Driver Dev: UbiSoft DRM 'morally correct'

[Bateluer]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/...o-developer-defends-ubisoft-drm-practices.ars

Ubisoft has come under quite a bit of fire for its PC ports, including the recent delayed, DRM-laden version of From Dust. Driver: San Francisco, published by Ubisoft and developed by Ubisoft Reflections (formerly Reflections Interactive), was originally slated to carry the same always-on DRM, but has since been changed so that online verification is only required at launch. Even still, the developers behind the game believe that this type of DRM is a necessity for PC games.

"You have to do something," Ubi Reflections founder Martin Edmonson told Eurogamer. "It's just, simply, PC piracy is at the most incredible rates. This game cost a huge amount of money to develop, and it has to be, quite rightly—quite morally correctly—protected.

"If there was very little trouble with piracy then we wouldn't need it."

Driver: San Francisco will also be the first game to utilize Ubisoft's Uplay Passport system, which gives players a registration code to access additional online content. Since the code is one-time use, those who buy the game pre-owned—whether on PC or console—will have to pay an additional fee to access that content. This, too, is something that Edmonson agrees with, even though he explained that these decisions are actually out of the developer's hands.

"If people don't buy the game when it first comes out and wait and pay for rental or for second-hand usage, then the publisher sees absolutely nothing of that," he explained. "It's one of those things that we just have to get used to."

The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game are due out on September 6, while the PC version will be released on September 27.

Not that I every had any plans to play, buy, or download this game, but perhaps you should consider making a game thats still worth buying a couple months after release?

 

[SunnyD]

Anti-piracy measures in any fashion are "morally correct" with respect to the rightsholders. That has never at all been at issue.

What is and always has been at issue here is HOW those anti-piracy measures are implemented.

 

[BladeVenom]

It is protected, by copyright law.

If it was "morally correct," then why don't they advertise their DRM right on the front of the game box?

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

DRM doesn't really stop piracy, it just harasses valid purchasers. And that is morally incorrect.

 

[jhansman]

Whose morals are we protecting/enforcing here? Legitimate licensees? Nope. The irony is that whatever DRM publishers impose, someone will hack it if only to see if they can and thieves will keep on thieving.

 

[blackened23]

I have no issues with DRM as long as its not annoying and intrusive. So far nearly every GFWL game i've ever tried has been buggy and some have had bugs preventing play -- I've decided to not support any game using GFWL....

Fortunately many devs are switching to steamworks. Steamworks is just superior to GFWL in every way.

 

[paperfist]

I'd really like it if they would actually divulge piracy numbers and more importantly from what regions and admit that console piracy is just as bad as PC because I'm frankly getting tired of being called a thief. Moreover don't these interviewers have any balls to ask the devs these questions?

That said I bought and liked 'From Dust' and didn't find the protection to be any problem. The protection they used isn't any different then what you get when you play an MMO or a multiplayer game. Obviously they should be accountable for the DRM that it originally released with.

 

[n7]

and it has to be, quite rightly—...—protected

No worries Ubisoft, my $$$ is being protected from ever reaching you.

 

[paperfist]

No worries Ubisoft, my $$$ is being protected from ever reaching you.

If your avatar is correct then the joke is on you since in Canada your tax payer money goes to fund game dev studios.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2189281

Ah what a vicious circle.

 

[paul878]

Can someone name just 1 game that was not cracked within a week of release? What game company have to do is offer more online game playing that make people want to buy their game, there is no way for hacker to crack that.

 

[n7]

If your avatar is correct then the joke is on you since in Canada your tax payer money goes to fund game dev studios.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2189281

Ah what a vicious circle.

Government of Quebec AKA insane people is what that article says.
I see nothing about my tax dollars, just their tax dollars.

Still, i feel sorry for them there. They have to live in a province that thinks it's better than the rest of the country, when in reality it's full of nutjob separatists who have no idea how lucky they are to be part of Canada.

 

[shortylickens]

On sept 28, I will check ScrapeTorrent and see how many cracked copies are available.
Then I will email that number to the above beautiful being named Martin and tell him he doesnt know shit about markets, and should just stick to programming.