Ubisoft Reportedly Closing "Inactive" Accounts, Ending Access to Purchased Games

Ubisoft users that don't access accounts for a few years could see them closed.

By Marc Deschamps

Update: Ubisoft has reached out to ComicBook.com with a statement, in which it specifically states that accounts with purchased PC games are not eligible for deletion. The company's statement follows below:

"For many years now, we have implemented our account deletion process in compliance with the requirements of the GDPR (Article 5.1.e on the obligation to limit the data retention period). Our policies are aligned with legal requirements and with the standards of the industry. This measure also acts as a protection for our players against fraud.

Account deletion follows a very strict process. As such, we take into consideration the 4 following criteria before an account is deleted:

  • The gaming activity of the account since its creation
  • The account's libraries: accounts that include purchased PC games are not eligible for deletion
  • The duration of inactivity of the account, meaning the last login to our ecosystem (including from Ubisoft games on Steam and other platforms)
    • In practice, as of today, we have never deleted accounts that have been inactive for less than 4 years
  • The existence of an active subscription tied to the account.

In any case, before the deletion is permanent, three emails are sent to the player over a 30-day period offering to restore their account. In addition, if the user tries to log in during the 30-day window, they will automatically receive a warning and a link to reactivate their account.

Original story follows below:

As publishers further embrace digital games, questions surrounding digital ownership continue to plague the video game industry. Ubisoft is the latest publisher to draw questions from users, as the company has reportedly sent emails to users with "inactive" accounts, requiring that they click a link within a 30-day window or risk losing access to their library of digital games. Twitter user @PC_Enjoyer has shared an email from the company outlining the requirements. Thankfully, it seems this is only prompted if an account has not been accessed in four years, which is something readers should keep in mind. 

The Tweet from @PC_Enjoyer can be found below.

As Ubisoft's official website notes, the company will "in rare instances" close accounts in order to comply with "local data protection legislation." The company's official Ubisoft Support Twitter account did reply to the Tweet above, noting that the company "does not want you to lose access to your games or account." Naturally, this did not satisfy a lot of other Twitter users, who cited similar concerns about potentially losing access to their video game libraries. In fact, the Tweet drew in a number of responses from Ubisoft account users that had similarly lost access to games they had paid for.

Digital ownership has been a hot topic in the video game industry for years now. While the convenience of digital ownership is undeniable, many console gamers prefer physical games for this reason, as it's harder for publishers to cut-off access to those games. Of course, that's not possible for gamers on PC, or for those with all-digital consoles like the Xbox Series S or the all-digital version of the PS5. Gamers that have built up digital libraries on various platforms should keep this in mind, and occasionally take a look at the terms of use to make sure they don't lose access to their games; while Ubisoft might notify users ahead of time, other companies might not!

Have you ever had one of your digital libraries closed by a company? Does this worry you about the future of digital media? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

[H/T: Video Games Chronicle]

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