Ubisoft Proclaims Restrictive "Always On" DRM a Success
Well, this is some news that is sure to frustrate gamers: Ubisoft has decided that it will continue implementing its special constant-connection anti-piracy measures because, to nobody's surprise, it works.
The company's restrictive digital rights management (DRM) system, which was recently announced to be included in upcoming release Driver: San Francisco, became infamous after being featured in the two most recent Assassin's Creed Games and a few of Ubisoft's other titles. The DRM requires users to constantly be connected to the internet while playing their games, lest they be signed out of their Ubisoft accounts and lose all of their progress since the last save.
The bad news is that, according to a Ubisoft representative, the exceedingly strict security has actually been effective at combating piracy. The rep said that Ubi has seen “a clear reduction in piracy of our titles which required a persistent online connection, and from that point of view the requirement is a success.”
The company's restrictive digital rights management (DRM) system, which was recently announced to be included in upcoming release Driver: San Francisco, became infamous after being featured in the two most recent Assassin's Creed Games and a few of Ubisoft's other titles. The DRM requires users to constantly be connected to the internet while playing their games, lest they be signed out of their Ubisoft accounts and lose all of their progress since the last save.
The bad news is that, according to a Ubisoft representative, the exceedingly strict security has actually been effective at combating piracy. The rep said that Ubi has seen “a clear reduction in piracy of our titles which required a persistent online connection, and from that point of view the requirement is a success.”
Unfortunately it is the legitimate players that are most often stuck taking the brunt of such measures, and there are plenty of stories from users that got stuck with near-unplayable games due to poor internet connections. There are even more about loss of progress because of sudden disconnections, often because of problems on Ubisoft's end, which cost players hours of their time.
Driver: San Francisco will be released on August 30 in the U.S. and September 2 in Europe. How well the game will sell in the face of such harsh restrictions remains to be seen.
Driver: San Francisco will be released on August 30 in the U.S. and September 2 in Europe. How well the game will sell in the face of such harsh restrictions remains to be seen.
