Ubisoft's "Always On" DRM Is Back In Driver: San Francisco

[Gildan Bladeborn]

Well it could be worse - this could actually be a game I would want to buy were it not for Ubisoft's stubborn insistence on maintaining their horrible consumer-punishing DRM in defiance of widespread consumer outrage and common sense.

So yay for that - I get to maintain my boycott of Ubisoft products until the heat death of the universe or their sudden acquisition of a clue (whichever takes longer), and I don't even have to feel even a twinge of regret because I don't bloody care about Driver games - it's the best of both worlds! Screw yourself sideways with a poleaxe Ubisoft executives.

Granted, I think just about every tactic most publishers take to "combat piracy" is stupid, and 99% of all the things developers and publishers say about piracy is also stupid, and everyone defending their actions is a fething moron (40K references for the win), but at least they haven't designed the most explicitly anti-consumer "anti-piracy" system in the known universe. A system with big glaring obvious flaws that literally everyone on the internet spotted instantly, which were then actively demonstrated so it's not like they could claim that shit's theoretical - if you design an always-own DRM system, it can't ever go down. Theirs did, practically the moment the game launched.

Coupled with the astounding level of consumer hatred their blatant violation/usurpation of our rights has engendered, you would really expect a sane executive team to quietly move away from their absurdly retarded system, and a good executive team would actually find a way to apologize. So for the sake of my unbridled nerd rage, thanks a bunch Ubisoft - without you, I'd have to find something new to hate!

 

[masticina]

Well its Ubisoft what did you expect.

How stupid of them indeed seriously and how quickly this will be hacked. They never learn!

 

[Casual Shinji]

As if there wasn't enough reason not to buy this plague rat of a game.

Seriously, why hell does this fucking franchise still exist?

 

[Mr. Gency]

Oh don't worry, Ubisoft. I didn't plan on playing Driver, anyway.

But, I'll be pissed if this DRM sticks around long enough to make me reconsider getting the PC version of Revelations.

 

[Dense_Electric]

Ubisoft is rapidly becoming the new Activision/EA. You know, I probably would have bought Silent Hunter V if they hadn't put their shitty DRM in it, but there wasn't a chance in hell I was going to pay full price for a game I might get to play some of the time. Bah, not that they care, they're too busy relaxing in their hot tub full of money while flipping us the bird. Unless they get their act together, I may have purchased my last Ubisoft product.

 

[Beat14]

Time to set sail...

It's a shame to see it's back like some sort of tropical infection. I'll probably get it on 360 to avoid this. I thought ubisoft removed this drm from a game (splinter cell conviction?) because they realised it was not a great idea, guess I got the wrong end of the stick.

 

[Sylveria]

Ah yes another brave step forward against piracy. I'm sure this will not cost them more sales than the pirates would... even though there will be a DRM free version on the internet in less than a week after launch and all it'll accomplish is stopping people from buying legitimate versions cause they don't want to deal with it.

Good business plan!

 

[Magikarp]

Why, Ubisoft?
I LIKE some of your games. I don't want to boycott you, but you're not giving people that much choice.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

I stand by my prediction. Ubisoft are going down.

 

[Dabono]

Oh, yes please. Because the way to compete with a good working game that is free except for a minor moral 'speed bump' is to treat me like a criminal that should be under surveillance at all times!

 

[SuperNova221]

What a shame, I was actually going to buy this game too, being a driver fanboy for god knows what reason. It really is a shame that Ubisoft doesn't realise that punishing paying customers isn't the way to go because I can almost garuntee the pirated version is going to work offline, so why wouldn't potential curstomers go for the not only free, but also better version?

 

[Jonny49]

Well done, Ubisoft.

You've made a game nobody wanted in the first place even less desirable. Enjoy loosing money.

Sincerely- Everyone.

 

[Whateveralot]

I love how people are over-reacting so much in this topic. It's rediculous. Calm down, seriously.

 

[Xaio30]

And on this day, all my respect for Ubisoft was lost.

 

[kebab4you]

The people that decided to put RUSH on steam clearly got whipped into line, we can't have a nice DRM for us PC users what devil work is that?! Also a driving game without a steering wheel, thought that was the best part about driving games[footnote]not a fan of them so can't really tell[/footnote]

I love how people are over-reacting so much in this topic. It's rediculous. Calm down, seriously.

Have you played Ubisoft's earlier always connected to the internet?

Ubisoft is rapidly becoming the new Activision/EA.

They took a look at EA and Activision and said "We can outdo them!"

 

[DVS Storm]

Well I wasn't going to buy this anyway. Good way to beat customers Ubisoft!!!!!

 

[thethingthatlurks]

I find this baffling. We already know that 1) Ubi's DRM gets hacked very quickly (presumably even faster now that its mechanism is known from previous games), 2) the community backlash puts a nice dent in sales while not recovering any from would-be pirates who just wait for a "fix". From that we can conclude that the DRM has been a complete failure, and it takes denial of religious magnitude to convince yourself otherwise. Or, you know, near terminal brain damage.

But let's look at it from a different perspective: what advantage does buying a legit copy offer? Getting caught torrenting is unlikely to the point of not being worth mentioning, and I would have a copy of the game that I could play whenever and wherever (note: not all laptops capable of running games have wireless internet) I want. There are also no goodies in the box that I would find interesting. So tell me, why should I buy the game, when the illegal yet free copy on everybody's favorite torrent site offers only advantages?

I won't pirate the game, of course, but neither will I buy it. It doesn't really interest me, and I won't support such imbecilic management decisions with my money. I missed out on Silent Hunter and the AssCreed games for the same reason, and somehow my life is no less complete...

 

[Araksardet]

Really, didn't people eventually crack AC2 anyway, despite the crazy DRM?

 

[Wicky_42]

Ubisoft: finding new ways to make Activision look friendly.

I have literally no other idea why they would persist with this system. They would be up there with the awesome publishers, really, if they just weren't so pant-on-head retarded about their bloody DRM schemes. Assassin's Creed is a fantastic series and a great basis to form loyal fans - if you weren't so busy doing your best to screw them over.

 

[Enrathi]

I wasn't going to buy this game, but they did lose my sale of Silent Hunter 5. Also, didn't EA do this with C&C4? I seem to recall skipping out on that due to the same reason.