District Court Judge Trina L. Thompson granted Ubisoft’s motion to dismiss privacy claims, without leave to amend. Lakes v. Ubisoft, Inc., No. 24-CV-06943-TLT, 2025 WL 1036639 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 2, 2025).
In support of its motion to dismiss, Ubisoft used a request for judicial notice to bring in the website disclosures and functionality into evidence.
The first time a user arrives at the Website, the user is presented with a Cookies Banner notifying him or her that by clicking “OK” and “continuing to navigate on the site” that “you accept the use of cookies by Ubisoft and its partners to offer advertising adapted to your interests.” ECF 22-2, Exhibit (“Ex.”) A. If a user clicks on the “set your cookies” hyperlink, in the above banner, a pop-up appears with more detailed options to change cookies consent preferences, as shown in the following image. ECF 22-5, Ex. D. If the user does not want to share his or her information with Ubisoft and third parties, the user can click the “set your cookies” hyperlink to adjust the cookies he or she permits on the browser or click “OK” to accept the default settings. ECF 22-2, Ex. A.
*2 To make any purchases on the Website, including purchasing a subscription to Ubisoft+, a user must first create a Ubisoft account. ECF 1, ¶ 86. No user can create a Ubisoft account without checking the box next to “I accept Ubisoft’s Terms of Use, Terms of Sale, and Privacy Policy,” which hyperlinks to the policies mentioned on the Website. ECF 22-9, Ex. H. After agreeing to the Privacy Policy and consenting to the sharing of personal and game data during account creation, every time a user then makes a purchase, the user is again presented with the Privacy Policy during the Ubisoft Website store checkout process. ECF 22-10, Ex. I.
Ubisoft’s Privacy Policy, which all Ubisoft account holders must agree to, informs users that their information will be shared with third parties. ECF 22-13, Ex. L, ¶ 5. The Privacy Policy also outlines for users how they can give or withdraw their consent. Id. ¶ 6.
The foregoing facts show notice and consent – the lack of which was essential to each of Plaintiffs’ claims (ECPA, CIPA, and VPPA). Ubisoft’s motion to dismiss was granted, without leave to amend.
