drm posts

Do you have a minute? Good. Sit down because this might take a while. The team at BioWare has revealed what kind of DRM set-ups will be put in for the PC version its upcoming fantasy RPG Dragon Age 2. According to a post on the game's official message boards users of the Steam download service have it pretty simple; download the game via Steam and it will use Steam's own DRM set-up.

Things get more complicated if you purchase the game via other download sites or in retail stores. For one, Dragon Age 2 for the PC will have a feature that won't allow people to play the game before its scheduled release date and time. Once the release date has passed you will be able to install the game on as many PCs as you want with no disk check. However there is a limit on the number of PCs that you can play Dragon Age 2 on in a 24 hour period (5 PCs to be exact). Each install must be verified via a one time online connection before you can play. Finally while you can play Dragon Age 2 offline it will require an online check after a still undetermined period of days. All in all it's not the worse DRM set up we have ever heard about.

[Via Blue's News]

The subject of DRM set ups for PC games has become more and more important for consumers, as evident by the massive backlash against Ubisoft's "Always On" set up for most of its recent PC games. Today publisher JoWood decided to be pro-active by admitting its upcoming fantasy RPG Arcania: Gothic 4 will be using the SecuROM DRM set-up for the PC version.

Admitting that DRM set-ups for PC games have in the past " had to find a balance "between user friendliness and security of the product" Arcania Gothic 4 will allow gamers to install it on an unlimited number of PCs. The game will only need to be activated once via an internet connection in order to be played on a PC with no constant net connection needed to continue playing. Each license will also allow the game to be played on up to three PCs at any one time. It will also have an auto-update feature and a pre-load feature to let players download the game before its officially launched in October.

Gallery: Arcania: Gothic 4 Screenshots

Developer CD Projekt is getting ready to show off their upcoming fantasy RPG The Witcher 2 to the assembled at E3 2010 next week. However some fans of the original game have expressed concerns that the title might have some restrictive DRM set-up. An executive from Namco Bandai, which is distributing the game in Europe, recently stated he supported the "always on" internet style of DRM for PC games.

CD Projekt decided to reveal their own policy concerning DRM on their message boards. In summary it states, "In our opinion, it is more important to encourage acquisition of original game copies than to punish those who play pirated copies." While there's been no decision on what DRM set-up, if any, will be put to The Witcher 2, CD Projekt's CEO Adam Kiciński stated in an email press release, "As per our policy, we will do our utmost to prevent the adopted DRM solution, if any, from making life difficult for those who acquire legal game copies. I can't imagine using any protection that would deprive game fans of any of the pleasure that will come from playing the game, as has been the case with other notable PC game titles."

It looks like Ubisoft's DRM "always on" internet set-up for its PC games has at least one publisher's support. Computer and Video Games is reporting that Namco Bandai believes that Ubisoft's set-up is best because, according to them, there's nothing else that will work.

The company's VP Olivier Comte is quoted as saying, "I will be very honest. I think it's a good [approach] for one reason: I have no alternative today." Some companies and publishers might disagree with that attitude, and Comte himself states, "Is the best one? Certainly not ..." However he adds, " ... as of today if I can make something else I'll do it, but it's better to do something than not do something."

Debates over how, or even if, DRM set-ups should be put in PC games have been raging for a long time now. This week the CEO of the developer Just Cause 2 has put in his two cents, saying that "ridiculous DRM solutions" actually harm PC gamers more than the pirates that the DRM is trying to thwart.

Chatting with Computer and Video Games, Avalanche Studios boss Cristofer Sundberg is quoted as saying, " ... piracy has scared the market to start implementing ridiculous DRM solutions that only limits the consumers that actually PAY for their games, not stopping the pirates." He also feels that PC games that also show up on other platforms should be designed specifically for the platform and not just be a simple port, saying, "If we constantly keep on delivering console ports and not games design (sic) for the PC player, the PC market will suffer from bad sales, piracy and bad DRM solutions." Indeed the PC port of Just Cause 2 is a DirectX 10 exclusive with a number of graphical features that are only on the PC version.

Gallery: Just Cause 2

A new update is out for the physics based puzzle platforming game, Trine. In addition to fixing a number of bugs and adding gameplay enhancements (such as improved multi-mouse and keyboard support), the patch most notably removes the DRM copy protection from the North American and European retail versions of the PC game, including ones purchased from Direct2Drive and Gamersgate. A full list of changes is shown after the jump. The playable demo can be downloaded here.

Download Trine v1.06 Patch (35 MB)
Download Trine Demo (460 MB)
Check out all Trine downloads

At PAX East, just a few hours after NVIDIA announced the launch of the 400 series GPU, a panel comprised of John Kreiner (Terminal Reality), John Abercrombie (Lead Designer at Irrational Games), and Michell Shuster (Co-owner of LanSlide Gaming PCs) came together to discuss the future of PC gaming. Moderated by Jeff Kalles from Penny Arcade, the panel took questions from the audience to figure out where PC gaming is headed, given the trends and approaches publishers are taking combined with the leaps in technology. Although the room was almost filled to capacity with PC gamers and all three speakers are self-described fans of PC gaming, the mood quickly turned a grim comparison with console gaming. It soon became clear that the future of PC gaming was already going through a long, dark and ominous tunnel into the unknown. The only question is whether there's any hope of seeing light at the end of it.

This pre-release patch for Assassin's Creed 2 adds ATI Eyefinity support to the game in addition to enhancing performance and addressing a reported problem with the DRM. A list of changes can be seen after the jump.

Download Assassin's Creed 2 v1.01 Patch (19 MB)
Check out all Assassin's Creed 2 downloads

Companies that publish PC games are in the business to make profits. We know this. PC games are extensively pirated. We know this too. DRM set ups don't really slow down piracy but do discourage a number of regular consumers from purchasing games. Again, all of this is well known.

Now we have a new situation that's brewing that will be bad for everyone; game developers, game publishers and consumers. Ubisoft's future PC games will now require an "always on" internet connection to play PC them, even if those games are designed solely for single player. That means that the PC games that you pay your hard earned money for won't be able to be played 24/7. The reason is, of course, that the internet for most people is still a flaky infrastructure to rely on for a "service" like Ubisoft's.

Earlier this week PC gamers came down hard on Ubisoft after it was revealed that their new PC DRM set-up requires a always on internet connection, even if its a single player only game like the upcoming Assassin's Creed 2. the UK version of PC Gamer, which broke the story, got a chance to chat with Ubisoft about the issue.

When asked if they knew most PC gamers didn't care to have a constant net connection to play their future PC games, Ubisoft's answer was, "We know that requiring a permanent online connection is not a happy point for a lot of PC gamers, but it is necessary for the system to work." Indeed Ubisoft's response to the questions about their new DRM set up seem to have an almost paranoid attitude towards PC game piracy. In response to another question the Ubisoft rep states, " In the end it all comes back to one single truth: piracy is a big, huge, hairy problem. It's a market that suffered a lot because of piracy, and we're all just trying to figure out what we think is the best way to deal with it."

Ubisoft also believes their system will take a while to be hacked, saying, "The guys who designed it believe in it. Do we think that it's the one system that God has sent onto earth that will never be cracked by anybody ever? We can't guarantee that, but we believe in it. " The chat also deals with how game progress is handled when a net connection goes down (it's different from any game) and that Ubisoft will patch any PC game to work without a server if they decide to do away with the always on net connection.