Assassin's Creed publisher Ubisoft facing lawsuit for shutting down game

https://www.gamingbible.com/news/platform/assassins-creed-ubisoft-facing-lawsuit-from-fan-568060-20240122

by bookofjoe • 2 years ago

69 55 2 years ago

ado__dev• 2 years ago

I feel like game companies should have to disclose the minimum length they're going to keep the servers running for a game before release. Be it 12 months, 3 years, 10 years, but the consumer should have that knowledge before making a purchase.

kevincox4• 2 years ago

IMHO all products should have this spelt out.

If it is internet facing how long will it receive security updates for?

If it uses online services how long will they be maintained for and what functionality will be lost when they shut down?

If these promises are broken the user should get a full refund (or even more compensation).

Eric_WVGG• 2 years ago

I think it'd be acceptable to see the necessary server code to be open-sourced, if for no other reason than to get the APIs reverse-engineered (weren't some Blizzard servers like World of Warcraft and Starcraft figured out a very long ago?)

An even bigger issue is discontinued servers for hardware that winds up in the landfill. I have three perfectly good "smart plugs" that went dark about a month ago. Supposedly Matter will solve this, but I see no reason why better consumer protections shouldn't be in place.

brianwawok2• 2 years ago

Okay but how can you promise that?

I run Acme Inc making IOT devices. I say 10 year guaranteed support. I go bankrupt next week, the company doesn't exist. Who is keeping the servers running exactly?

keyringlight• 2 years ago

Another issue I've thought about is a lot of the time a company doesn't just go bankrupt and then everything suddenly ceases to exist, parts get bought by other companies. Will there be a transfer of this liability to continue service as part of buying anything connected to it, or otherwise that they must release the crown jewels that may undermine the value in buying it.

Even in the case where it does trigger a public domain release, when the company is shutting and staff are trying to find new jobs, are they going to spend the time auditing they are able to release it?

I all seems like wishful thinking by gamers where their 'skin in the game' might be $60, or less if they got it on sale or a free to play title, or a trail of microtransactions that presumably they want to keep online but wasn't enough to keep the game going.

gs175• 2 years ago

It's ridiculous that the responsibility falls to the consumer to even be aware that this is a possibility. I don't think most people understand a game labeled "Internet connection required" is really saying "Developer-hosted server required", so someone could pick up a physical copy of The Crew a few months from now, say "no problem, I have Internet", and not be able to play the single-player game (The Crew does have multi-player, but the appeal to me seems to be the single-player campaign) they thought they had bought.

kevincox4• 2 years ago

a game labeled "Internet connection required" is really saying "Developer-hosted server required"

Because it literally isn't saying that! It is hinting at it.

Having an internet connection is a subset of the requirement to access to the developer-hosted server. If the actual requirement is "Must have access via the internet to a service that we run but may shut down whenever we feel like it won't harm our reputation too much" then that is what they should write.

themoonisachees3• 2 years ago

Leave it to game companies to all say 1 month and always going over, right until they don't want to anymore.

gs175• 2 years ago

I would expect the Ubisofts and EAs of the world to give a year (just enough time for you to buy the next installment on release!) with a "better" studios giving relatively long guarantees.

josephg2• 2 years ago

Amazing.

But as people embrace [the model of subscription video games], they will see that these games will exist, the service will continue, and you'll be able to access them when you feel like. Thats reassuring.

-- The Ubisoft director of subscriptions just the other day.

What is going on at Ubisoft? Is it incompetence? Like, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing?

They do understand how terrible this looks, right?

Right?

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF2• 2 years ago

No, see, you don't understand. The users needed to keep paying for the service in order for it to stay up. It's their fault that the service ended; Ubisoft is just trying to run a business.

Anyway, I kinda get the point of view even if I dislike it. People really do continue to buy the newest CoD and sport franchise games despite the predatory monetization. Those are the people who are predicted to "embrace" their business model. And Ubisoft may actually keep some services running, though I suspect it will be only after they've sufficiently perfected the ~gambling~ ~Skinner box[0]~ ~money-grabbing~ gaming experience.

0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning_chamber

josephg2• 2 years ago

Yeah; maybe that is the point of "Subscription" gaming.

Netflix frequently removes shows from their collection. Maybe they don't want us to pay for - and own - specific games. Maybe the idea is to convince us to pay $10/month for access to Ubisoft's "complete" collection of titles, with new games coming out regularly and old games being retired at a steady rate.

That would surely mean, not paying sticker price for a new game, right Ubisoft? Riiight?

Even with music I'm increasingly missing my old CD library. I miss knowing that I'll always be able to play my favorite songs even if some music lawyers have a fight, or my internet connection drops out. The subscription economy sure seems brittle.

em-bee• 2 years ago

when myst online was going to shut down, the players rallied together to fund the operation. i don't know the details, but from what i know the company listened and set up a donation meter to share the funding status of the server operation. the servers will keep running as long as there is enough funding to keep the people needed for that. if there is additional funding they may spend that on features and bugfixes. they also allow community contributions, and i think the first of those contributions have gone live not to long ago.

in the end i think besides releasing the sources this kind of crowdfunding is the most likely way how an online game can be kept alive.

delichon• 2 years ago

God bless and long live and please never betray us Larian Studios. The large success of Baldur's Gate 3 is a large contrast to Ubisoft and underlines the lie that this is necessary.

seoulmetro• 2 years ago

Larian Studios is a tiny developer. These sorts of things only happen to big developers/publishers who've grown too large and bloated.

tnecniv• 2 years ago

It’s been at least a decade since I’ve felt Ubisoft has had their shit together.

perihelions• 2 years ago

Here's a related story (an interview with an Ubisoft person about this (broadly) topic),

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/the-new-ubisoft-and-getting-ga... ("The new Ubisoft+ and getting gamers comfortable with not owning their games")

- "We looked at the consumer behaviour and how people were interacting with our offer and we saw an opportunity for us to evolve," explains Philippe Tremblay, director of subscriptions at Ubisoft."

- "[...] One of the things we saw is that gamers are used to, a little bit like DVD, having and owning their games. That's the consumer shift that needs to happen. They got comfortable not owning their CD collection or DVD collection. That's a transformation that's been a bit slower to happen [in games]. As gamers grow comfortable in that aspect… you don't lose your progress. If you resume your game at another time, your progress file is still there. That's not been deleted. You don't lose what you've built in the game or your engagement with the game. So it's about feeling comfortable with not owning your game."

squigz• 2 years ago

Of course we got comfortable not owning massive disk collections. What we're still not comfortable with is not owning the things we buy, no matter the medium they arrive on.

DaiPlusPlus3• 2 years ago

That's not been deleted. You don't lose what you've built in the game or your engagement with the game

...but that's exactly what happened.

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF2• 2 years ago

That's the consumer shift that needs to happen.

This line is really telling of our "digital feudalism" future. I get that the audience is investors and other people who regularly wear suits and that "needs to happen" is leaving unsaid "in order for this to be a viable business". Still, once upon a time the line was "the customer is always right" and here's how we'll be what they want us to be.

bookofjoe3• 2 years ago

Of course, this opens up a HUGE can of worms re: software updates: should companies be forced to keep ancient devices working forever?

josephcsible• 2 years ago

No, just until it's no longer commercially valuable, defined by when they're willing to release all of their source code for both client and server.

bookofjoe3• 2 years ago

So Apple should do this for iPhones/iPads/Macs that can no longer be updated? Full disclosure: I have MANY such devices.

DaiPlusPlus3• 2 years ago

It's not a huge can of worms, it's just a logical extension of existing laws for warranties on consumer products: No-one is saying things must last forever, but that things must be supported (i.e. updates, security, etc) for at-least the statutory minimum on warranties (which is two years in the EU+UK+etc) - and that the length of the supported lifespan should be clearly displayed when purchasing.

It's nothing controversial at all.

pmontra• 2 years ago

And yet I can put a Gran Turismo DVD in my old PS2 (was that GT4 or GT5?) and play with it. No networking (it never had that) but perfectly playable.

If your game needs a server to be played, you also sell the server. Somebody will put it on a machine somewhere and manage it. I have no direct experience of Minecraft but it used to be more or less like that, right?

JZerf• 2 years ago

Gran Turismo 4 was the last Gran Turismo for the PS2. It also did support networking for LAN gameplay but networking isn't required to play the game.

themoonisachees3• 2 years ago

Minecraft can work perfectly well without a central server, provided you have downloaded the game. They do have an authentication scheme to tell the server you own a legit copy of the game, but if that were to go down, the game would still be playable. Server software includes a "online mode" property that can easily be set to false to accept all clients regardless of central auth status. This of course opens a new can of worms but there are solutions that already exist.

vivzkestrel2• 2 years ago

You remember how we can still play 15 year old Ubisoft games without servers because they all added LAN? Pepperidge Farm remembers but on a serious note? what happened? why has everyone stopped adding LAN to their games? Why do I have to rely on shitty online only servers from game publishers who pull the rug on every game after 5-10 years. We need a new LAW that forces game companies to open source their games after 20 years and to add LAN to the game after 10 years. Making it unplayable should be unacceptable

gs175• 2 years ago

This case is more egregious than not having LAN in a multiplayer game. The Crew has always online single-player, allegedly with an offline mode simply disabled.

vivzkestrel2• 2 years ago

my point is geared towards in general like The Crew is not the only game getting shut down, have you seen the list? https://www.ubisoft.com/en-gb/help/connectivity-and-performa... This happens every year and they make a dozen games unplayable every year. This should be ILLEGAL without providing a means

diggan• 2 years ago

Why do I have to rely on shitty online only servers from game publishers who pull the rug on every game after 5-10 years.

Because LAN (and dedicated servers, by effect) allows people to bypass the publishers servers, and makes it easy to still play multiplayer even though the game is "cracked" (DRM bypass).

Most game publishers do whatever they can to avoid making it feasible to play cracked games, even if some of the techniques they use hurt players who actually bought the game legally.

i8comments• 2 years ago

So? They have a bad argument for not including LAN, IMO.

Also, LAN parties.

Farbklex2• 2 years ago

I've been at the Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition release event in Berlin. It was held at a Microsoft store with German YouTubers. Head of European Marketing for Xbox was there as well.

They couldn't play a multiplayer game because right at release, the servers were overloaded and the new version did not have a LAN mode at launch.

The whole purpose of the event was to have a kind of LAN / multiplayer gaming with the community and stream it.

brink• 2 years ago

They added a LAN server, and it's broken as it stands today. (Tried to play a LAN game with my brother and sister two weeks ago.)

It's broken and they don't seem to care, which is a huge shame.

softfalcon• 2 years ago

Money, money, money. Adding LAN competes with the service based, battle pass, micro-transaction model that rakes in the moolah.

There is absolutely zero incentive to add LAN to a game early, mid, or late stage. It does nothing but cost money and reduce profit margins.

As such, you will almost never see it on any large scale service oriented multiplayer game.

DaiPlusPlus3• 2 years ago

why has everyone stopped adding LAN to their games?

Ultimately, for business reasons:

1. A good LAN-play UX requires game/host discovery; solutions involving network broadcast will only work in small (i.e. home) LAN environments where everyone is in the same broadcast-domain - but this won't work in larger networks, which then means players will need to manually type-in IP addresses (which is acceptable for IPv4, but less-so in IPv6). Using an internet-based matchmaking and host/game directory service eliminates this problem when, and thesedays it's incredibly unlikely that a user will have a LAN available without Internet access. Internet-disconnected LAN-parties haven't really been a thing since ~2005 (excepting military/naval/antarctic scenarios) so the business-case just isn't there.

2. Providing technical support for games costs money; speaking from my second-hand experience with a major console game publisher: when a (console) game features LAN-play (with discovery/broadcast/manual-IP-addresses) it's inevitable the company will receive support calls/tickets from people having issues with their home networks that the company can't really do anything about; even if there's an explicit warning to users that the game's technical support team won't assist with local network problems they'll still receive those calls and need to triage (and reject) them, which all costs money.

3. The vast majority of a game's players aren't interested in such a feature; so when a game has a dev budget, it's just good business-sense to spend that budget on things that bring the most revenue, such as fixing bugs/glitches (which directly lead to bad IGN review scores and purchases legitimately demanding costly refunds) instead of netplay features (and omitting LAN-play isn't going to lose them that many potential customers; I suspect no-one already in the market for a AAA game is going to not buy it solely for that reason alone).

causi• 2 years ago

Products that rely on outside servers to function should be required to carry an expiration date until which services are guaranteed.

thadt• 2 years ago

Building games that you can only multi-play on official servers is short sighted. I started playing early-access ARK with my 5 year old who was super into dinosaurs. He's now 13 and still loves playing ARK with his friends. He was really worried to hear they were shutting down the official servers, but I reassured him that he'd still be able to host the game himself as he had been doing. We have a lot of memories playing that game, and I suspect he'll be playing the sequels for years to come.

When my current 3 year old wants to learn to play a game with his dad and brother, there are many choices - and I'm sure not going to get us into one that we can't play in a few years.

Assassin's Creed publisher Ubisoft facing lawsuit for shutting down game

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