Ubisoft now seems to be taking action on 3rd party resellers of Far Cry 4, as they are now revoking CD keys purchased from said resellers. The only problem is Ubi has yet to explain why they are doing this.
There are two customers who bought keys from G2A and got banned, and one customer who bought from Polish retailer Kinguin. One of the G2A customers did not receive an explanation for their keys being banned. When the other G2A customer asked for an explanation, Ubi told them to ask the retailer.
The Kinguin customer had a very angry post on Ubisoft forums, arguing that in spite of how the keys were obtained, Ubi infringed on their customers’ rights to their product. As an English speaking resident in Poland, he had few options to get the game in the form he needed, such that Kinguin was his only feasible option. The fact that the customer acquired these keys from an unlicensed reseller does not allow Ubi to infringe upon that right.
Ubi’s games have clauses in their terms and conditions that allows them to revoke these keys. The enforcability of these clauses is up for debate. However, as argued here, this is a bad business practice on Ubi’s part, whether they are within their rights to do so or not. Ubisoft has also not been clear about which retailers are licensed to sell their games, which creates problems like what the Kinguin customer had.
Ubisoft has yet to explain their recent actions. If you were in Ubi’s position, what do you think they should tell these customers? What actions should they take at this point? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
