Opinion: Trouble in “always on” paradise
For many PC gamers, the recent trend toward always-connected games – sometimes referred to by the name of its top-hat-wearing, mustachioed alter ego, “always-on DRM” – is an oncoming black cloud. Developers, however, insist that there’s a silver lining. The likes of Blizzard and id, for instance, argue that they’ll make up for a tiny loss of control with a heaping helping of convenience. “In the end, it’s better for everybody,” id’s Tim Willits told Eurogamer. “Imagine picking up a game and it’s automatically updated. Or there’s something new you didn’t know about, and you didn’t have to click away. It’s all automatically there.”
And then Darkspore’s dark days happened.
Stalker 2 could use online only DRM
GSC are currently considering using online-only DRM as a possible anti-piracy solution for Stalker 2, according to an interview with Ukrainian website KP spotted by Kokaku. GSC said:
“Protection from piracy? Part of the content will be located on the server and downloaded as the game progresses. Permanent internet access is required. Text information, code and quests will be loaded through that connection.”
Later, speaking to Rock Paper Shotgun, GSC clarified that this was only one of many possibilities, saying:
“The idea of implementing DRM came in as a possible anti-piracy solution. You know the severe level of commercial piracy we have here in ex-USSR region. This said however, there is no firm decision to go for DRM with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 as of now. Be assured, we do realize how uncomfortable this solution is for the players, so we’ll continue looking for most effective, yet acceptable for all, way of protecting the game by the time of its release.”
Opinion: Ubisoft, piracy, and the death of reason
Last week, Eurogamer examined PC piracy in an attempt to discover how much it actually harms companies, and the effects of different approaches to DRM. Unfortunately, as the PC Gaming Alliance’s Christian Svennson admitted up-front, you can’t really quantify the problem or the efficacy of its remedies “because you end up having to do a set of cascading assumptions that you have no real ability to validate in any meaningful away.”
However, Ubisoft provides a test-case. We are almost two years into its aggressive attack on PC piracy. Recently, Ubisoft called its “always-on” DRM a success, claiming “a clear reduction in piracy.”
In terms of actual sales, however, the results seem decidedly mixed. Michael Pachter told Eurogamer that Ubisoft’s “PC game sales are down 90% without a corresponding lift in console sales.”
Pachter framed the problem in terms of piracy, as I’m sure Ubisoft frames the problem, but a 90% decline in PC sales is a catastrophic number. If piracy were the problem, then their “successful” DRM policy should have prevented such a free-fall.
Football Manager 2012 Steam DRM enrages fans
Football Manager fans have voiced their anger at the integration of Steamworks into Football Manager 2012. The move to Steam means copies of the game will need to be activated online before being able to play. Eurogamer indicates 40 pages of comments reacting to the news on the Sports Interactive forums, with thousands of posts from fans angry with the changes.
Some fans are threatening to boycott the series until the online activation requirement is removed. Sega tell Eurogamer that Football Manager has moved to Steam to combat piracy.
“Make no mistake, if a quarter of the people that usually pirate the game switch to purchasing Football Manager 2012, the sales of the game worldwide would more than double,” they say.
Diablo 3 beta preview
This preview originally appeared in PC Gamer UK issue 231.
A few months ago I was at Blizzard headquarters, where I found out that Diablo III will let players buy and sell items for real cash, forbids mods, and will only be playable online. The news was pretty bad, bad, and very bad respectively. And yet I ended up leaving the building more excited about the game than I ever have been – because I played it.
For most, I think these bizarre rules will end up as an inconvenience. But Diablo III is a game worth being inconvenienced for. It remains a brisk and kill-happy action RPG, but the classes are now powerful and exciting in a way that they simply haven’t been before, and how you set about developing them has been altered in an extraordinary way.
From Dust DRM removed
Last month, Ubisoft said they would patch their online-at-startup-DRM out of From Dust and now RockPaperShotgun are reporting that they have made good on their promise. The next time you fire the game up on Steam it should update and sync up your savegames with the Ubisoft servers. Rejoice!
Previously gamers would have to be online and connect to the Ubisoft servers when they started From Dust, although they could disconnect and continue as normal afterwards.
The DRM was one of many issues with From Dust’s launch, if you want our verdict on the game itself, read our From Dust review.
Diablo 3 game director: mod support would “add a couple of years” development time
Speaking with Jay Wilson at Gamescom, we’ve already heard bad news for anyone with poor internet connections and thrifty habits, though plenty of good ones for people who want to head online with friends and crack skulls until the cows come home. But what about tweaking and adding your own stamp to the game with a few mods? You’re out of luck, at least officially…
“None of the Diablo games have ever supported mods and primarily because being able to do modding along with high fidelity art that is also randomly generated is a really, really big challenge. And when we started the project we went ‘Well, if we’re going to do mods, we’re going to add a couple of years onto the product.’”
From Dust DRM to be patched out
Ubisoft have decided to remove From Dust’s controversial DRM system that requires players to be online whenever the game is launched.
A post from Ubisoft on their forums, spotted on Eurogamer, says that a patch will arrive in approximately two weeks to remove the start up authentication procedure. They say that the development time is needed to ensure that players’ game saves, currently stored on Ubisoft’s servers, are relocated to users’ hard drives before the servers are switched off.
“Once the patch is ready, players who already have the game will automatically receive the update on their next login and subsequent game sessions will be 100 per cent offline,” reads the forum post.
From Dust DRM requires internet connection to launch, players experiencing bugs and crashes
Three weeks ago, Ubisoft insisted that their god game, From Dust would “not require a permanent online connection” to play. RPS also spotted a forum post from a Ubisoft employee who wrote that From Dust will have “a one time only activation. After which you will be able to play the game offline.”
After a last minute delay, From Dust is finally out, and while it doesn’t require a constant internet connection, you will need to be hooked up to the web to launch the game. RPS note that the Ubisoft forum post has since been changed to say “‘From Dust’ requires an internet connection when you start the game.”
From Dust review
From Dust is singleplayer only, but its copy protection requires you to be online at all times – if you’re disconnected, the game pauses and won’t let you save. I’m telling you this now because it’s ridiculous, and so I can move on to talking about the game.
Update: Re-tested, and this has changed since this review was written – the game no longer kicks you out if your connection is lost. You do need to be online to start the game, though. (Thanks John).
I’ve never played anything quite like it. It’s a game about sculpting landscape by sucking up swirls of lava, water and earth and trickling them into rivers and ridges to protect your masked tribe. It’s extraordinary, exhausting, spectacular, and frequently no fun at all.
Skyrim won’t use Games for Windows Live on PC, will use Steamworks instead
Update – the Skyrim twitter account has just confirmed that they will be using Steamworks instead.
Our man Graham is out at GamesCom in Cologne at the moment, seeing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. He asked Bethesda’s vice president of PR Pete Hines whether the game would use Games for Windows Live – a DRM system that asks players to log in, and ties downloadable content and savegames to your online account.
Hines says no: it is published under the Games for Windows label, but it won’t use the Live part.
There was some concern back in June when the collector’s edition was announced, showing the PC version of the game with partly obscured Games for Windows branding on the box. It’s a huge relief to confirm we won’t have to tangle with the maddeningly unreliable GFWL.
I got to play Skyrim on Monday, but I’m not allowed to tell you anything about it yet. I am, however, booking a certain week in November off.
Driver: San Francisco delayed on PC, no demo planned
Following the revelation that Driver: San Francisco will be constrained by Ubisoft’s always-online DRM system, Blues News have discovered that the PC version of the game has been delayed, and the demo that has just landed on consoles won’t be coming out at all on PC. While retailers are still listing a September 6 release date for Driver: San Francisco, Blues News have been told that the PC version will be out on September 27.
Ubisoft have recently made a habit of delaying their games at the last minute. From Dust was the most recent victim of a last minute delay. That’s now due to come out on August 17.
Blizzard defends Diablo III’s auction house, always-online requirement
Diablo’s finally back, but has it sold its soul to a bonafide gaming devil? Not exactly. After the big unveiling of Diablo’s new real money auction house, we sat down with online technologies VP Robert Bridenbecker to hear Blizzard’s side of the story.
Diablo 3 cannot be played offline
At an event in Irvine on Tuesday, Blizzard told us that Diablo 3 will be online only. Without an internet connection, you can’t play the game at all.
Senior producer Alex Mayberry says there were many reasons for the decision, including the prevention of cheating. Since players can buy and sell items for real money, any way of cheating to make or acquire better ones would be very lucrative – and unfair.
From Dust “will not require a permanent online connection” say Ubisoft
Ubisoft have confirmed to VG247 that their recently delayed god game, From Dust “will not require a permanent online connection to play in single-player mode.”
This week, we learned that Driver: San Francisco will have Ubisoft’s always-online DRM system. The From Dust Steam entry does list the Ubisoft Online Service as third party DRM, but it looks as though it’s a less stringent version.
Ubisoft told us yesterday that they see their DRM system as “a success,” saying that it’s led to “a clear reduction in piracy of our titles which required a persistent online connection.”
