Ubisoft is closing ‘unused’ accounts, disabling access to purchased games

Ubisoft is cancelling “unused” Ubisoft Accounts, disabling users’ access to their purchased games.

According to a user on Twitter, they received an email from Ubisoft warning that should they not click a link in said email which would stop the account suspension, the account, including all purchased games, would be inaccessible after a certain period.

In response, the Ubisoft support Twitter wrote, “we just wanted to chime in that you can avoid the account closure by logging into your account within 30 days (since receiving the email pictured) and selecting the Cancel Account Closure link contained in the email.”

When previously questioned on this issue, Ubisoft claimed that due to GDPR regulations, the company is required to “close inactive accounts to comply with local data protection legislation,”

“This is only if we have strong reasons to believe that the account in question will remain unused,” reads a message on the Ubisoft website.

Ubisoft also claims that it won’t delete accounts with purchases attached to it for four years, although the above email sent to the user appears to contradict that.

The email has further highlighted the issues surrounding DRM and digital games. In a digital ecosystem, it’s entirely at a company’s discretion when or when they want to terminate an account, with seemingly very little recourse.

It also highlights that should a publisher like Ubisoft, who publishes several digital-only titles, decide to pull those titles from sale, even having them in your digital account is not a completely reliable way to preserve them, as accounts can be quickly closed.

The Video Game History Foundation, in partnership with the Software Preservation Network, has recently claimed that 87% of classic video games released in the United States are “critically endangered.”