CD Projekt Red swears off DRM

The CEO of CD Projekt Red has claimed that DRM simply does not work, and promised that its games will "never use any DRM anymore."

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The Witcher 2 developer CD Projekt Red has had a love-hate relationship with digital rights management before, but now the CEO has thrown down the gauntlet. At the Game Developers Conference, company co-founder Marcin Iwinski committed to never use DRM again.

"Every subsequent game we will never use any DRM anymore, it's just over-complicating things," Iwinski said at a presentation on the success of The Witcher 2. "We release the game. It's cracked in two hours, it was no time for Witcher 2."

"DRM does not protect your game," Iwinski told Joystiq. "If there are examples that it does, then people maybe should consider it, but then there are complications with legit users."

Iwinski also said he was "surprised" that the pirates cracked the SecuROM version of the game rather than distributing the DRM-free GOG version. The company had previously threatened to sue pirates of the game, but halted that plan upon concerns that innocent users could be falsely accused.

His statements echo earlier comments that have been skeptical of DRM's efficacy, but this is the first time he's outright committed to a DRM policy for the future of the company. The Witcher 2 was Shacknews' Game of the Year, and is scheduled to hit the Xbox 360 on April 17.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 12, 2012 12:00 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, CD Projekt Red swears off DRM.

    The CEO of CD Projekt Red has claimed that DRM simply does not work, and promised that its games will "never use any DRM anymore."

    • reply
      March 12, 2012 12:06 PM

      Bravo. Not only is it a useless gesture (cracked in hours) now the studio won't have to pay licensing to SecuROM, thus saving them money. (and why would you pay money for a product like securerom that's destined to fail?

      • reply
        March 12, 2012 3:14 PM

        Wasn't it the publisher that insisted on the DRM?

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      March 12, 2012 12:08 PM

      So none of their games on Steam going forward?

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        March 12, 2012 12:35 PM

        Maybe not require it but would be nice for those who want it there.

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        March 12, 2012 3:37 PM

        I thought you could release games on Steam without DRM too? Just they dont' shout about it when it happens.

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          March 12, 2012 3:50 PM

          There are a few games I have that still work even with steam closed. Mostly small indie stuff though, but apparently it is (was?) possible.

          I still doubt their games sold on Steam will lack Steam DRM, but rather the main version sold direct from gog, or retail, amazon, etc won't have DRM methods forced on it.

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        March 12, 2012 3:47 PM

        There are lots of games on Steam that are "DRM free". It's viewed by these game makers as more of a distribution mechanism than a DRM scheme. Other distribution channels for the same game would likely not have DRM on them. (See Humble Bundles, etc.)

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      March 12, 2012 12:20 PM

      I hope the game is Brutal Legend 2 which turns from a FPS game in to a turn based city management game this time around

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      March 12, 2012 12:25 PM

      Steamworks isn't DRM instituted by CDPR, so I think they might still let games out on Steam.

      Truth be told Steam DRM is the way forward, I'd sooner buy it because it's no hassel, and I get Steam Achievements :D I like being able to pay with PayPal and in 2-clicks I'm done.

      People should embrace Steam more.
      Saying that, Origin isn't as bad as I expected, had to get ME3 on there and it's done fine so far.

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        March 12, 2012 1:45 PM

        Yeah, pretty sure they're getting behind their own GOG and Steamworks options for digital publishing here. They're, hopefully, just not gonna license 'crap' for the PC platform releases in future. Great example :-)

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      March 12, 2012 12:55 PM

      They should go Free-To-Play. You can play the entire game with a shitty sword and armor and 1/3rd the storyline, with tiered pricing to unlock all the goodness. Just a thought.

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      March 12, 2012 3:43 PM

      I am hoping they continue with the free DLC like in Witcher 2. I seem to buy games like that on day one, rather than wait for a GOTY edition.

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      March 12, 2012 4:37 PM

      Nice! I always buy their stuff anyway.

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