Ubisoft’s contentious DRM scheme already hacked
Last week Ubisoft announced a new DRM plan which would require gamers to maintain an internet connection at all times while playing their new games. The new DRM has been confirmed to ship with Assassin’s Creed II, The Settlers 7 and Silent Hunter 5.
Of course the announcement was met with disdain from the majority of PC gamers around the world. South African gamers in particular have reason to be concerned, as our internet infrastructure has a way to go before we can confidently claim to have constant, reliable and well priced internet access.
Initially, Ubisoft claimed that in the case of Assassin’s Creed II for instance, upon losing internet connectivity, players would be booted from the game and lose all their progress until their last save. Of course, with intermittent disconnects being all too common in South Africa, such a system could potentially ruin the game for local gamers.
Ubisoft confirmed at the time that "most upcoming Ubisoft PC games will make use of this system".
The company later back peddled slightly, stating that although always-on internet would be required to play their games from now on, players would not necessarily be kicked off the game immediately upon losing internet connectivity, and their saved games would be stored in Ubisoft’s cloud servers.
The update did little to appease PC gamers who were at this point fuming, with one central complaint being echoed repeatedly: This sort of DRM does more to inconvenience legitimate PC game buyers than those who download and crack games.
It would seem that the complaint has proven prophetic, as hackers have already circumvented the draconian DRM scheme. In less than 24 hours after release, the infamous cracker group known as Skid-Row has stripped Silent Hunter 5 of all its DRM protection software.
This effectively means that everyone who goes out and pays for the game at retail will be subject to the always-on internet requirement, while those who choose to pirate the game will not.
It is almost certain that exactly the same thing will happen to Assassin’s Creed II and other Ubisoft games when they are released. Therefore, as long as Ubisoft maintains its new DRM system, it will be hurting its legitimate supporters, while pirates will continue undeterred.
Discuss Ubisoft's DRM in the forums
Also read
Ubisoft's new DRM required always on internet
But seriously, enough with this DRM stuff
Post your comment Post your comment
Most PopularMost Popular
Mario Bros. retrospective
Comments (21 posted): Comments (21 posted):
Subscribe to comments feedWhilst I don't condone piracy, this kind of DRM is just going too far and since we've established that our protests fall on deaf ears, this seems to be the only way we have of forcing the corporates to sober up.
I remember recently commenting that this exact thing would happen. Crackers don't suffer and legit buyers do.
I won't use the cracked version though becuz the cost to download the cracked game is more than the original.
So I can't even buy the original and crack it. Hence poor South African gamer suffers through, just so he can play.
anybody want to cry me a river
To be honest, I am happy that they managed to bypass the protection .... What is the point of purchasing games and not being able to enjoy it ?????
Dont I pay enough (retail) for a game ... now I have to spend more to have that constant internet connection on ....
Playstation - Here I come ... PC Gaming is costing me too much and becoming more of a bother !
Forcing players to remain constantly connected and to store saved games on a cloud seems way too draconian though.
I'm pleased to hear that crackers are circumventing this type of DRM. I was put off buying AC2 for PC because of it. Now that there is a possibility that I can play the game offline, resorting to cracking a legitimate copy, i'm going to use it.
Also, expecting players to stay connected while playing the game is suddenly "draconian"? That sound is 8 million World of Warcraft subscribers not complaining.