Ubisoft: Always-on DRM "case-by-case"

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 5 January, 2011

May be included in future PC games.

Ubisoft will patch out its controversial always-on PC game digital rights management on a case-by-case basis.

Yesterday it emerged that the PC versions of Assassin's Creed II and Splinter Cell: Conviction no longer required an active internet connection to work.

The change caused some to speculate that Ubisoft had ditched its always-on PC game DRM policy. Not so, according to Ubisoft.

Patching out is done on a case-by-case basis, Ubisoft told Shacknews. Future games, including the PC port of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, may ship with the always-on DRM.

Ubisoft's controversial DRM launched with The Settlers 7 last April, but was scrapped for the release of the PC version of real-time strategy game RUSE.

Last year Ubisoft's online verification servers suffered digital attacks, which prevented thousands of gamers from playing their games.

In January Ubisoft claimed the goal of its then new PC anti-piracy solution was to "provide added value" and "enrich the gaming experience".

"We know this choice is controversial but we feel is justified by the gameplay advantages offered by the system and because most PCs are already connected to the internet," said the company.

"This platform also offers protection against piracy, an important business element for Ubisoft and for the PC market in general as piracy has an important impact on this market.

"Any initiative that allows us to lower the impact of piracy on our PC games will also allow us to concentrate further effort on the creation and expansion of our intellectual properties for the PC - our goal is to deliver the best gaming experience to our customers."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Cronan #1 1 year ago

    Restrictive DRM on games lowers their value to me, especially where the game is a single-player affair. The value gap between free games with no DRM and paid-for games with DRM starts to look even greater.

  • Nightster #2 1 year ago

    Until Ubisoft ditch the scheme properly they'll not be getting a penny of my money on any platform. 'Gameplay advantages' lol. Only the pirates have a gameplay advantage!

  • levitate #3 1 year ago

    It's pretty obvious people won't buy their games no matter what Ubisoft thinks about their DRM. It's a shenanigan and a kick in the teeth to players who want to play their games.

    Myself I'm buying more games than ever before, but I'm not buying games with any sort of protection that bars me entirely from playing if I can't get Internet working. That's taking the piss.

  • Xabarin #4 1 year ago

    People have voted with their wallets and the results are in: they appear to unanimously hate this shitty DRM. More news at nine.

  • ZizouFC #5 1 year ago

    Avast! Blame the pirates me matey's!

  • Cronan #6 1 year ago

    ZizouFC: Actually, this sort of thing is down to the pirates. Copyright infringment of games on the PC is massive; some publishers have found that up to half of the support calls they field are from people who did not buy the game.

  • levitate #7 1 year ago

    @Xabarin:

    Unfortunately Ubisoft act like prissy politicians on election day and won't understand a losing poll result even if it bit them in their collective arse.

  • bad09 #8 1 year ago

    Ubisoft seem to be awesome at pissing off and confusing legal gamers, promoting piracy/cracking and destroying any kind of credibility they had in the market. it's no wonder their share price is sinking faster than their reputation as a PC publisher.

    Someone posted in the article yesterday "fuck off Ubisoft". Couldn't put it better myself, how much will Brotherhood be 2nd hand on a console when it finally hits PC?

  • rob76 #9 1 year ago

    I will gladly pay for my games but when I see pirates enjoying a better experience without paying for it then I say fuck off Ubisoft and co. If I buy a game I want to play it whether I'm at home, on a plane or on a desert fucking island for all that matters.

  • Makeem95 #10 1 year ago

    As a compromise, if they put their games on Steam with no additional DRM, then I'll buy.
    Still waiting for them to update Anno 1404 Gold to the latest DRM-free version on Steam so I can buy & play.

  • KKRT #11 1 year ago

    'Gameplay advantages'
    LOL. Only gameplay 'advantage' for me was not being able to launch settlers 7 demo and hawx 2 benchmark ... Till DRM drop, I wont buy their games, period.

    Ps. EA nailed it: great store, additional content for 1st owner and only activation DRM - thats the way to go.

  • 5h1nj1 #12 1 year ago

    Steam is only another form of DRM protection. Less bothersome, yes, but still a DRM with online authentication. For online multiplayer, great. But for single player games I want to have them working fully without the need of a server somewhere in the internet, which decides, whether I have the right to play or not. With Steam, that is mostly only during the first setup, but still...

    2KKRT: Are you kidding? How is that "the way to go"? EA did only nicely with the titles, where you can DECIDE not to use online authentication (Bad Company 2). That was the way to go.
    Edited by 5h1nj1 at 05/01/11 @ 11:54

  • LazyNinjaUk #13 1 year ago

    "gameplay advantages" - I find this insulting and so typical of PR spin, I fail to see what advantages this has for the player. Other than to penalise people who pay foe their games.

  • bad09 #14 1 year ago

    "As a compromise, if they put their games on Steam with no additional DRM, then I'll buy"

    Steams offline mode is flakey at times so I'd only pay bottom dollar, but yeah, only Steam as a DRM would be enough to at least spend some money with them for me.

  • Tiel #15 1 year ago

    Will now buy AC 2, and Settlers 7 when it is ditched for that game too.
    Holding back worked for me--they can now both be had new for a tenner, so I don't see how this helped Ubi.

  • uknortherner2000 #16 1 year ago

    When this crappy DRM was originally announced, I vowed never to buy another Ubisoft game on any platform until they abolished it. Hell, I even refuse to install the free copy of Assassins Creed 2 I got with my new PC last year.

    Another year, and the same reason to keep avoiding UbiShaft games at any cost. If I want to pay to be treated like a criminal, I'll go to my local S&M shop. Hell, at least it'll be pleasurable! It's about time these bastards and other publishers like them were investigated by Trading Standards.

  • mAc062 #17 1 year ago

    Its a lot less hassel to pirate a ubi game than it is to put up with the DRM, maybe they will realise that someday, probably not as they are money hungry gready whores and they think this kind of think actually offers them protection against pricay. As mentioned in a early post steam is a much better option but still not perfect. The only time I buy steam games are in their sales other than that I stick to boxed copies unless they are loaded with over the top DRM such as ubi's system in that case if I really want the game its off to the file sharing sites for me. I do prefer to pay for my games but in ubi's case hell no.

  • ISeeEverything #18 1 year ago

    It was absurd to continue pushing this DRM on already cracked games , I was wondering when will they make this step . So from now on their policy is: How pirates crack our games , that how we're releasing no DRM patches , sorry for terrorizing you in meantime with our DRM , there's no need from now on. We'll try to continue your misery with our next game. LOL .

  • curtlikesmeat #19 1 year ago

    So can it be 'turned off'? I will buy Settlers
    7 when it is removed (for a tenner at Morrisons, nice work!).

  • NovaBlack #20 1 year ago

    Almost bought the new settlers game about 10 times now. Was actually lined up to buy it on release. But then every time i remember the DRM.. no thanks. I have a flaky internet connection. Why should i get kicked out of a single player game because my connection goes down, when i have bought the game legit... Um. No thanks.

  • NovaBlack #21 1 year ago

    @5h1nj1

    Just run steam in offline mode. Works fone for me with single player games :)