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Far Cry 3 Hides Its Mandatory Uplay Account Requirement in Microscopic Text
I was examining the back of my physical PC copy of Far Cry 3, and I nearly missed one of the most important requirements printed on the entire box.
The normal system requirements are placed inside a visible box near the top. They list the supported Windows versions, processor, RAM, graphics card, hard-drive space and internet connection.
However, the following sentence is buried inside the microscopic copyright text at the bottom:
That is not a minor technical detail.
It means the physical disc is not enough to install and use the game. The customer must also have internet access, create or use a Uplay account and depend on Ubisoft’s activation infrastructure. Without that external service, the disc is effectively just a piece of plastic containing files that Ubisoft will not allow you to use.
The packaging displays a Uplay logo, but a logo is not the same as clearly telling the customer:
This is particularly relevant to Linux users and people preserving older PC games. Wine and Proton can often keep old Windows games running long after their officially supported operating systems have disappeared. However, compatibility software cannot guarantee access to an abandoned authentication server, a broken launcher or an account system that the publisher may eventually discontinue.
The game itself can survive for decades. Mandatory online activation may not.
In Denmark, simply including something in small print does not automatically make the marketing acceptable. The Danish Consumer Ombudsman previously reported “Dyne-Larsen” to the police over advertising where an important limitation was presented in small text while the main advertisement gave customers a different impression:
https://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/...-meldt-til-politiet-af-Forbrugerombudsmanden/
That case does not automatically prove that Ubisoft’s packaging was illegal. However, it demonstrates the relevant principle: an essential restriction cannot necessarily be hidden in tiny writing and then defended with, “It was technically printed on the box.”
The mandatory account requirement determines whether the product can be used at all. It should therefore have been one of the clearest statements on the packaging—not one of the hardest to find.
This is one reason I strongly prefer genuinely DRM-free physical games. When I buy a game on disc, I expect the disc and activation key to provide lasting access. I should not need continuing permission from a remote account service to use a product sitting on my own shelf.
Look at the photograph and judge it for yourself: is that an honest disclosure, or did Ubisoft deliberately place the requirement where almost nobody would notice it before buying the game?
I was examining the back of my physical PC copy of Far Cry 3, and I nearly missed one of the most important requirements printed on the entire box.
The normal system requirements are placed inside a visible box near the top. They list the supported Windows versions, processor, RAM, graphics card, hard-drive space and internet connection.
However, the following sentence is buried inside the microscopic copyright text at the bottom:
That is not a minor technical detail.
It means the physical disc is not enough to install and use the game. The customer must also have internet access, create or use a Uplay account and depend on Ubisoft’s activation infrastructure. Without that external service, the disc is effectively just a piece of plastic containing files that Ubisoft will not allow you to use.
The packaging displays a Uplay logo, but a logo is not the same as clearly telling the customer:
That warning should have been placed beside the system requirements in large, readable text. Instead, Ubisoft placed it among copyright notices, trademarks and legal information that most customers would never be expected to examine with a magnifying glass.
This is particularly relevant to Linux users and people preserving older PC games. Wine and Proton can often keep old Windows games running long after their officially supported operating systems have disappeared. However, compatibility software cannot guarantee access to an abandoned authentication server, a broken launcher or an account system that the publisher may eventually discontinue.
The game itself can survive for decades. Mandatory online activation may not.
In Denmark, simply including something in small print does not automatically make the marketing acceptable. The Danish Consumer Ombudsman previously reported “Dyne-Larsen” to the police over advertising where an important limitation was presented in small text while the main advertisement gave customers a different impression:
https://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/...-meldt-til-politiet-af-Forbrugerombudsmanden/
That case does not automatically prove that Ubisoft’s packaging was illegal. However, it demonstrates the relevant principle: an essential restriction cannot necessarily be hidden in tiny writing and then defended with, “It was technically printed on the box.”
The mandatory account requirement determines whether the product can be used at all. It should therefore have been one of the clearest statements on the packaging—not one of the hardest to find.
This is one reason I strongly prefer genuinely DRM-free physical games. When I buy a game on disc, I expect the disc and activation key to provide lasting access. I should not need continuing permission from a remote account service to use a product sitting on my own shelf.
Look at the photograph and judge it for yourself: is that an honest disclosure, or did Ubisoft deliberately place the requirement where almost nobody would notice it before buying the game?
I just finished writing the article and review of Modicia O.S.
If you write music, play an instrument or are a artist, engineer that likes to create and draw architecture this distro is for you!
It boots to the desktop in 6 to 7 seconds from Grub and I'm truly impressed at what the Modica Team has done.
I highly recommend giving this distro a Live try.
If you write music, play an instrument or are a artist, engineer that likes to create and draw architecture this distro is for you!
It boots to the desktop in 6 to 7 seconds from Grub and I'm truly impressed at what the Modica Team has done.
I highly recommend giving this distro a Live try.