directly
from
its
executable
file
only
results
a
demo
version
launching.

Over
on
Steam
things
are
a
little
different
because
Steam’s
terms
and
conditions
mean
Ubisoft
can’t
just
remove
the
game
from
people’s
libraries.
But
because
The
Crew
needs
to
be
connected
to
a
Ubisoft
account,
people
are
instead
firing
up
the
game
only
to
be
told
to
enter
a
game
key,
a
frankly
dirty
workaround
to
stop
the
game
from
working.

The

initial
Reddit
post
stating
Ubisoft
were
revoking
keys
was
locked
down
by
moderators.
However,
the
main
Reddit
post
in
r/Games
is
alive
and
well,
and
the

Steam
discussions
are
currently
swarmed
by
angry
consumers.

Games
that
have
single
player
content
yet
still
require
online
connections
have
been
a
point
of
contention
for
years,
and
rightfully
so.
Games
like
The
Crew
serve
to
reinforce
this
point,
essentially
locking
people
out
of
what
they
paid
for.
Nobody
expects
a
company
to
maintain
servers
forever
and
multiplayer
games
always
have
a
lifespan
limited
by
the
playerbase,
but
it’s
a
relatively
simple
thing
for
a
game
with
singleplayer
content
to
have
the
online
connection
requirement
removed
or,
better
yet,
never
in
the
game
in
the
first
place.

Given
the
surge
of
people
becoming
more
knowledgeable
about
digital
gaming
and
its
transience,
and
the
success
that
stopkillinggames.com
is
having,
I
can’t
help
but
think
this
is
Ubisoft’s
reaction.

Eurogamer
contacted
Ubisoft
for
comment
and
received
this
reply:
“We
announced
on
December
14,
2023
that
after
almost
a
decade
of
support,
we
would
be
decommissioning
The
Crew
1
on
March
31,
2024.
While
we
understand
this
may
be
disappointing
for
players,
it
was
necessary
due
to
server
infrastructure
and
licensing
constraints.”

The
comment
ignores
the
fact
that
Ubisoft
did
not
state
they
would
be
actively
removing
the
game
from
people’s
libraries
too.

On
a
purely
practical
front,
removing
the
game
makes
no
difference:
it
doesn’t
work
anyway.
But
this
has
gone
past
the
practical
and
into
the
realms
of
ethics,
legality
and
fair
expectations.
It’s
yet
another
blow
to
the
already
tattered
and
torn
reputation
of
Ubisoft,
and
one
that
could
have
been
easily
avoided
by
simply
not
removing
the
game
from
people’s
libraries,
or
by
a
good-will
gesture
of
updating
the
game
so
that
it
could
still
be
played
offline.