Ubisoft Has Windows-Style Hardware-Based DRM For Games [Slashdot]

[DP ServBot]

New submitter Man Eating Duck writes "Guru3D describes how the activation system in Ubisoft's RTS game Anno 2070 also tracks hardware changes: 'So yesterday I started working on a performance review. We know (well, at least we figured we knew), that the game key can be used on three systems. That's fair; the first activation is used on my personal game rig. The second we installed on the AMD Radeon graphics test PC and the 3rd on our NVIDIA graphics test PC. ... For the NVIDIA setup I take out the GTX 580, and insert a GTX 590. When I now startup the game, 'BAM', again an activation is required. Once again I fill out the key, and now Ubisoft is thanking me with the message that I ran out of activations.' Guru3D subsequently discovered that Ubisoft was less than helpful: 'Sorry to disappoint you — the game is indeed restricted to 3 hardware changes and there simply is no way to bypass that.' I, and many with me, will never buy games with such a draconian DRM scheme, as it's very likely that I'll swap out enough components to run into this issue. Even the Steam version includes this nice 'feature.' It's probably a good idea to let Ubisoft know why we'll pass on this title."

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[kedawa]

It's bad enough that someone working at Ubisoft is stupid enough to think this is a good idea, but the fact that it made it into a shipping product is undeniable proof that the entire company is hopelessly out of touch.
Of course, when the game tanks, they'll still blame piracy, and their next product will require a persistent internet connection and a biometric scan every five minutes.

[Tupin]

When will they get that this does nothing to stop pirates? It's basically a contest to see who can crack it first, and the games with the worst DRM are always pirated the most out of spite. It only hurts the average person who won't even know what DRM is until they try to play it.

How about making a good game first, and THEN worrying about piracy measures instead of basing the entire design of the game around it?

[Polygon]

It's a good thing I can't think of any Ubisoft games I give a crap about right now. I would refuse to buy them just for that reason.

[BlastProcessing402]

Has treating your customers like criminals ever been a successful business model?

[Gameguy]

Has treating your customers like criminals ever been a successful business model?

Seems to work for places like Costco where you have to show your receipt at the exit or they'll either make a fuss or call security, or with airlines.

[Griking]

Seems to work for places like Costco where you have to show your receipt at the exit or they'll either make a fuss or call security, or with airlines.

Yeah, cause showing your receipt to a guard 10 seconds after the cashier handed it to you takes hours of your valuable time

[Gameguy]

Yeah, cause showing your receipt to a guard 10 seconds after the cashier handed it to you takes hours of your valuable time

Here's someone who accidentally threw out her receipt in one of the trash cans before leaving the store.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNfI0EcNYPM

I guess she has to go through the garbage to find it or she won't be allowed to leave.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Stop comparing Ubisoft to Microsoft.

Microsoft doesn't want you to buy a new copy of the OS when you run out of activations. Several companies, including Ubisoft, are all for that.

[Sabz5150]

Stop comparing Ubisoft to Microsoft.

Microsoft doesn't want you to buy a new copy of the OS when you run out of activations. Several companies, including Ubisoft, are all for that.

There shouldn't even be a limited number of activations. Tying it to EXPECTED system changes is even worse.

Christ, I hate to imagine how many copies of Master of Orion II I'd have to buy to cover the number of times I've installed that game.

[kedawa]

I really wish services like Steam would ban this kind of thing from games that are on their service.
They're a big enough force in the industry to start throwing their weight around.