I don’t know of a single consumer who appreciates the use of digital rights management for protecting the entertainment products they choose to buy, and Ubisoft has reminded us exactly why this is the case. The publisher has started removing Far Cry 4 licenses from its Uplay service, leaving gamers who believed they’d legitimately purchased the game unable to play it anymore.
Ubisoft is carrying out this action because some licenses for the game have been purchased from third-party sellers it does not approve of (they are unlicensed). However, instead of taking action against those sellers alone, gamers are also left to suffer. Is that fair? Ubisoft may think it is, but gamers affected by this action certainly won’t.
The licenses being revoked are those purchased from what Ubisoft classes as unlicensed resellers, which includes sites such as G2A, G2Play, and Kinguin. However, from the consumers point of view both of those look like legitimate stores offering games for sale. Apparently that’s not the case.
Understandably the license revoking has sparked anger on the Ubisoft forums because gamers who paid to play the game have little chance of getting their money back (although it’s worth trying if you’ve had your license revoked).
Ultimately Ubisoft should not be making its customer base angry because they are the ones who spend the money buying the publisher’s games. If Ubisoft doesn’t want sellers like G2A offering licenses for its games, then it should be taking legal action against them. Maybe it is already? But even so, it seems unfair to punish gamers who chose to purchase Far Cry 4.
To be safe in the future, restrict your digital game purchases to well-known online stores such as Steam, Origin, Green Man Gaming, etc.