Yesterday we told you that Ubisoft was banning Far Cry 4 digital distribution codes that were purchased from unauthorised resellers like G2A and Kinguin. The company’s confirmed it is indeed taking action against what it calls “fraudulent keys.”
“We regularly deactivate keys that were fraudulently obtained and resold,” a Ubisoft representative told GameInformer. “In this case, we are currently investigating the origin of the fraud and will update customers when we have more information to share. In the meantime customers should contact the vendor from whom they purchased their key.”
And that’s certainly fair. Ubisoft is free to protect its properties and investments. That said, some word of warning to affected consumers would have been nice. Indeed, it’s consumers that have been hit hardest by the whole thing. A spokesperson from Kinguin – which operates much like eBay, only for games keys – has said that Ubisoft was a little heavy-handed.
“The current case raised by Ubisoft is surely unfair towards the players. The banned game copies in question were acquired through licensed wholesale distributors and as such the origin of the ‘keys’ is the publisher himself,” Kinguin chief marketing officer Bart?omiej Skarbi?ski told GameInformer.
“From the gamer point of view its like going out to the store, purchasing a copy of the game, taking it home and suddenly a knock-knock on the door with Ubisoft representative taking the copy away – not even asking you as a paying customer to return it.”
“We believe Ubisoft had no legal basis for its action,” he said. “They did it just because they simply can. Kinguin of course is not going to challenge Ubisoft in court as we are not match up for these giants. We will continue to focus on customer’s satisfaction and our customers know we have never let them down.”
In the end, it’s consumers that get the pointy end of the stick, and that’s never awesome.
Last Updated: January 27, 2015
Tosh MA
January 27, 2015 at 13:40
“Kinguin of course is not going to challenge Ubisoft in court .”
Of course.
Kensei Seraph
January 27, 2015 at 13:53
Why would they?
Not only would they have to fork out for the lawyers but they’d probably have then pay Ubisoft even more after the court rules against them.
(I know it’s wrong to assume guilt without any form of proof thus this is just a statement of my opinion)
Tosh MA
January 27, 2015 at 13:54
Exactly 🙂
Sorry, but their statement screams “guilty”, and Ubisoft wouldn’t revoke keys without reason. Just saying.
Moral of the story: buy from legit suppliers.
Kensei Seraph
January 27, 2015 at 13:58
I will buy my Ubisoft games through Steam or Humble Bundle.
And maybe through Uplay if I’m feeling lucky.
Tosh MA
January 27, 2015 at 13:59
I have 3 ubisoft games. 1 from retail (BT Games) and 2 from Steam. All are still there. All still working, no issues.
Kensei Seraph
January 27, 2015 at 14:01
I have AC1, AC2, HoM&M6 and Child of Light.
So 4 Ubisoft games and 3 are registered on Uplay.
Tosh MA
January 27, 2015 at 14:02
Oh, I only meant the Uplay ones. Those are the DRM games that Ubi can revoke keys for. The non-DRM stuff is easy to just install and play off the disk.
Kensei Seraph
January 27, 2015 at 14:07
If they tried revoking a key for a game I purchased legitimately I’d probably resort to piracy and they wouldn’t get my money for a long long time.
Tosh MA
January 27, 2015 at 14:07
I wouldn’t pirate, but I just wouldn’t buy their games. Simple as that.
Goor Pijp
January 27, 2015 at 16:07
Moral of the story, don’t ever support ubisoft just pirate their shit.
Tosh MA
January 27, 2015 at 16:12
No, because then you’re doing what these dodgy retailers did – steal games. There’s nothing moral about it.
I’m happy to support Ubisoft through legitimate retailers. They did the work, they get my cash. Simple as.
Goor Pijp
January 27, 2015 at 16:14
I lost quite a few euro’s on this shitty ubisoft action, I’m pirating their shit forever.
Tosh MA
January 27, 2015 at 16:20
You bought stolen goods. While that’s really shitty for you, Ubisoft are well within their rights to claim back stolen property.
You didn’t pay them for it, you paid a thief. No reason to take it out on the people who’s property was stolen.
Goor Pijp
January 27, 2015 at 16:27
I didn’t buy stolen goods, I bought goods that were purchased in another country. Not stealing, but instead its grey import. I did pay for them, plenty of reason to take it out on the company who takes it all away.
They did profit from it, maybe not as much as when I buy it in my own country…… BUT THEY DID FCKIN PROFIT FROM A PRODUCT I NO LONGER OWN.
No worries though, easy solution…. never ever buying ubisoft crap again. Not that hard a choice after the AC and Watchdogs fiasco. They got some epic PR team there, I’m guessing Ubisoft profits will be going down AGAIN.
Ross Woofels Mason
January 27, 2015 at 13:58
Lol this is what people get for buying from sketchy suppliers =p
RustedFaith
January 27, 2015 at 14:01
Sketchy ?
They are one of the worlds biggest game key website and have been around for years. They are correct their users know very well the quality service they produce.
2 minutes of reading would have prevented you sounding like a total bigot.
Ross Woofels Mason
January 27, 2015 at 14:58
So because someone has been around for a long time, provides excellent quality of service and doesn’t look the part they can’t be up to anything sketchy?
Well shit, you would make a terrible drug dealer or white collar criminal in general.
I don’t care if I sound like a complete bigot, at least I don’t sound like a complete idiot.
Dying light launched today and it is currently 60 $USD on steam, yet many of this mystical key website are selling it for $20 USD or less. Kinguin included.
If that does not make you sit there and question how come they can sell keys for steam so cheaply, then you just don’t want to think about it.
There could be a perfectly legitimate reason behind it not going to lie. But there are plenty of different 100X more illegal reasons behind how this is possible.
Now if the actual games developers are coming and nulling these keys, I am more included to believe they were not obtained via legal methods.
—————–
As for EVO points nope they are not sketchy, they sell a limited amount of game keys none of which are the absolute latest games and most certainly not at prices up to R300 – 400 less than steam or the suppliers themselves.
————–
Here’s a lesson skippy, judge everything in life by face value and you are going to conned down the road.
RustedFaith
January 27, 2015 at 15:27
So beacause 1 shady Publisher bans their keys they are all the sudden branded criminals.
Like I said bigot.
“Here’s a lesson skippy, judge everything in life by face value and you are going to conned down the road.”
Yeh sure I will take life lessons from some random bigot on-line. Skippy … are you 10 ?
Ross Woofels Mason
January 27, 2015 at 15:42
From what I can see Kinguin is a website that let’s users sign up and sell keys on their website. Much like e-bay allow’s users to sign up and sell their goods.
Now you want to tell me no-one has ever been conned or sold anything illegally obtained through e-bay?
You’ve played a really solid argument in here case here. A quick rant, then calling someone a bigot! Well Played Skippy! Hellz Yea Brah! 10 interwebs for you *applauds*
Haha
January 27, 2015 at 16:09
Haha
Raptor Rants A Lot:Original #7
January 27, 2015 at 14:04
My question is this: Why are Ubi not going after these key distributors?
The end user DID in fact get a legit copy. It’s not their fault that the keys were done a bit shady like then
Tosh MA
January 27, 2015 at 14:05
Buying a stolen car will result in the car being impounded. Buying a stolen phone will result in the phone being taken away.
That is how the world works. Why are stolen games any different?
Raptor Rants A Lot:Original #7
January 27, 2015 at 14:05
uh… darnit. Didn’t think of it that way….
FSR
January 27, 2015 at 15:30
As far as i understand it has to do with their geographical location, much like Pirate Bay et al.
Brady miaau
January 27, 2015 at 15:35
Yeah, twice my cheque card has ended up in some out of the way place, like Guatamala AND in my pocket at the same time. Existential, that is.
bank says could be toll booth people, so to be safe I always use cash now.
Mossel
January 27, 2015 at 14:07
Just ordered this game online. Hopefully I wont have any issues.
Tosh MA
January 27, 2015 at 14:08
Where did you order from?
Mossel
January 27, 2015 at 14:09
See above.
Tosh MA
January 27, 2015 at 14:10
Yup, replied already. 😛
Kensei Seraph
January 27, 2015 at 14:08
From where?
Mossel
January 27, 2015 at 14:09
Kalahari. And before anyone says anything about Kalahari, I’ve never had issues with them and they also happen to be the cheapest if you add that R100 off voucher.
Tosh MA
January 27, 2015 at 14:10
Yeah I’ve not had issues with them either. They’re legit so you’ll be fine. 🙂
HairyEwok
January 27, 2015 at 14:15
Ubi Ubi Ubi Ubiii Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Why you go and do this do this to meeee Ahhhhhhhhhh.
Spaffy
January 27, 2015 at 14:45
Now all those people will have to buy their copies from PirateBay.
Blood Emperor Trevor
January 27, 2015 at 14:51
Except you didn’t actually go buy it at a store, you went and bought it at a flea market.
Brady miaau
January 27, 2015 at 15:34
Yeah, that whole statement rings false.
FoxOneZA
January 27, 2015 at 15:12
AC Unity is R199 at Prepaidcodes.com :p
Brady miaau
January 27, 2015 at 15:33
Is that a fair price? Does not sound fair at all. Even in bulk purchasing, I cannot see how that key legitimately started at Ubisoft
FoxOneZA
January 27, 2015 at 15:52
It’s an Xbox One key 🙂
Brady miaau
January 27, 2015 at 16:42
Right. So no, not close to what it costs almost anywhere else. Wow. That big a price difference
Gaz Wkd
January 27, 2015 at 21:49
Nothing has been confirmed in regards to the games being stolen. Ubisoft are claiming fraud but that could be as simple as the codes being from another country and it going against their terms of service.
The consumers shouldn’t be punished they have purchased in good faith. Ubisoft being the big company that it is should actually be going after these sites if they have their customers best interest at heart – looking at the situation they don’t and are going for a very, very easy target.
Well done Ubisoft you have no doubt lost a fair few customers and increased piracy for all of your current and indeed future games.