Ubisoft Files UDRP on FarCry.com (Updated)

The Merriam-Website dictionary gives two definitions of what far cry means: “a long distance” or “something notably different.” According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) website, Ubisoft Entertainment has filed a UDRP for the FarCry.com domain name. The case is WIPO Case D2016-0841.

Whois records show that FarCry.com was created all the way back in September of 1997 – nearly 19 years ago. Using the DomainTools Whois History tool, I am able to see that the oldest historical Whois record DomainTools has is from 2001, and it shows the registrant as Far Cry Stables, Inc. of Austin, Texas.

Interestingly, it looks like the email address is exactly the same today as it was back in 2001 (and perhaps earlier). In addition, the  admin on the Whois record is still listed as Far Cry Stables. Based on this, it looks like the registrant has been the same entity for more than 15 years.

Ubisoft Entertainment is a video game developer. According to Wikipedia, Far Cry is a video game franchise developed by Ubisoft that was originally published in 2004. When I visited FarCry.com this afternoon, I saw what looks like a mostly blank page with a heading that says “no far cry game here…” Archive.org does show that there were links to other video games a while back, but those appear to be unpaid links from what I can tell.

Although I am obviously not privy to any private discussions that may or may not have taken place between the owner of this domain name and the gaming company, I am not sure how the company believes it can prevail in a UDRP proceeding. The domain name seems to have been registered by someone because it matches the name of his business, and the domain name also appears to have been registered long before the video game franchise was released.

In my opinion, this case should be a win for the domain name owner. Although the domain name does not look like it is being actively used for a website, the email address that is on record is and has been @farcry.com for as long as I can see, so it would appear that at the very least, the domain name is being used for email. Perhaps it is also being used in other ways that aren’t visible to outsiders, but I don’t know.

Unless there are mitigating circumstances that aren’t obvious to me, it is unfortunate that money may have to be spent to defend a domain name like this.

Update: According to UDRPSearch.com, the UDRP has been terminated. UbiSoft Entertainment is the new registrant. Since there is not a decision on this, we won’t know if UbiSoft paid to acquire the domain name or if the owner gave it up. My guess is that the company paid to acquire it, otherwise there wouldn’t be much incentive to terminate the UDRP.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
  1. This is the time to unite all the fellow domainers and stand against all this sh*t happening nowadays. Otherwise it will be a huge problem for all the domain investors, Every company will first try to file UDRP then buying a domain from us. So, Its time to take a decision.

  2. I’m a first person shooter fan, and Far Cry is by far one of the most visually pleasing games. Played 1-4 and haven’t been able to finish #4.

    This is one of these cases that the most popular reference to a term is that of the trademark, which has acquired a secondary meaning. In other words, “Far Cry” now is synonymous with the Ubisoft game, as opposed to the term you referenced.

    There is a strong chance that unless the Respondent defends this, the domain will be lost. Ubisoft generates billions, and Far Cry .com would consolidate the franchise’s traffic under one roof.

    • they should of done their due diligence before naming the game if having the .com was so important. not going after it once is popular. there is no reason in the world that i could see why they should be able to take this domain from the owner unless he acquired it after the came was made. as someone who doesn’t play video games, i too have never heard of it.

  3. A domain Crowdfunding system should be set up for investors to finance UDRP legal defence. If the domain owner wins his defense then the investors would share in the future profit of the domain sale. Investors would be happy with a 10% rate of return within the year and the owner would be happy that he didn’t lose his valuable domain name.

  4. Game developers aren’t always able to predict the success of a title. Perhaps they reached out to buy the domain and their offer was refused.

    Far Cry is one of the biggest first person shooters in terms of sales and the franchise is very strong.

    Yes, they can afford to spend six figures to buy the .com but gaming budgets aren’t always big. E.g, id Software spent about $50k for Rage.com.

  5. The UDRP has been terminated and UbiSoft now owns FarCry.com. My guess is the company paid to acquire it, but since there is not going to be a decision, we probably won’t know for sure.

    • Many generic and descriptive domains are given away as domain owners don’t want the costs associated with defending, the UDRP odds that are favoring big business, or the reputation it can create if losing.

      My guess is the domain was given away in a settlement, not sold.

    • There would be no incentive to terminate the UDRP early unless the owner received something. There is no requirement to hire a lawyer to defend the UDRP or even respond so there is no upside to settle and agree to terminate without compensation.

      If there was no compensation the owner would lose nothing more by not responding. At worse, the domain name is lost. At best, the panel rules that the owner, whose company matched the domain name, would retain the domain name.

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