Ubisoft Drops StarForce DRM, Gives Always-Connected Anti-Piracy Plan A Try

Posted 01/26/2010 at 10:47pm | by Nathan Grayson

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Yeah, sure, “always-connected anti-piracy plan” is just a tongue-twisting maze of exec-speak for “different DRM,” but the devil’s in the details, so let’s see what Ubisoft’s got cooking.

In a nutshell, the publisher’s new anti-piracy measures aim to disarm DRM’s more troubling aspects, removing install limits altogether and allowing you to play without a disc in the tray. Also of note: cloud saves. For the uninitiated, this means that your game saves can be stored remotely on Ubisoft’s servers, which – while a fairly prominent feature these days – is still 12 different flavors of cool.

So, are you feeling sufficiently buttered up? Because here comes the letdown. See, there’s one major string attached, and if you disconnect that string, then you can kiss your gaming time goodbye. It’s the Internet, and you’ll be required to connect to it in order for Ubisoft to authenticate your game. Despite the restrictive nature of that limitation, however, the publisher doesn’t seem too worried.

"We think most people are going to be fine with it. Most people are always connected to an Internet connection," said Brent Wilkinson, Director, Customer Service and Production Planning at Ubisoft.

Which is mostly true, but we’ve been known to game on-the-go from time-to-time, and – unfortunately – where our laptops go, the Internet does not always follow. Maybe it’s just nitpicking on our parts, but still: until someone thinks up a one-size-fits-all anti-piracy measure – one that leaves little-to-no room for griping or outright dissatisfaction -- piracy’s not going anywhere.