Ubisoft’s troubles seem to have no end in sight.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, the French game company is now facing a class action lawsuit for sharing personally identifiable information, or PII, to Meta, the parent company behind Facebook, Instagram and Threads, as well as Oculus maker Reality Labs.
In particular, users who buy games on Ubisoft’s store on their website, or subscribe to Ubisoft +, don’t know that their PIIs are being collected by Pixel. Pixel is Meta’s own data collection tool that websites can embed throughout the site’s pages, which then sends that information back to Meta.
Pixel’s existence and use isn’t illegal in itself, but the lawsuit alleges that Ubisoft did not due diligence in disclosing that they are sharing that data. It is still applying for class action certification, but if the lawsuit moves forward the plaintiffs will try to get compensation for Ubisoft’s consumers, as well as have Pixel removed.
This brings to light a very important detail that even some of the most tech literate take for granted. When you enter a website and are inundated by popups, those popups exist because websites can send your information to companies like Meta.
Not all that data is PII, but of course, details like your date of birth and current address are more compromising than simply learning whether you bought the Deluxe Edition or Regular Edition of Star Wars Outlaws.
This issue is clearly wholly unrelated to the company’s woes, but Ubisoft can’t really afford to face another controversy like this right now. For all we know, the Guillemots and Tencent may already be negotiating a buyout of the company. Regardless of rumors, the final owner may not necessarily be Tencent, or at least not the final majority shareholder.
And while the Guillemots face a harsh spotlight on whether they can no longer run the company they founded anymore, Ubisoft also has to worry about maintaining their current and ongoing slate of game releases. They will definitely work to get Star Wars Outlaws sales and profits to a more acceptable level for the franchise.
They may also try to do something to bring back interest for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, a title that didn’t deserve its poor sales, compared to its peers. And then there’s the struggle to get XDefiant back on track as a reliable income stream for Ubisoft. Finally, Ubisoft bought time to right every wrong seen in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, but that clock is ticking before they can win the public back.
The way things stand now, there may not even be money in the company to pay out a class action settlement from this lawsuit. But we do want to see Ubisoft’s fortunes improve, so let’s hope they can set everything right.
