Ubisoft says it won’t delete inactive accounts with purchased games on them

Over the weekend, Ubisoft drew criticism over its data policies, with Ubisoft Support indicating that uPlay/Ubisoft Connect accounts are deleted after a period of inactivity, removing access to purchased games. Ubisoft has since clarified this, claiming that it does not delete any accounts with purchases on them.

When this news first began doing the rounds, it was pointed out that Ubisoft likely closes accounts due to GDPR rules in European countries. However, this should not apply to those who have purchased games, even if they don't log in for extended periods of time. In an email to IGN, Ubisoft now claims that while it does conduct account closures due to GDPR, it does not look to close accounts with PC game purchases on them.

Ubisoft also outlined a few of the criteria that need to be met before the account deletion process begins. Accounts with purchased PC games tied to them are “not eligible for deletion”, additionally, Ubisoft says it typically doesn't go to delete accounts until they have racked up four years of inactivity. The publisher claims to have not closed any accounts without at least four years of complete inactivity.

The confusing part here is that the Ubisoft Support Twitter account has not explained that accounts with purchases on them are not closed and has made statements pointing towards the opposite. Someone at Ubisoft should probably send them the memo.

Of course, the email system is still a bit flawed, as many have pointed out that it looks a bit like a phishing email and as such, one of these emails could get caught in a user's spam filter, or waved off as a scam. Rather than offering a link for users to log on, the email should likely just contain instructions instead.

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KitGuru Says: Unused, empty accounts with no purchases should be cleared out as long as that person has the opportunity to sign up again using the same email address.

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