Anno 2070 drops graphics card counting DRM
Thanks to a campaign by Guru3D, Anno 2070 will no longer prevent you swapping out your graphics cards.
The latest in a reasonably long line of complaints regarding Ubisoft's DRM implementation came from tech enthusiast site Guru3D, which was attempting to run an in-depth graphics performance analysis on the title using a selection of graphics cards.
We say 'attempting,' and with good reason: the DRM system built in to the game would only allow two graphics card swaps before declaring the test rig to be a 'new PC,' for which a whole new licence key would need to be purchased and installed.
With a stack of cards ready to test, Guru3D's reviewers complained to Ubisoft, only to be met with a stony silence and a refusal to grant any more keys for testing. Finally, the decision to refuse to review any future Ubisoft titles was taken; a move which finally got a response from the company.
According to an update posted late last week, Guru3D has decided to continue to review Ubisoft titles simply to keep people informed of DRM restrictions such as the one preventing the original performance analysis, while Anno 2070's producer BlueByte has agreed to exclude graphics cards from the DRM system detection technology.
'Just wanted to let you know, that we now remove the graphics hardware from the hash used to identify the PC,' a BlueByte spokesperson told Guru3D following the initial contretemps. 'That means everyone should now be able to switch the GFX as many times as he/she wants.'
While the news is to be welcomed, it's far from a reversal of Ubisoft's stance on DRM: it's clear from the fact that the message came from BlueByte, rather than Ubisoft, that the restriction on graphics card swaps is only removed from Anno 2070; future Ubisoft titles, on the other hand, are more than likely to retain the restriction in the name of preventing piracy.
Has BlueByte's response put your mind at ease, or will it take an undertaking by Ubisoft not to use such restrictive DRM on all its future titles before you jump for joy? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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41 Comments
Discuss in the forums ReplyIt's funny really, they add drm to save themselves supposed lost sales to piracy (extremely debatable) but actually alienate paying customers who then refuse to buy their games...thus losing them money anyway (which they will blame on piracy..round and round we go).
They lose more money with drm than without IMO. They really need to use less draconian drm, or drop it altogether.
Buy the game and Ubi dictate how many times you can upgrade your card, thus punishing paying customers.
Pirate the game and have no such restrictions, thus rewarding pirates.
Good logic there, bound to put people off piracy. [/sarcasm]
Well, it's a good thing Ubisoft never release any good games then.
"Sarcasm test complete"
This is getting out of hand, when did paying customers become the bad guys? It's almost like they find us gamers a painful scourge that must be wiped away. Even though we're their source of income....
I had to say no to buying Arkham city because of my issues with their DRM (and no I didn't "play it anyway" either). That one hurt.
Why are they treating a game like it's an OEM license? It's just silly.
Suppose you bought this game, then in three months you bought a new PC. Ubisoft are effectively saying you'd have to buy the game again. What a stupid policy. If I buy a game, I want to keep playing it for years regardless of the upgrades I make. That's why I like Steam and GOG so much.
Hell, I thought the five install limit for other games was bad enough.
Agree.
Ubisoft surely would compensate correct?
Usually it takes about a week to crack after a new release before an ubisoft game hits the torrent sites in full working order...the latest AC is downloadable and fully functioning. I don't condone piracy, I'm simply pointing out that this madly strict DRM doesn't work and probably drives more people to piracy.
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the ridiculous drm would be part of a conspiracy to end PC Gaming once and for all.
go gog go
<- goes back to wasting more hours on Syndicate:D
(really video card DRM lol that's just stupid)
I don't see why they even bother trying. Or at least once a crack is easily available they may as well just lift any DRM bar the online key check, one of the few methods which is hard to circumvent.
It is utterly a waste of time. Utterly. And money, lets not forget the money which these companys are SO intent on. WASTED! There is no ifs, maybes or buts. None.
Anyone with half a brain-cell can see drm does not work.
I can only come to one conclusion. The DRM is there because of the shareholders.
Can you imagine someone turning up at a shareholders meeting and explaining why their DRM system is hurting their profits? They wouldn't be able to get their tiny little minds round the concept.
When are these company's going to realise that the old model doesn't work any more.
Welcome to the age of the internet. Catch up already.
Ubisoft are going to push more people to pirate, including people who 'own' the game. (or did own it till they upgraded their computer a couple times)
UBISOFT = bunch of plonkers
Does this lockout happen through all sources of obtaining the game - store bought DVD, steam , d2d etc?
Heck, AC II is a perfect example - they said they did their best to make it better for the PC platform, yet the whole interface (both main menu and in-game) are horrible for the PC.
I bought 3 AC games from Steam during the holiday sale, but that's the maximum i would pay for ubisoft games.
So, dear Ubisoft - just from these forum posts in this topic, you have lost hundreds of euros in revenue.
I wonder how many people are not buying their games because of DRM? My guess is that the number is in the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands.
Bit-tech, perhaps you would like to do an article that looks in depth at the whole DRM situation, including all the developers, and getting their feedback as well?
Granted, I am pretty sure that Ubisoft for example is not that willing to admit that yes "we do what we must, because we can", and "there's still some screwing to be done, on the players who are on PC".
+rep if people understand where those sentences come from.
Sounds like Portal to me.
As mentioned previously, if I was so inlcined, I could get a pirated version of any of their games and have a BETTER experience than paying for an original. That proves thet have got their policy totally and utterly wrong.
What's new here is using the GPU - but aside from reviewers, most people aren't likely to change this part of their system very often. Systems using more frequently changed parts like RAM (as Zuxxez's Two Worlds activation does) or disk volume IDs are more worthy of criticism.
Did not even think about the activation issues, guess have to be more careful in the future.
can't help but wonder, why do the corps still bother - every game (including activision's supposedly uncrackable always-on scheme) is relatively soon perfectly working in the pirated version.
However Steam's activate-on-play requirement gives Valve far more control over purchases than Zuxxez's system and has far greater potential downsides for customers (details discussed previously).
And they wonder why more and more gamers are saying F*ck you...