CD Projekt Red swears off DRM

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.