PSA: Ubisoft is Revoking Far Cry 4 CD-Keys From 3rd Party Re-sellers - Update 2

Eiv

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Xman490 said:
I don't blame Ubisoft. Those CD-keys were fraudulently obtained, so someone other than them is at fault. This approach might be appropriate, as customers of these fraudulent re-sellers might not be "good faith purchasers". After all, who goes to such underground sites while unaware of the stealing they commit?
They have provided no proof as such. They think they might be and are just checking now. So they revoked them first, asking questions later. The main issue I think is that Ubisoft don't have a list of authorised resellers. They must do but don't tell you so guessing is the best option.

Imagine the scenario where a friend or relative of a PC gamer wants to buy them a game as a gift and the person has googled for the best deals. Most price comparison sights show G2A right next to other mainstream stores. They don't know any better, they think they got a good price and the gamer gets a good game. Now Ubisoft (without informing customers) revokes the key with no explanation, just an 'inkling'. Thats what's going on here.
 

laggyteabag

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Oh look, another dodgy PR move from Ubisoft. It is getting to the point where I am starting to think that Ubisoft it just trying to piss people off. In my book, Ubisoft has just become the new EA.

Ubisoft cannot just assume that every customer who purchased a key from sites like G2A or Kinguin had prior knowledge that the keys may have been obtained through shady means, but to just swipe the game away from these customers is only going to cause a fuss. These customers probably just thought that these sites offered a cheaper alternative to Uplay, and decided to take them up on that. Take it up with G2A or Kinguin, don't just run away with somebody's game and fail to even apologise for it.

All this really does show is how bad DRM like this can get. Sure, it is convenient to have all of your games in one place, but when some guy can remove a game from your account without any notice or consent, it is really quite a scary thing. There used to be a time when you could go up to a shop and then just buy a game without thinking if it was second hand, or if the key would work, or if it was legitimate, or if you needed a specific service to even run it. I miss those times.
 

TheCaptain

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Feb 7, 2012
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I just checked, mine is gone. If the key has been obtained illegally - chances are probably high, my brother and his girlfriend gave it to me for my birthday and they got it from G2A - Ubi are well within their rights to revoke the key, but as a long time customer I would've liked at least a short notice via eMail.

Oh, and proof that my key actually has been obtained illegaly. If we stick with the car analogy: Without providing any evidence that the actual car in my garage has actually been stolen, no-one would reclaim anything of mine even if I bought it from a known professional car-thief.

Anyway, I'll go and get my formulaic bullshit answer from their customer service.
 

Augustine

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Jun 21, 2012
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I've seen evidence of these resellers buying keys in other regions and then reselling them with slight markup. Not seen evidence of them buying stolen keys. Why would they, when region shuffling is safer and easier way to do it?

As a buyer, I can go shopping on the net for a product I want - find at a cheaper price, from what appears to be a well rated vendor (on e-bay, for example). That's as much vetting as can be reasonably expected from a buyer.
Take his product away from him/her down the line, and you can be sure you'll make an enemy out of him/her for the rest of their life.
 

CoL0sS

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BiH-Kira said:
I'm from the Balkans and Steam and GMG sell me games for over 60 euro despite having a separate region for me (I know because I can't buy tons of games that can be bought in the rest of Europe). They are differentiating my region with west Europe, they are aware of the shit tier economy, they refuse to sell some products, yet they don't want to offer prices that are more to the level of the consumer power. I'm getting literally everything that's bad with region "locking" yet I don't get even a single benefit that should come with it. I'm seeing only a huge minus.
So sorry Ubishit if I try to get games for a price that is even then way over my financial power. If you want less people to do that shit, maybe you should start making better games and have a better pricing scheme.

Not that I bought FC4. I didn't buy a Ubishit game since Anno 1404.
Pretty much this. Out here we have all of the drawbacks and none of the benefits. Higher game prices despite shitty purchasing power, region locked games, uneven euro to dollar conversion and tall that jazz...

What really bothers and impresses me in some way is that Ubisoft just doesn't give a damn anymore. They're content with pulling off these dick moves, with little to no justification or proof, taking everything they can from the consumers while not being accountable for mistakes on their end. While there's always an inherent risk when purchasing from resellers I see little point in corporation punishing gamers with lower income who presumably make up most of their (reseller's) costumer base. Way I see it (and I admit I'm probably wrong considering I know fuck all about their ToS or justice system in general) Ubisoft failed to provide any evidence of fraudulent/illegal activities but revoked those keys anyway, punishing uninformed customers without any warning while resellers get to continue their potentially harmful practices. This is used games debate all over again.

But, if I wanted to be Ubisoft-grade asshole, I'd say that anyone who paid <$30 (current asking price on G2A) for a mess that is Unity or stuttery Far Cry 3 re-skin is getting ripped off even if his/hers key is not revoked XD
 

WhiteTigerShiro

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Neronium said:
Honestly, this is gonna be a big blow to Ubisoft in terms of PR, but seeing as they don't seem to care about having a good image anymore then they'll just shrug this off.
Is there really any reason that they should care about PR? Gamers have historically stated (via sales figures) that they don't care about shady business practices. Just look at EA. Sure we love to slam on them and talk about what a terrible company they are, but tell me the last time that they did something that actually caused an impact on their sales. Spore maybe? Otherwise, shitty company or not, we buy their stuff up en masse, so why should they (or any developer) bother to put the effort into fixing their public image?
 
Jun 20, 2013
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The fact that they can even take the game away from you is one of the main reasons I don't trust digital distribution. If a physical book was stolen and sold to you, the publisher doesn't really have the right to break into your house and take it back. They would need to go after the initial thieves. I'll have to remember to stick to physical console editions of Ubisoft games, even though I never get digital outside of official sources <_<
 

Augustine

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SomeGuyOnHisComputer said:
The fact that they can even take the game away from you is one of the main reasons I don't trust digital distribution. If a physical book was stolen and sold to you, the publisher doesn't really have the right to break into your house and take it back. They would need to go after the initial thieves. I'll have to remember to stick to physical console editions of Ubisoft games, even though I never get digital outside of official sources <_<
But the publisher can still revoke the code associated with the physical copy of the game, leaving you with a fancy paperweight. Physical copy of FC4 without a working code is only marginally more useful than a digital version without a working code.
 

Albino Boo

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Kahani said:
albino boo said:
Its the same law applies, there is no difference
No it isn't, and simply repeating the same bullshit over and over again won't magically make it right. Theft is the crime that is committed when you steal physical goods. Breach of copyright is the civil offence committed when you distribute digital goods you don't have the right to. And particularly note that I've used the words "upload" and "distribute", because no-one has ever been prosecuted for downloading music, films, or games. Whine about it all you like, you can't support your nonsense with an actual law that treats digital downloads the same as theft of physical goods because there simply isn't one.

You are perfectly entitled to write as many words as you like but you will still be wrong.
Irony, thy name is idiots on the internet.
There is your version of reality and the laws version reality guess which one wins. Hint not yours
 

Steve the Pocket

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albino boo said:
If you buy a stolen car in good faith you get to keep it right?
If I bought a car from a legit-looking used car lot, and it turns out to be stolen, I expect to get my money back from somebody. They can't just say I'm as guilty as the thief because I don't magically have the ability to tell a stolen car from a legitimate one. Otherwise, all they've done is trade one victim (the car's rightful owner) for another (the money's rightful owner, me) and in the meantime where has the money gone? Does the thief get to keep it? Does the government seize it and get to keep it? If it's already been spent, am I not as much entitled to compensation as if they'd broken into my house and stolen it from me in cash?
 
Jun 20, 2013
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Augustine said:
But the publisher can still revoke the code associated with the physical copy of the game, leaving you with a fancy paperweight. Physical copy of FC4 without a working code is only marginally more useful than a digital version without a working code.
That's why I specified console, one of the few things the platform still has over PC is the lack of that kind of DRM. Hopefully things stay that way.
 

weirdee

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Apr 11, 2011
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Kahani said:
gigastar said:
Or do people only look at price tags and ignore any concern for the legitimacy of the service theyre using?
I can't help wondering if Steam is actually partially to blame here. Regular Steam sales, along with things like Humble Bundles and various other storefronts doing similar sales, mean that everyone has been trained to both look for regular discounts and to accept them when they see them. If Steam regularly offers games at half price, there's nothing obviously dodgy about finding a game half price on another site.
wait, what

hold on there

i know steam does bad/annoying shit sometimes, but that's kind of a stretch to place responsibility on them for fraud by other parties

"how dare they encourage customers to think they have bargaining power!"
 

Hairless Mammoth

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This is a new low for Ubi. They could have at least sent a warning to everyone about the resellers and told Uplay users that the next time they will start banning illegitimate keys. Or release a list of authorized resellers. Or make Uplay say the key is for another region if it is when inputting it, so the user can go back to the reseller to complain. Not every person knows how these resellers work. They just searched online or saw a listing somewhere of the game they wanted for cheap.

Of course the rule of thumb everyone involved with this mess should be learning is do not buy PC games made by Ubisoft (or any game from them, really). They pulled that single player always online DRM move that hurt almost every paying PC customer a few years ago. Their optimization for PC is usually poor. They are forcing Uplay on paying customers from Steam (and possibly other services that serve the same DRM function as Uplay). I used Uplay for one game and can say it does not deserve to be installed anywhere until Ubi sorts out their politics and technical issues.
 

Augustine

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SomeGuyOnHisComputer said:
Augustine said:
But the publisher can still revoke the code associated with the physical copy of the game, leaving you with a fancy paperweight. Physical copy of FC4 without a working code is only marginally more useful than a digital version without a working code.
That's why I specified console, one of the few things the platform still has over PC is the lack of that kind of DRM. Hopefully things stay that way.
Judging by the controversy surrounding unveiling of current generation on consoles, this may/may not last. Physical distribution is on the decline.
 

Albino Boo

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Steve the Pocket said:
albino boo said:
If you buy a stolen car in good faith you get to keep it right?
If I bought a car from a legit-looking used car lot, and it turns out to be stolen, I expect to get my money back from somebody. They can't just say I'm as guilty as the thief because I don't magically have the ability to tell a stolen car from a legitimate one. Otherwise, all they've done is trade one victim (the car's rightful owner) for another (the money's rightful owner, me) and in the meantime where has the money gone? Does the thief get to keep it? Does the government seize it and get to keep it? If it's already been spent, am I not as much entitled to compensation as if they'd broken into my house and stolen it from me in cash?
You might expect your money back but you would be wrong. You are not entitled to your money and you have no legal rights to recover that money. Its the principle of caveat emptor, or english "let buyer beware". The person from whom you bought also bought in good faith, why should they lose money instead of you?
 

Adam Jensen_v1legacy

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Sep 8, 2011
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Another week, another way for Ubisoft to alienate customers. Good luck selling future games to people affected by this. Fuckin' morons.
 

mad825

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Mr Ink 5000 said:
Way to go Ubi, screwing over customers again. it's almost like they thrive on bad PR.
It would seem like EA fired Uwe Boll and Ubi took him on. For every bad things happen, he gets bigger and stronger

OT: Seeing as there's no legal case over this matter, it seems to be a simple matter of Ubi trying to suppress and starve out cheaper third-party re-sellers so that Ubi can gain more profit.

If the serial keys was as bad as people trying to make it out to be then the authorities would be involved but it's a simple case of company policy.
 
Dec 16, 2009
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mad825 said:
Mr Ink 5000 said:
Way to go Ubi, screwing over customers again. it's almost like they thrive on bad PR.
It would seem like EA fired Uwe Boll and Ubi took him on. For every bad things happen, he gets bigger and stronger

OT: Seeing as there's no legal case over this matter, it seems to be a simple matter of Ubi trying to suppress and starve out cheaper third-party re-sellers so that Ubi can gain more profit.

If the serial keys was as bad as people trying to make it out to be then the authorities would be involved but it's a simple case of company policy.
He must be at Super Saiyan levels by now surely?
 
Dec 16, 2009
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SergejH said:
snipped

And that is probably the worst thing, how you can judge a site. For example GMG looks almost like regular authorized shop, but they are worst, because they selling games in most cases for more, but they are buying them for same as other resellers.
Btw Kinguin is not a regular reseller, they are "reseller of reseller", because they dont sell own keys, just serving as kind of a hub for other resellers. Of course they have provisions even for listing games.
is GMG authorised? because I'd say there site looked on par with G2A
 

Zulnam

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Feb 22, 2010
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Steven Bogos said:
So, this is just a warning to our readers: always make sure you buy your digital games from an officially authorized storefront - just to be 100% sure it won't be yanked out of your library later on down the line...
Actually, I think I'll just refrain from buying Ubisoft games altogether. Being an East-European I have used third-party stores before and if this is how Ubisoft plans on treating their clients, I rather pass their business plan completely.

Shooters with RPG elements? Dime a dozen.