French Consumer Group Files Lawsuit Against Ubisoft Over The Crew Server Shutdown

French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir has taken Ubisoft to court over the shutdown of its online racing game, The Crew.

The lawsuit has been filed before the Judicial Court of Créteil, and it is backed by the Stop Killing Games (SKG) movement.

Image credit: Ubisoft

UFC-Que Choisir’s Case Against "Harmful Clauses"

The Crew launched back in 2014 as an online multiplayer racing game. Players could race across a scaled-down version of the United States, and the game required an upfront purchase along with optional in-game transactions. It was always-online only, with no offline mode.

Ubisoft delisted the title from digital marketplaces in December 2023 and shut down its servers on March 31, 2024, making the game permanently unplayable.

Ubisoft's stated reasons: "Server infrastructure and licensing constraints" after nearly a decade of support. They offered refunds only to very recent purchasers.

In April 2024, Ubisoft took it a step further by revoking player licenses to prevent any attempts to keep playing it past its expiry date, whether on private servers or elsewhere.

In response to then lawsuit from two California gamers over The Crew’s shutdown, Ubisoft argued there was no reason for players to think they were buying “unfettered ownership rights” to the game. According to the company’s lawyers, purchasing a copy of The Crew simply grants "a limited access license."

That argument did not sit well with consumers or legal advocates. According to UFC-Que Choisir, players "were never fairly informed about the potentially temporary nature of access to the game they were buying."

The association argues that Ubisoft "misled" consumers into believing they had unconditional access to the game, when in reality that access was entirely dependent on servers the company could switch off at will.

The lawsuit takes aim at specific clauses in Ubisoft's terms and conditions. The association contests clauses that allegedly allow the publisher to "deny consumers' right of ownership" over purchased game copies, withdraw all access without guaranteeing an alternative, make gameplay dependent on online services that can be shut down at any time, and exclude refunds for sums stored in Ubisoft e-wallets.

The association wants these "harmful clauses" removed and is seeking a court ruling that clarifies what "obligations" video game publishers actually owe to their customers.

UFC-Que Choisir has a strong track record in consumer rights battles. The association has previously taken action against Activision over unjustified player bans and has pushed for progress in addressing planned obsolescence in Nintendo Switch controllers.

Stop Killing Games Movement Gains Momentum

The Stop Killing Games initiative, which began as a campaign by YouTuber Ross Scott in direct response to The Crew controversy, has grown into something much larger than anyone initially expected.

A European Citizens Initiative launched by the group gathered over 1.3 million verified signatures, surpassing the threshold that requires a review by the European Commission. That review is expected to conclude by the end of July 2026.

According to SKG's general director Moritz Katzner, the EU Parliament was also expected to hold a hearing on the matter on April 16. Katzner added that the movement was planning to demonstrate broad parliamentary support "in order to encourage the industry to engage with us on a constructive solution."

Modders Revive The Crew

Interestingly, someone did step in for The Crew. Modders managed to bring the game back to life in 2025, proving that an unofficial preservation solution was possible all along. It raises an obvious question: could Ubisoft have simply done that itself and avoided this entire mess?