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Ubisoft Unveils New PC DRM Requiring Online Connection To Play (Updated)
by Alice O'Connor, Jan 26, 2010 10:00am PSTUpdate: Ubisoft has sent over an FAQ with more details (below) including a promise that should the service be stopped, games would be patched to remain playable.
Original: Developer and publisher Ubisoft's new PC DRM solution will feature no CD checks or installation limits and pack support for 'cloud' online saved game storage but will require players be online to authenticate before playing, GameSpy reveals.
Players will be required to login to their Ubi.com account to authenticate each and every time they wish to play--and there will be no support at all for offline play.
"We think most people are going to be fine with it. Most people are always connected to an Internet connection," said Ubisoft director of customer support Brent Wilkinson.
The DRM platform will debut with the closed beta test of Blue Byte city-building strategy The Settlers 7. "Most upcoming Ubisoft PC games" will make use of the platform, though GameSpy says not all will support cloud saves.
What are the key elements of this platform for PC gamers?
Although a permanent online connection is required, this means that a CD/DVD is not required to play the game after installation. The protected game can be installed as many times and on as many computers as you like. Saved games are also synchronized online so the user can continue playing from any location with the game installed.
How many players can the server system support?
There is no limit to how many players can play at the same time. For each title, we carefully study the demand and allocate servers accordingly. We will also of course allocate back-up servers in order to be able to respond to fluctuations in demand. Ubisoft provides 24/7 monitoring of its servers.
How many computers can I install the game on?
There is no limit to the number of computers on which you can install the game. However you can only play with your individual Ubisoft account on one computer at a time.
Can I play my game from another computer?
Yes. As long as the game is installed on the PC, you can play from any computer and your Ubisoft account will recognise your last saved position as well as automatically save any updates.
I am in a strict environment with lots of firewall rules etc. Can I still play the game?
If you can access the Internet from the computer, you can play the game.
What if Ubisoft decides not run these online services in the future? Will my game stop working?
If any service is stopped, we will create a patch for the game so that the core game play will not be affected.
What will happen if I lose my Internet connection when I play the game?
If you lose your Internet connection the game will pause while it tries to reconnect. If the Internet Connection is unable to resume you can continue the game from where you left off or from the last saved game.
Will I need to be online the whole time when I play the game? Including for single player?
Yes. You will need to have an active Internet connection to play the game, for all game modes.
Will this platform use unique keys?
Yes. Unique keys are verified throughout this system.
Will this affect the performance of my PC?
No. The services that we offer run only when you start the game and there are no background services.
Do you have to be a member of Uplay to use this service platform?
This system requires you to have a Ubi.com account. A Uplay and a Ubi.com account are the same. You don't need to use Uplay to use this service platform, but if you wish to do so, it's very simple.
Do you plan to implement this system on home consoles?
This system is for PCs only.
Will this system be available for every Ubisoft game?
Most upcoming Ubisoft PC games will make use of this system.
Comments
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http://www.petitiononline.com/ew15dl94/petition.html
BUT I REFUSE TO BUY SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE NOT PLAYABLE AFTER 1-2-3,5 OR 10 OR MORE YEARS. THERE ARE PROGRAMS LIKE DOSBOX ,VIRTUAL PC OR HACKS LIKE IMAGECFG ETC...THAT MAKES OLD GAMES PLAYABLE ON NEW SYSTEMS...BUT WITH THOSE FUCKING SCHEMES SOME ASSHOLES DO GAMES WOULD BE UNPLAYABLE AFTER A FEW YEARS...
They talk all the time about piracy but treat the people that actually buy their games like SHIT
WHEN I buy a game i want to be treated like a respectable customer.I want to have the game on my library proud of it on DISPLAY AND I WANT TO BE ABLE TO PLAY IT EVERYWHERE -because its crazy thinking that people everywhere have broadband connection.ALSO WHAT HAPPENS AFTER 2-3-5 OR 10 YEARS LATER WHEN I WANT TO REPLAY THAT GAME ?
I THROUGH IT LIKE USED MILK ??
I HAVE GAMES IN MY LIBRARY that are over 15 years old and can still be played either with a patch or an emulator like dosbox or virtual pc.
How the FUCK are those going to work when after 5 years the company that made the game will be no more and the game would be a worthless coffee MAT ?
BIG FUCK YOU ASSHOLES FOR KILLING THE PC GAMING AND BLAMING IT ON PIRACY
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Its times like this that I'm glad I can buy games from gamestop and none of the money goes to the dev. @ haysoos must be the most stupid comment of the day. You honestly don't deserve to play games.
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My feeling are much the same as the other comments. Of course this will be cracked (why eve pretend that you'll prevent it when EVERYONE has failed, ubisoft?), and the only peopl able to play the game offline will be the pirates. So to recap, they are again making the mistake of making it less hassle to just pirate the game for free rather than buy it.
I don't understand why they find this so hard. When you make crazy DRM like this, your game gets pirated. There have been indie devs with less headroom for piracy that have shown positive results when removing DRM, they get more sales.
I would never, EVER, EEEEEVVVEEERRR buy a game that could not be played offline. Unless of course I only play MP, which it wouldn't matter. I'm not saying that I can even think of a time when it woud be a problem, but at that point, it's leasing the game and I'm not prepared to lease a single player video game.
It's obvious that we are at a point where the distribution of games is going to get silly. This is just another step towards killing the retail product and replacing it with a "service". While this works for MMOs, it will be a scam if it moves into other markets. Think about Activision and the next MW. Instead of buying the game, you pay a monthly fee. So if you play the game for a year, you've paid XX amount over the cost of a game disc. And there would be no way to purchase a copy after a price drop or buy used.
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http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/04/indie-zeno-clash-devs-take-sales-pitch-to-the-pirates.ars
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2008/08/you-want-to-know-why-pirates-give-indie-game-dev-an-earful.ars
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2008/03/pc-game-developer-has-radical-message-ignore-the-pirates.ars
If you cant be bothered to read and be informed before replying, don't, nobody cares about uninformed specualtion.
Lastly, if they need DRM to keep from losing sales to piracy, why hasn't Itunes gone under after dropping DRM from their music? They are the biggest distributor of legally downloaded music and they removed DRM to stimulate sales. So far, it's been a success for them, and I think we can all agree it's a lot easier to share and pirate music.
The only DRM gamers should have to deal with is Steam type logins where offline play is available. I have no problem logging into another service as long as it's not a resource hog. But no offline play? No sale.
Who doesn't have an always-on connection anymore?
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I'll pass, steam is the only thing on my PC...
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This will be a major annoyance to honest customers.
This will cost Ubisoft money, in lost sales, server maintenance and support.
Who gains anything from this? Please tell me?
I'm seriously reconsidering my purchase of the next Splinter Cell game right now - and I was really looking forward to that.
Sometimes I feel like every single publisher is run by fruitcakes who have no grasp on reality.
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Gamers wanted to continue pirating across the board. We as a community have brought this upon ourselves as a whole.
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- No more CD/DVD check
- No GFWL/ 3rd party DRM
- No install limits
these are all the things that people are whinging about that Bioshock 2 is soon to have... yet Ubisoft says "hey, we're getting rid of ALL of them and replacing it with a simple internet connection requirement", yet the same people who whinge about the Bioshock 2 DRM whinge about this new alternative... i think the topic of DRM just brings all the cheap whingy self-involved gamers out of their caves to complain and justify why they're going to download the game instead of paying for it...
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If you lose your Internet connection the game will pause while it tries to reconnect. If the Internet Connection is unable to resume you can continue the game from where you left off or from the last saved game."
Yeah NO.
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Steam is fine, I have to auth once on install to decrypt, but that's it. Same with Impulse Games. BFD.
But to require a constant connection while I play? Fuck that. I disconnect often while gaming to keep my status hidden, or when I have a VPN open to work in order to wait for some huge build or transfer to complete. They're not going to appreciate transferring Ubisoft packets for me.
Sorry Ubisoft, you just lost a gamer. Most of your recent titles have been mediocre anyhow, so it's probably not my loss.
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You know there's a reason why people on the whole BUY Valves games. It's because they #1 try really hard to make them not suck, and #2 they continue to add fun things to them FOR FREE, thus making it feel like it's actually worth your time to invest in their products.
I can't believe this retarded scam Ubi came up with. Wow, lost a customer there guys. And for what it's worth I would be very surprised if the only people who aren't bothered by all this are the pirates who will avoid all the hassles and laugh at Ubi for making their customers hate them.
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If the game is coded from the beginning to save on the Ubisfot secure servers... how is the crack going to save in a local file?
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Seriously, Piracy is bad, but this is not really the solution who's time has come. Internet connections are still fallible and not many people have redundancy. Being locked out of something I own is not something I relish the idea of.
My router goes down occasionally. I travel. I move fairly frequently, sometimes my new home has a connection set up and sometimes it doesn't. These are all the times I'm more than happy to load up titles like Portal, Torchlight, Burnout Paradise, and Morrowind - All bought on Steam, actually.
I suppose I'll just have to consider this any time I think of buying something with Ubisoft's logo. No thank you.
Having an account and requiring me to validate when I start playing is a given for an online system and making sure I'm up to date would be a simple and useful solution for the bullshit of patching on a PC. Hackers will crack that but fuck the hackers, they'll have to patch the game themselves and hack the patch and waste time being wankers instead of playing the game. Good DRM makes sure an avg PC user is kept honest without raping the people who pay for stuff.
If you have purchased the game then you have nothing to worry about, its yours, you may have a disc or the DLC, you'll have an account so the things that would be painful have been addressed, if the service is to go offline they'll patch the game. I'd be more concerned about people hacking my account so I have no access to my game then anything else.
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