Ubisoft’s Recent Deletion Scandal & How to Prevent Misinformation From Spreading

Recently, a rumour that has been circling the internet for a while resurged. This comes from a post found once upon a time in which Ubisoft sent a deletion notice to an account for inactivity, and an X from @UbisoftSupport responding to the out-of-context e-mail.

In the X, @UbisoftSupport failed to mention a pivotal piece of information — you are not eligible for inactivity takedown if you've bought games. Instead, their X details how to prevent this from happening once you have received the e-mail, which is by logging in and selecting Cancel Account Closure.

Hey there. We just wanted to chime in that you can avoid the account closure by logging into your account within the 30 days (since receiving the email pictured) and selecting the Cancel Account Closure link contained in the email. We certainly do not want you to lose access to…

— Ubisoft Support (@UbisoftSupport) July 20, 2023

Gaming outlets and confused gamers took to social media — reddit, X, Facebook — to complain about the issue, many claiming that Ubisoft's actions are illegal, and over the time this e-mail resurfaced, Ubisoft received a lot of backlash. This simple piece of misinformation caused widespread panic, as word of mouth spread this "rumour" everywhere and outlets didn't help the cause to stop this issue.

In short, this means that your Ubisoft account will be safe if you've made a purchase (this is even detailed on their Closure of inactive Ubisoft accounts); deletion of inactive accounts is something quite common to stop clutter and free-loaders from taking advantage of taken usernames and the like. But more importantly than not losing your account, it might be worth looking at how to avoid these issues in the future.

Misinformation spreading is nothing short of a PR nightmare for larger companies; rumours being spread and leaks in the videogame industry are just the start of the problems that some of these companies have. While everyone was panicking and trying to do the right thing by their peers by sharing information, this information can be equally as damaging both for those that are involved personally (the company and their fans) and those that are third-party bystanders (the indifferent crowd). 

The former causes panic and fear, unsure of how to proceed and instead warn everyone about a present issue — they are doing their duty as good samaritans to warn others of potential danger. The latter, however, might spread this information out of a good deed and never learn otherwise. While you are reading about how this entire scandal is a big wording mistake from companies and outlets alike, the indifferent crowd carry this with themselves as a permanent fact of information until proven otherwise, which then ensues another wave of misinformation. They aren’t actively searching for a resolution to the conflict; to those uninterested in Ubisoft, this becomes a passing thought to be conjured up when a similar (or the same) scandal arises again.

The purpose of this article is simple: don't be misled by large, fearmongering headlines. While some may spread information in an attempt to inform their communities in actual panic, bad actors will take the opportunity of misinformation and claim ignorance when repercussions fall — how can you fault someone trying to do good, after all? And although you'll do your job to tell every Person Doe about the issue because you heard it from a good-intending outlet or a click-baiting one, the best thing you can do is get information from the horse's mouth — the cause of the problem itself.

We live in a world where we can get in contact with pretty much anyone if we try hard enough. The average person can rally a crowd to demand an answer, but it doesn't usually have to come to that: there are ways that enable our communication with the higher-ups of every company. From Gabe Newell responding to pretty much every e-mail to Ubisoft's very own customer support, instead of taking the word from someone that could potentially be using you as a clickthrough, go to the person immediately responsible and act accordingly.