Following intense backlash to an email that seemed to indicate that inactive players could lose access to their digital library on PC, Ubisoft’s senior corporate communications manager clarified the company’s account deletion policy. According to Ubisoft, the confusion around its account deletion rule resulted from its attempts to comply with the European Union’s data protection policies.
The Ubisoft account deletion policy requires accounts to meet four specific criteria before removal
After an email went around last week warning that Ubisoft accounts could be subject to deletion due to inactivity, some players were concerned that the policy could result in them losing access to their digital games. Given many players’ reliance on digital distribution to get their gaming fix as Ubisoft’s physical game sales continue to decline, the possibility of losing their purchases was justifiably worrying. Speaking with The Verge, Ubisoft senior corporate communications manager Jessica Roache provided some clarity about the company’s contentious account deletion policies in an attempt to cool such concerns.
Roache stated that the Ubisoft account deletion policy is designed to be “aligned with legal requirements and with the standards of the industry.” While Ubisoft’s terms of use do allow it to delete accounts after six months of inactivity, Roache claimed the publisher has “never deleted accounts that have been inactive for less than four years.” Her response also clarified that accounts with purchased PC games are ineligible for deletion under the policy. This means PC players who grab a digital copy of the upcoming Ubisoft games like Assassin’s Creed Mirage won’t have to worry about losing access to the title if they step away from it for a few months.
Under the Ubisoft account deletion policy as outlined by Roache, the publisher will consider recent gaming activity, the account’s game library, how long the account has been inactive, and whether there is an active Ubisoft subscription tied to the account before making a decision about termination. While users will likely continue to debate whether such a policy is even necessary in the first place, at least for now it seems they won’t have to worry about their Ubisoft library suddenly disappearing after an extended absence.
