Democracy dev speaks out

Cliffski, the UK developer behind Rock Legends and Democracy, has revealed that his next game will require online validation as an attempt to combat piracy.

In a post on his blog Cliffski wrote, "I've done most of the code for Democracy 2's copy protection. The original game was a full install exe that when bought, you just installed and ran. In any sane world, that would be fine. But today's world is sadly not that idealistic."

"I don't live in a box, I know about warez, and I know when my games get posted. Sadly, I need to do something to prevent the rampant casual piracy that is becoming the norm in PC gaming."

According to Cliffski, there are three options - only make MMOs, produce advertising-supported games or insist your games are validated online by a central server. He's plumped for the third option with Democracy 2, and promises the validation process will be "very quick and very painless".

"I wish I didn't have to take time away from game development to do that crap, but as usual in life 1 per cent of people are screwing it up for the other 99 per cent," Cliffski went on.

"People who pirate games might as well wear a t-shirt saying 'I hope PC gaming dies', because the number one reason for that right now is people not buying the stuff."