Ubisoft says it deactivated PC games this weekend that were ‘fraudulently obtained’.
Over the weekend, uPlay users complained to Ubisoft due to the removal of games such as Far Cry 4 from their game libraries.
Based on those that complained, the games that were removed appeared to have been supplied by Key Strippers, which are websites such as G2Play that source PC games from Asian and Eastern European markets for cheap, take out the codes and re-sell them in the UK for well below retail price – beating legitimate retailers.
Key strippers have come under fire from publishers who are finding their profit margins eroding due to the practice. However, they’re usually reluctant to do anything about it out of risk of upsetting fans, which is what has happened this weekend.
Yet Ubisoft has said these codes were not just ones bought from other markets, but had actually been stolen.
“We regularly deactivate keys that were fraudulently obtained and resold,” the firm told us. “In this case, we are currently investigating the origin of the fraud, and will update customers as soon as we have more information to share. In the meantime, customers should contact the vendor from whom they purchased the key.”
