Ubisoft disables always-on PC DRM

Written by Joe Martin

January 4, 2011 | 12:20

Tags: #assassins-creed-2 #drm #piracy #silent-hunter-5 #splinter-cell #splinter-cell-conviction

Companies: #ubisoft

Ubisoft appears to have silently disabled the controversial, always-on DRM that appeared in recent PC games such as Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Silent Hunter 5 and The Settlers 7.

The news comes via PC Gamer, who noticed users on Reddit claiming that they were able to run the games without internet connections and who posted screenshots to prove it.

Previously, some Ubisoft games needed to be online constantly in order to be playable. Disconnected them from the internet, even in offline play, would interrupt the game. Ubisoft suffered a huge backlash as a result of the move, especially when verification servers went down and prevented users from playing the games at all.

Ubisoft, which had boasted about the DRM system as early as July 2009, ended up compensating users with free games and silently omitted it from its most recent PC release, RUSE.

"We know this choice is controversial but we feel is justified by the gameplay advantages offered by the system and because most PCs are already connected to the internet," said a company rep back in January 2010.

We've contacted Ubisoft for a comment, but let us know your thoughts in the forums in the meantime.
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