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Ubisoft Confirms Controversial New DRM System Being Used for Splinter Cell: Conviction on PC
by Garnett Lee, Feb 26, 2010 1:20pm PSTSoftpedia reports that the upcoming Splinter Cell: Conviction was on a list of titles planned to use Ubisoft's controversial new PC DRM system given to PC Gamer by a company representative. Also appearing there are Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, and the all new Ghost Recon game in development.
With Assassin's Creed 2 and Settler 7 already known to be using the system as well, Ubisoft appears resolute in its adoption of the new DRM for all PC projects going forward. As part of the comment, the Ubisoft representative said, "it's hard for us to say, yes, from now until the day that we all die all of our games are going to include this but most will."
At the heart of the matter is the requirement of an active connection to the internet, without which the game will not work at all. Serious as the threat piracy poses is, the deluge of responses indicate that such draconian measures miss the mark on two counts. Potential customers put off by the restriction may choose not to buy a game they might otherwise have and hackers inevitably find ways around the protections to steal the game anyway -- a point even the Ubisoft representative was resigned to.
[thanks Shacker retarded talking dinosaur for the tip]
Comments
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One of the biggest problems with Anti-Piracy Measures such as DRM, is that they hurt those of us that would have actually bought the game as well.
Safedisc, SecuRom, DRM. Things that get in the way even if you legitimately go out and buy the game. Safedisc and SecuRom for example prevent games from working if you have Emulation Software AT ALL on your PC. The only way to get around it, is to crack (essentially hack) the game. (Star Wars Battlefront II was a prime example of this).
And now we're seeing DRM that REQUIRES you to be connected to the internet to play a SINGLE PLAYER only game...
A lot of people buy single player games on PC because they don't have a solid (or stable) internet connection...
If you like Single Player games for your laptop this one's not for you :P
The Result = Sadly, if You want to play games with these kind of Anti-Piracy Measures without issues... You're better off downloading a pirated ALREADY cracked version of the game, that will work efficiently, (because you're going to have to find the crack to get it to work anyway).
The truth is I don't think most people will be negatively affected by the DRM, but they see potential for it down the road. If the game was sure to be DRM free down the road we would not feel bad buying it with DRM up front.
Also it seems like pirates could just wait for the DRM free version without any worry of Trojans being packed in with the cracks.
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Well we'll see soon enough!
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Also, as many others have already said, this is going to be a support nightmare for Ubisoft when it goes live.
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It only affects the legitimate buyers....
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learned my lesson with chaos theory, a game I'll never be able to play ever again.
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This is exactly the same childish, petulant actions that is killing off the music labels. You have to wonder how these guys got into the positions they occupy (upper management)
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Until then,
no.
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* I am trying to make my system as anti piracy as possible but also gamer friendly *
- Make the user logon to the Internet and unlock there game - check
- Write to memory a encrypted key that you successfully unlocked your game - check
- Boot up game with no Internet, game checks for key in system memory - check
- Play your game
* My rule as long as you want to play you essentially have to make one call to a server and the app writes to system memory a key *
* Valcan_s fail safes *
- try to read this key in mem other than the game.exe the game instantly terminates
- try to modify this key in mem the game instantly terminates
- note - make sure you do not run your virus scan software while playing it would kill your game for it breaks my rule
Personally this new shit where you have to be on-line 24 7 sucks balls, yet I understand why they do it. Still there has to be a better way isn' t there?
I am sure a above means is possible and you guys and my self would tolerate it way more.
No? Any thoughts?
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1. They have to try something new. If this works, they will know for a fact that every sale was a legitimate one and it will be a milestone in its own right (stopping piracy, which has never been done). If this happens, EVERYONE is going to adopt this method (i.e. the guild wars type, where you're always connected or you don't play).
2. I have a feeling at the moment they don't really give a crap if no one buys the PC versions of these games. The console games sell a ton already, and I'm sure they don't even get 10% of their sales from PC.
But if this whole system works and stops people from illegally downloading them, then they will focus more on PC games, which is a better thing for everyone. I, along with everyone else, hates how people do crappy ports and shoddy attempts at PC versions of good console games, and that's because they're not even expecting any return on their work in a piracy-saturated market. Maybe a successful DRM solution will give them more incentive to work harder at those PC versions. Of course, that's just me hoping, but if this takes off, and PC games from Ubisoft get the same attention as console games, then I can see myself eventually trying this out.
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This is just a way to get out of PC gaming all together. Sales will be shit due to the DRM but Ubisoft will spin it around saying sales where down on PC due to pirates. It will be their way out of pc gaming as it seems that's what they wanted all along.
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I hope you go bankrupt you bastards!!
I refuse to support this kind of Draconian DRM.
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Have fun Ubisoft, you're now officially fucked.
They dropped Starforce as a result of that.
http://consumerist.com/2006/04/ubisoft-dumps-starforce-like-hermaphrodite-girlfriend.html
Sadly I can't just play the console version of this, the only other console I have is a PS3.
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