Update (July 24): Ubisoft now says that accounts with game purchases or subscriptions attached are exempt from deletion due to inactivity. The company has not explained the support message that seems to indicate otherwise, but has updated its policy page and sent the following statement to PC Gamer:

We have been in compliance with GDPR requirements (Article 5.1.e on the obligation to limit data retention periods) for many years now. We have implemented an account deletion process. Our policy is in line with legal requirements and industry standards. This action also serves to protect players from fraudulent activity.

Account deletions follow a very strict process. Therefore, four criteria are considered before an account is deleted:

In each case, three emails are sent to the player over a 30-day period before the deletion becomes permanent, offering to restore the account. Additionally, if a user attempts to log in during the 30-day window, they will automatically receive a warning and a link to reactivate their account.

Original article (July 23) I should have a Ubisoft account. There have been times over the years when there was a Ubisoft game I wanted to play and I had to go through the company's own launcher/digital marketplace, Ubisoft Connect (formerly Uplay), to access it. However, it seems that if you leave your Ubisoft account active for too long, you risk being permanently deleted.

PC_enjoyer, a Twitter account focused on piracy and anti-DRM, recently shared a screenshot of a Ubisoft support email, telling users that their Ubisoft account would be suspended for "inactivity" and "permanently closed" after 30 days The email informed them that they would be "permanently closed" after 30 days. The email included a link to cancel the move.

"Now, this sounds like a phishing scam," I and many commenters thought upon seeing the original post, but less than a day later, a verified Ubisoft support account replied to the tweet and confirmed the legitimacy of the screenshot email It appears that they did.

"You can avoid account closure by logging into your account within 30 days (of receiving the email in the photo) and selecting the link in the email to cancel account closure," Ubisoft support wrote. 'We don't want you to lose access to your games or account, so if you are having trouble logging in, please open a support case.'

Although we could not find anything in Ubisoft's U.S. Terms of Service or End User License Agreement regarding account closure due to inactivity, the company reserves the right to suspend or terminate service at any time. Ubisoft has a support page titled "Closing an Inactive Ubisoft Account." The page first explains when the service violates local data privacy laws and then states: "In order to maintain our database, we may close inactive accounts on a long-term basis. We will notify you by email when we begin the process of closing your inactive account.

This page links to another page for voluntarily closing Ubisoft accounts, which appears to operate under the same rules." Once an account has been closed, it cannot be recovered, so we strongly recommend that you only submit a request if you are absolutely certain that you want your account closed."

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It is unclear how long Ubisoft accounts can remain inactive before receiving this suspension notice. We have contacted Ubisoft and will update this article as we receive a clear answer.

Any way you look at it, this is an unfriendly practice for customers and one that is tiring to watch. Whatever justification Ubisoft has for maintaining its database is lousy compared to competing digital distribution platforms.

Even if I had the choice, I doubt I or many other gamers would use Ubisoft Connect or Ubisoft accounts to play games. It was part of the EA Origin/Games for Windows Live generation of publisher-specific launchers and digital storefronts that were implemented primarily for digital rights management. They all come back to Steam because these proprietary launchers are a heavy burden.

There is added value in the non-Steam options that gamers continue to tolerate: Epic offers many free games in addition to exclusive contracts, but is still a relatively new company. GOG, on the other hand, has games not available on Steam and does not even require the use of a launcher.

Only a decade or so after the EA Origin generation, the wave of proprietary platforms is wreaking havoc not only on our personal libraries, but on game storage more broadly. No one asked for Uplay or Ubisoft Connect, yet they have the audacity to make us opt-in to keep our game libraries alive.

At the very least, it should not be radical thinking to feel ownership of digital video games as ownership. Our extensive digital libraries may be driven into oblivion by adverse business deals or the bursting of EMPs by alien invaders. Opting out of account invalidation feels like the logic of a sneaky marketing email applied to a potentially quite large financial investment.

The problems with Ubisoft's online services go beyond their own launchers. Last year we reported that many of Ubisoft's games from the 2010s have discontinued their online components, and DLC is no longer available on Steam.

All of this is causing consumer anger right now, but there are also long-term consequences. Momentary digital libraries are very likely to boost the ranks of the 87% of games that are unplayable without pirated copies, potentially hard-to-obtain physical copies, or access to archives.