Ubisoft didn't learn, did they?

[Mr Buckshot]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111915-Ubisofts-Always-On-DRM-Is-Back-In-Driver-San-Francisco






The PC version of the upcoming Driver: San Francisco (http://www.amazon.com/Driver-San-Francisco-Pc/dp/B002I0HFBC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1311783543&sr=8-3) will feature Ubisoft's much-loathed "Always On" DRM, meaning that if your internet connection stops working, so does your game.

In early 2010 Ubisoft unveiled (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98396-Ubisoft-Online-DRM-Its-Worse-Than-Expected) what may be the most onerous DRM scheme ever conceived, requiring PC gamers to be constantly connected to the internet while playing their games. And if the connection happens to drop? Tough titty, said the kitty, because if the internet craps out, so does the game. Almost as if to illustrate the point, Ubi's DRM servers went down (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98927-Ubisoft-DRM-Authentication-Servers-Go-Down)immediately following the March release of Assassin's Creed 2 (http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Creed-2-Pc/dp/B001TOQ8R0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1311783597&sr=8-3) for the PC, which meant that nobody could actually play the hot new game they'd just brought home from the store.

An August move to Steamworks (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102739-Ubisoft-Abandons-DRM-for-Steamworks-With-R-U-S-E) for R.U.S.E. (http://www.amazon.com/R-U-S-Pc/dp/B0020KY02M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1311783623&sr=8-3) suggested that Ubisoft had seen the light but apparently that was just a blip, because "always on" is on again in the upcoming Driver: San Francisco. "PC version requires permanent internet connection," the company revealed (http://twitter.com/#!/DriverGame/status/95905062156632064) on the official Driver Twitter account. It confirmed with Rock, Paper, Shotgun (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/07/27/ubisofts-driver-sanfran-has-always-on-drm/) that it is indeed talking about the infamous "always on" DRM which will bring the game to a halt if the internet connection drops at any time.

The console versions of the game, Ubisoft noted, can be played offline.

In other good news, it turns out that the new Driver won't support steering wheels. "No steering wheel support at this time, as it didn't fit very well with the Shift gameplay and our specific handling," the company wrote in a separate tweet (http://twitter.com/#!/DriverGame/statuses/95753634020724736)that sadly does not go further to explain exactly how a steering wheel doesn't fit with a driving game.

I can't imagine what Ubisoft expects to accomplish by treating its PC customers with such utter contempt. The DRM may work, in the same way that slashing your tires will keep people from stealing your car, but that doesn't make it a good idea. And this, I'm pretty sure, is not a good idea.

Driver: San Francisco comes out on September 6 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, 3DS and PC.

They did (mostly) patch it out of Ac2 and Conviction (it calls home at 1st launch, but nothing more), so I'd think they'd at the very least take that kind of approach again. Pretty ironic how this stupid DRM backfires on day 1 and essentially means pirates have a superior experience.

I'm waiting for the day that they require console versions to stay connected 24/7 too. It isn't rocket science to mod an Xbox 360 to play burned discs and still evade XBL bans.

[neuro]

tbh most my colleagues in my office @ ubisoft think this DRM is totally bullshit too.
leads and managers included.

[Limited]

And theres the inside scoop!

Its clearly a decision by the board/suits.

[d4rfnader]

Some of these companies are way too worried about piracy.

[Mr Buckshot]

if they're so worried, they shouldn't even bother with a PC version and just only make a console version without bullshit DRM.

It may cut off the PC crowd but it's still a lot less disrespectful to paying customers.

to be fair Ubisoft is significantly more generous with price cuts than Activision so it's not all that evil, but it doesn't matter whether it's $10 or $50 or $60 - if I can't enjoy my game I won't buy.

[Amit]

Does it matter? Most UBISOFT games are minaly singleplayer anyways. Just for crackers to crack it and then download it. That's what I did with Brotherhood. I never did get into the AC games, even though I own AC1 and ACII.

[Mr Buckshot]

Problem is the average North American connection is not the most reliable. It's even worse for Australians. And those two markets happen to be major targets. In other words, connection dropping off unexpectedly = game over, unacceptable for a single player game. Those of us who are forced to use wi-fi are at even greater risk.

I've heard rumours about DRM being intended to simply delay the pirated copies in the hopes that people who would otherwise pirate would be so impatient that they'd just buy it. I ROFL'ed. Yeah, sometimes DRM has been effective in making the pirated version longer than usual to appear on torrents, but I haven't seen any pirates rush out to buy the game rather than wait 1 more week.

they need to wake up and realize piracy is an inevitable sunk cost, and maybe acknowledge that high piracy rates actually reflect the game's success and would be accompanied by even higher sales. Try and find any poorly-reviewed game on torrents. If you do, it'll probably have next to no seeders at all. Same thing goes for novels, movies, and music. Best-sellers are always the most-pirated, shit titles are the least.