Deactivated Far Cry 4 keys were purchased through Origin

Far Cry 4 owners who found their games deactivated without warning may be surprised to learn where they came from.

Many copies of Far Cry 4 purchased through third-party re-sellers have been deactivated without notice.

Although resellers affected by the deactivations argued that they had made authorised purchases, Ubisoft has denied this.

The publisher told GameInformer that the keys it deactivated in this recent incident had an unusual source.

"We confirmed activation keys were recently purchased from EA’s Origin store using fraudulent credit card information and then resold online," Ubisoft said,

"These keys may have been deactivated. Customers who may have been impacted should contact the vendor where they purchased the key for a refund."

EA confirmed the news, and has temporarily removed all Ubisoft games from its catalogue in order to "protect against further fraudulent purchases".

"A number of activation keys for Ubisoft products were purchased from Origin using fraudulent credit cards, and then resold online. We identified the unauthorized keys and notified Ubisoft," EA said.

"If you are having trouble with an activation key, we recommend you contact the vendor who sold it to you for a refund. We strongly advise players only purchase keys from Origin or trusted resellers."

Whoever is at fault, those who bought the keys are the ones suffering. Matt reckons publishers need to be more realistic about pricing to avoid incidents of this sort.