Anno 2070's weirdo DRM is working as intended

By Tom Bramwell Published 20 January, 2012

Three activations, doesn't like you changing graphics card.

Ubisoft has said that seemingly overzealous DRM in its PC strategy title Anno 2070 is working as intended and claimed most players won't ever fall foul of it.

Those defenders of truth, justice, hitpoints and terrain at Rock, Paper, Shotgun noticed a report earlier this week that Anno 2070 required reactivation every time you changed your graphics card.

Given that it only allowed three activations in the first place and doesn't support deactivations, this had the potential to cause problems for players. Indeed, it already had, with tech website Guru3D unable to benchmark the game due to the issue.

"While it's correct that copies of Anno include three activations and that changing hardware may trigger the need for reactivation, the vast majority of Anno customers never encounter this scenario," Ubisoft told RPS.

"On the rare occasion when a customer does need additional activations, Ubisoft customer service is available to quickly resolve the situation, and we encourage those customers to contact us directly so that we can ensure they are able to continue to enjoy their game."

Righto. Except apparently Guru3D tried this and didn't get a response for days, and was only able to get on with the important work of comparing the pixels in its futuristic metropolises when developer BlueByte stepped in to assist.

Rather than allowing you to deactivate copies of Anno 2070, RPS noted that the game leaves a config file on your PC so that if you reinstall it later then the software knows that all is well. Assuming you don't delete it in the meantime, reformat your hard disk or change your graphics card, anyway.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (39) Latest comment 4 months ago

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

  • CaptainQuint #1 4 months ago

    Is everyone on their hols then, Tom? EG short-staffed this week? You seem to be the only one there writing the news articles at moment! Not that I'm complaining :)

  • Darren #2 4 months ago

    UbiSoft are idiots. How stupid is it to implement DRM that requires a reactivation if you change your graphics card but doesn't allow you to deactivate the game before you do so?!? :rolleyes:

    It doesn't matter if only twenty people are affected by this, it's still a huge annoyance for them if they run out of activations and have to mess around contacting technical support. All DRM with limited activations should come with some means of deactivating them IMO and, in this case, the game should come with a warning in the manual and during installation that users will lose one of the three activations if they change their graphics card.

    Definitely will NOT be buying this game. UbiSoft seem to be doing their utmost to be the publisher with the most annoying DRM schemes EVER!
    Edited by Darren at 20/01/12 @ 08:41

  • UncleLou #3 4 months ago

    I am not an anti-DRM zealot, but even I am avoiding Ubisoft games these days. First Anno game I haven't bought. Shame, I did like the demo.

  • Spong #4 4 months ago

    Another Ubi DRM debacle? There's a shocker.

  • andisart #5 4 months ago

    3 installs only?? DRM makes me think about cracking this... That cant be what the publisher wants!

  • thisisatempaccount #6 4 months ago

    @CaptainQuint I like to think of Tom, chain-smoking and wearing a bandana, furiously hammering away at a keyboard with one hand while shovelling coal into the EG mainframe with the other.

    He's topless, too, but I'm savvy enough not to mention that part. Wait, shit.

  • OverWind #7 4 months ago

    God damnit. Yet another time where pirated games are better than the original. I hope they learn. I actually bought Anno 2070 2 times (once for me, once for a friend). But I probably wouldn't have done it, if I had known about the draconian drm (also, I think it's a pretty game, but the magic has kinda gone out of it, compared to the other games in the series).

  • bad09 #8 4 months ago

    Phew! I was getting worried there!

    After years of being the worst and most out of touch company on PC with their flagging sales they finally put an offline mode in their crap launcher. With light at the end of the tunnel they actually started looking like they had half a clue and worth throwing money at again. This puts them on track, not content with the net they want to chain down your hardware to. The mind boggles...especially as a pirated version probably will work perfectly as customers want, can you say "self fulfilling prophecy" Ubi?

    Oh ubisoft, for a company who has quite a few interesting games you sure are a pile of stinking festering shit not worth spending with. You really must enjoy 95% of the people playing your games not being stupid enough to pay you.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #9 4 months ago

    Amazing how Ubisoft seem to completely fail at understanding DRM. Why the hell would you need a new activation for a new graphics card? The one component that people usually upgrade the most? Even if you don't upgrade your computer that often and keep mainboard/cpu until the next generation there's still a good chance that you change your gpu at least once.

  • Whizzo #10 4 months ago

    Seeing it was £18 on Amazon I very nearly hit add to basket then I remembered it was a Ubisoft title.

    No sale and as Guru3D's problems arose a couple of days later I consider it a bullet dodged.

  • arcam #11 4 months ago

    Post deleted at 11:56:22 20-01-2012

  • FanBoysSuck #12 4 months ago

    Man I really want to pick this up but I don't like the idea of it not working when I switch my hardware out.

    Is this for the boxed copy only or does this stupidity extend to the steam version?

  • Spekingur #13 4 months ago

    What I get from this is that Blue Byte is awesome.

  • loveless #14 4 months ago

    Hey Ubisoft, do you know the best way to stop piracy?

    Make something that people want to buy. Make it easy for them to buy it, and sell it for a price that they can afford.

    Note, the bit about being affordable. That's not the price that you want to be able to charge for it, or even how much you need to charge for it given how much you've spent to develop it (which was probably over-inflated anyway). And bear in mind that we aren't made of money, and even if we can technically afford to buy your game, there are a million other things for us to spend our money on too.

    And if that means you can expect a lower income - cut your cloth accordingly. Make smaller games, for less. You don't need to spend quite so much to make something entertaining. In fact, you'll probably make things that are more entertaining by lowering the budget, rather than churning out ever more expensive and flashy versions of what we've just bought.

    And that's what we want - entertaining. Not expensive and flashy.

  • tossum #15 4 months ago

    @arcam If you're playing it now without DRM, just buy it as well so the dev gets some money. A promise is worth nothing to them.

  • arcam #16 4 months ago

    Post deleted at 10:56:18 20-01-2012

  • afray #17 4 months ago

    @arcam hey you could not pirate the game, *and* not buy it. Plenty of other games companies to give your money to. Call me crazy.

  • Darren #18 4 months ago

    As others have pointed out it is dumb to force reactivation of a game with just three activations for a component that is the most likely to be upgraded.

    I really don't know what UbiSoft or the company they contracted to code the DRM were thinking when they came up with that idea. Surely they must have known it would have a very negative reaction once people found out about it? Didn't they learn anything from the criticisms of their always-online DRM or do they just not care at all? I'm really astounded to be honest; it's like UbiSoft exist in their own little world separate from the rest of reality.

    Windows also forces reactivations too once you've replaced a certain number of components - I had to reactivate Windows 7 just before Christmas when I fitted a new 256 GB SSD for example - but, as far as I'm aware, it has unlimited activations for the full release I own so this isn't a problem. Reactivation just requires me to be online - which I am all the time anyway - and click a button.

    Anyway, I've had enough of UbiSoft and their draconian DRM measures and have decided I won't buy any more of their games until they change their policies. If they don't well there's plenty of other games out there to play.

  • Subi #19 4 months ago

    @arcam So copy the game and send a tenner to Blue Byte. Their address is on the web. :)

  • arcam #20 4 months ago

    edit: Deleting this and previous posts. Not because I don't want to defend my views, but because as I have been reminded (and I definitely agree), promoting piracy is irresponsible. Apologies.
    Edited by arcam at 20/01/12 @ 10:56

  • afray #21 4 months ago

    @arcam your actions are selfish and unwarranted, and your continued defence of them makes me suspect you already know that.

  • Darren #22 4 months ago

    Seems UbiSoft have decided to remove the graphics card check now according to this story posted on Guru3D:

    http://www.guru3d.com/news/ubisoft-changes-anno-2070-drm-after-guru3d-critique/

    I still can't believe they even thought it was a good idea in the first place but at least they do listen.

  • uknortherner2000 #23 4 months ago

    Makes no difference to me. UbiSoft treating their customers like criminals was the reason why I stopped buying their games since 2009. I will never pay £35 for what is basically a rental and as soon as Ubisoft are revealed to be a publisher of a title, it simply drops off my radar. This, combined with Ubi's "all PC gamers are criminals" attitude of late means I will never buy an Ubisoft title ever again. There are far better games out there by publishers/devs who know how to treat their customers (hello CD Projekt Red).

    Some people on here seem to think that the developer (Blue Byte) should be respected/supported. Why? They chose to remain silent on Ubisoft's practices and as far as I'm concerned, by getting into bed with such a publisher they reap what they sow. How about some support for the legitimate PC gamer for once?

  • beatwolf #24 4 months ago

    @CaptainQuint

    Who gives a fuck which employee is writing the news articles?

  • Okamiwolf #25 4 months ago

    Well, guess I won't bother buying this game legitimately any more. Shame because it's a really nice game and I enjoyed the demo.
    Edited by Okamiwolf at 20/01/12 @ 12:53

  • Jorendo #26 4 months ago

    Ubisoft must be the dombest idiots of the industry. Crying people pirate their game whilr ubisoft is the only criminal here. They ask 50 euro for a pc game and you as LEGAL buyer can only activate it 3 times. What piece of shit made that up. Yet ubisoft dares to call pc gamers whining bitches who pirate anyway. If you dont pirate you cant even play the game you bought, hell what if sony/microsoft did this with the consoles, you can tirn it on 3 times after that you cant play anymore then people shout its crazy but for pc games its accepted that ubisoft steals you money. It is pue thiefery and they should be sued and legally destroyed! Blaming all the pc gamers for stealing yet they steal from those who support them on the pc.

  • Jorendo #27 4 months ago

    Can you sue Ubisoft for not activating your game anymore after those 3 times? I believe we as consumers have something like laws that protect us. I think this is pretty much against the law what Ubisoft does if they refuse to reactivate a game more after it passed the provided amount of reactivation's. You pay for a game i doubt its allowed by law to say "you only buy the right to use it 3 times".

  • wtc0771 #28 4 months ago

    @Jorendo Actually yup, they pretty much can. All you do when you buy the game is buy the license to use the software as licensed.

  • Jorendo #29 4 months ago

    @wtc0771 Damn, well shame, i really was looking forward to the new rainbow six but they won't see any of my money ever anymore. I suported Ubisoft for many years but i can't anymore. Not after being called a PC whining bitch who pirates anyway and then just say "you can only use our 3 for 3 installs while the console gamer gets no penalty what so ever but we surely need to do this to prevent piracy and everyone who says this provokes piracy is a whining bitch".

    The next Assassins creed should be in a modern age setting, where you play a Ubisoft manager and have to kill the game industry and "whining pc gamer bitches".

  • immateriaux #30 4 months ago

    I would have very much liked to buy this game but didn't because of the daft, heavy handed DRM they used. If that's a case of "DRM working as intended" so be it - very odd policy, though, to intend to have less customers.

  • Britler #31 4 months ago

    "On the rare occasion when a customer does need additional activations, Ubisoft customer service is available to quickly resolve the situation, and we encourage those customers to contact us directly so that we can ensure they are able to continue to enjoy their game."

    This is adorable. What they're "encouraging" people to do is not buy their fucking game.

  • wanted_0012 #32 4 months ago

    Oh man, I've defended Ubisoft and their 'always-on-internet' DRM before but I can't justify this. So if I install this game, change my graphics card, then format my pc I wont be able to use it?

    WTF is wrong with you Ubisoft? If you ever do that to Assassins Creed games I promise I'll stop buying them..

  • Ahskay #33 4 months ago

    Ubisoft & EA are stealing Activisions crown of being the nr. 1 hated publishers in the world.

  • Lamb #34 4 months ago

    I don't understand Ubis draconian DRM. Its like they own a DRM company instead of a gaming company. I have purchased Anno 2070 from Amazon for £18 and offline mode does not currently work for me.

  • ISeeEverything #35 4 months ago

    Ubisoft has become suicidal , I just hope it will come to it's senses and not pull the trigger , there's still time , but not much .

  • faselei #36 4 months ago

    First time I miss out on an anno game. Right up my street. But you have to take a stand...

  • tulx #37 4 months ago

    Amazing. How do they intend to battle piracy if they provide a worse service than the pirates? I would have never even thought of pirating Anno 2070, but now that I know of these problems, and yes, I change my hardware often, I actually feel that the pirated copy is a better product.

  • doragonpawwa #38 4 months ago

    Lame, defo not bothering with Anno now

  • Jorendo #39 4 months ago

    @tulx Funny no? They want to battle piracy with providing a even worse service then the pirated version and on top of that call their only paying pc customers whining pirating bitches.

    Its like fighting pirates in the 17th century by trowing your gold at them and tell them when you are there again with another shipment yet cry that the pirates keep robbing you.