2K "scaling back" BioShock 2 DRM

Having stirred up the usual hornet's nest by posting about BioShock 2's DRM on PC last week, 2K community manager Elizabeth Tobey has claimed on Cult of Rapture that the publisher is "scaling back" DRM on the game.

"Over the past two days, I've fielded a lot of questions and concerns about the DRM for both the retail and digital versions of BioShock 2. Because of this feedback, we are scaling back BioShock 2's DRM," she said.

"There will be no SecuROM install limits for either the retail or digital editions of BioShock 2, and SecuROM will be used only to verify the game's executable and check the date. Beyond that, we are only using standard Games for Windows Live non-SSA guidelines, which, per Microsoft, comes with 15 activations (after that, you can reset them with a call to Microsoft.)

However, this appears to be exactly the same setup as what was promised last week. The only change, later confirmed by Tobey on the 2K forums, was a relaxation of the SecuROM controls as they apply to the digital version of the game sold through Steam.

"When I came out on Wednesday and told you guys about the retail version, I did not explain anything about Steam because we went back and scaled back what we were doing based on your feedback, and came out today with what was the most we could do. We most definitely changed our SecuROM to be more of what you asked for," she said. The exact nature of the Steam SecuROM changes was not made clear.

"Feedback like this does not go unheard, and while this might not be the ideal protection for everyone, we will continue to listen and work with you in the future when formulating our DRM plans," Tobey said.