News video games 25 July 2023, 09:37

Ubisoft May Delete Inactive Accounts, Internet Boils [Update]

People who have not logged into the Ubisot Connect service for a long time may permanently lose access to their account. This information shocked Internet users, who initiated a huge discussion about such practices. However, part of the gaming community calling for calm.

Source: Ubisoft.

Update

Ubisoft, in an additional clarification sent to the editors of IGN informs that it "has been deleting inactive accounts for many years in accordance with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on how long companies can keep individual personal data." The policy is intended to comply "with legal requirements and industry standards, and also serves to prevent fraud."

At the same time, Ubisoft provided criteria for their deletion, noting that this absolutely does not include accounts to which purchased games are attached.

"The publisher takes into account the following:

account activity in games since its creation;
the library of games - accounts that include purchased PC games are not eligible for removal;
the time of account's inactivity, i.e. the last login to the ecosystem (including from Ubisoft games on Steam and other platforms);
in practice, as of this moment, we have never deleted accounts that have been inactive for less than 4 years.
The existence of an active subscription associated with the account."

Original message (July 23, 2023)

Ubisoft has once again found itself in the Internet's spotlight. All thanks to Twitter user PC_enjoyer, who uploaded to the web a screenshot of a peculiar e-mail received from the French company.

In the unlucky message we can read about the blocking of the user's Ubisoft Connect account and its imminent permanent deletion due to inactivity.

Possibility of losing ones Ubisoft Connect account due to inactivity was confirmed by Ubisoft, in response to the above tweet.

Ubisoft May Delete Inactive Accounts, Internet Boils [Update] - picture #1

Source: Ubisoft Support.

Representatives of the French giant noted, however, that account closure can be easily avoided, by logging into it and then selecting the "cancel closure" option, which is available for 30 days after receiving the email.

The Internet is boiling

The possibility of losing access to the digital platform and its content simply because of prolonged inactivity has shocked Internet users. They have started a heated discussion about the legality of Ubisoft's actions, as well as the shortcomings of the digital marketplace.

"Is it even legal, especially in Europe? Is there a condition in the EULA that allows this?"

"I'm pretty sure it's illegal in most European countries (...)."

"(...) The law is not retroactive. You can't take back digital content that someone purchased in the EU. There are exceptions for online functionality, like servers that have been turned off, but you can't take away ownership of the product itself."

"You won't own anything and you'll be happy, right? I hold on to my "boxes" as long as I can."

Many Reddit users have pointed out however, that Ubisoft's deletion of inactive accounts may be due not to the company's ill will, but to the European Union's data protection regulation, the so-called GDPR. Moreover, it is to apply only to accounts that do not have any games on them.

Recall that the provisions of GDPR stipulate that data should be kept only for the time necessary to fulfill the purpose of their processing. With its expiration, it is therefore necessary to delete the information held - which would explain Ubisoft's decision.

"This was already discussed on this subreddit years ago and it was confirmed that this only applies if your account has zero games, and this is in accordance with GDPR."

"Ubisoft may be required under some data protection laws, such as GDPR, to close inactive accounts if they feel the data is no longer needed. Ubisoft says it does not close accounts that have been inactive for less than four years."

"Closures only happen on accounts that do not have any games. It checks with the account owner to see if the account is still needed, and if not, it is deleted. If there is a game on the account, the recipient has a valid reason to keep it."

Some forum users of Reddit also point out that PC_enjoyer's tweet contains far too little information to unequivocally determine whether Ubisoft is actually removing access to games forever for inactive users, as the social media post suggests.

"The Twitter user does not state how long the account has been inactive, and nowhere did the Ubisoft representative say they would lose their games."