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Latest Battlefield Bad Company 2 Patch Boots SecuROM from Steam Version

Nathan Grayson — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:57:39 -0500

We never thought we’d declare DRM the least of a game’s problems, but even though Battlefield Bad Company 2 has 99 problems, at least SecuROM DRM ain’t one.

In addition to squashing a number of bugs and shining up the game’s UI, a recent patch stripped Battlefield Bad Company 2’s Steam version of its – most would say – unneeded SecuROM DRM. After all, Steam’s a big PC gaming platform now. It can take care of piracy protection itself.

Sadly, if you didn’t acquire your copy of the game from Valve’s storefront, consider yourself stuck in the bad company of SecuROM for the time being. But hey, here’s this nice list of changes and upgrades to take your mind off that depressing reality. Better than nothing, we suppose.

PCGA President: SecuROM Parent Company on Our Side Now

Nathan Grayson — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:13:55 -0500

Yesterday, we reported that, along with losing Activision Blizzard, the PC Gaming Alliance accepted a shifty-eyed new figure into its ranks: Sony DADC. Fortunately, however, the SecuROM parent company doesn’t plan on working any shady deals behind the curtain, according to PCGA president Randy Stude. In fact, like Arnold in Terminator 2, Sony DADC is switching sides to help PC gamers topple a much bigger baddy -- in this case, piracy.

Speaking with BigDownload, Stude explained that Sony DADC decided to join the PCGA in order to assist the organization’s piracy-perforating subcommittee. According to Stude, keeping its alleged enemy roughly as close as its friends will provide the PCGA with ideas for its PC game piracy report, which is coming sometime before the year’s out.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the revolving door, Stude confirmed that PC manufacturer Acer left the building along with Activision Blizzard, for essentially the same monetarily minded reasons. Apparently, when it comes down to saving a few bucks or performing a philanthropic act – contrary to what Fable II and BioShock had us believing – the yellow brick road is the path of least resistance.

But hey, at least GameStop… exists. It recently joined the PCGA as a penny-pinching “Contributor,” which means that the notoriously PC-unfriendly game store is a member, but for less cash. Better than nothing, we guess.

Expect more PCGA-related announcements before this June’s E3 gaming expo.

EA Releases Tool to Deauthorize SecurROM'd Games

Paul Lilly — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:03:54 -0500

Good news for Digital Rights Management fans, and particularly for those who take masochistic pleasure in filling their machines with SecuROM-protected titles. Electronic Arts, the company who caused an internet uproar over its custom SecuROM implementation on Spore, has released a SecuROM de-authorization tool.

"Certain EA PC games with SecuROM digital rights management technology allow users to concurrently 'authorize' up to five computers at the same time to play the games, EA states. "Users can then play the game on any authorized computer they choose. If your EA PC game was released after May 2008 and has a machine authorization limit, you can now manage your computer authorizations using EA De-Authorization Tools!"

The De-Authorization Management Tool scans your PC to automatically detect games released after May 2008 with machine authorization limits. You can then download the game-specific de-authorization tool(s) to de-authorize your PC and free up a slot. Alternately, you can skip the scanning and jump straight to the appropriate tool if you already know which games are eligible (see list here).

Thoughts on EA's new tool? Hit the jump and sound off.

Image Credit: EA

Big-Name Electronic Arts Games Now on Steam, SecuROM Not

Nathan Grayson — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:25:35 -0600

“Let’s see… I’ll take one copy of Spore – hold the SecuROM DRM, please.”

“Oh, er, sorry. Your order’s already slathered in DRM and, well, we can’t remove it. If you come back in a couple weeks, though, we might be able to scrape off a bit of it. Sound good?”

“…”

Has something like this ever happened to you? A pleasant Sunday afternoon installation spoiled by SecuROM’s goon squad? Well, no more. At least, if you ride under Steam’s banner.

“EA is one of the industry’s largest publishers,” said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve. “The EA titles coming to Steam this holiday include some this year’s top PC titles.”

He’s not kidding, either. Titles like Spore, Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Mass Effect, Need for Speed Undercover, and FIFA Manager 2009 are already available, with Mirror’s Edge, Red Alert 3, and Dead Space moving in with the Freeman family in the “coming weeks.” And, of course, these games will conform to Steam’s standards; in other words, no SecuROM whatsoever.

So, does this mean we can all finally kiss and make up with EA, and notice that it’s released some damn good games over the past year? C’mon now; it’s Christmas.

Rockstar Rolls with SecuROM DRM for Grand Theft Auto IV on the PC

Paul Lilly — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:55:40 -0600

Electronic Arts couldn't have predicted the unprecedented backlash from outraged gamers following Spore's release, or at least not the extent that they would take the anti-DRM crusade. Protests ran the gamut from blasting the title with thousands of negative user reviews on Amazon to not just making the game available on warez sites, but actively encouraging consumers to pirate the title. If you thought it might be awhile before SecuROM saddled another high profile release, think again.

Despite all the recent raucous, Rockstar has decided to implement the DRM scheme on GTA IV for the PC. But before you cry foul and grab the pitchforks and torches, Rockstar says its version will be much more user friendly than the one found on EA's Spore.

"You will only need to authenticate the retail disk once per Windows account per machine," Rockstar said in an interview with IGN.com. "Even if you uninstall and re-install the game, it will not have to be re-authenticated."

Should you change two 'major' components (think CPU and videocard) or install GTA IV on different PC under a different Windows account, Rockstar says it might be necessary to re-authenticate the game, but unlike Spore, you can install and uninstall as many times as you want. This also means you can gift your game away once you're finished playing.

"Vocal 'board posters' seem to be most down on the SecuROM feature that limits the number of installations. We recognize that the installation limits have been a major issue, so we have not limited the number of installations for the retail disk version of GTA IV PC."

Despite the increased flexibility over Spore's implementation, the move can be still be seen as controversial as consumers continue to become less tolerant of DRM in any form. But it's not just Rockstar who is being tested, but the gaming community as well. Rockstar is correct in pointing out Spore's installation limit as the biggest aggitator among those who criticized the game's DRM. Without an install limit in place, should the game also find itself the center of a crusade, right or wrong some will inevitably conclude that gamers might simply be looking for an excuse to pirate rather than pony up the asking price.

What are your thoughts on Rockstar's decision outfit GTA IV witha modified version of SecuROM?

Image Credit: Rockstar

Will Wright Comments on Spore DRM, Blames Corporate Overlords

Paul Lilly — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:53:31 -0500

Much has been made in the media over Spore's DRM scheme, which now limits gamers to five activations (recently pushed up from three activations amid an intense internet backlash). By and large, Electronic Arts has caught most of the criticism for saddling Spore with a modified version of SecuROM, arguably the most hated form of DRM in the gaming community. But should some of the ire be directed at Will Wright as well?

"It was something I probably should have tuned into more," Wright told Jim Reilly from Kotaku.com. "It was a corporate decision to go with DRM on Spore. They had a plan and the parameters, but now we're allowing more authentications and working with players to de-authenticate, which makes it more in line with iTunes. I think one of the most valid concerns about it was you could only install it so many times. For most players it's not an issue, it's a pretty small percentage, but some people do like wiping their hard disk and installing it 20 times or they want to play it 10 years later."

Take from that what you will. While it sounds like Wright has been drinking some of John Riccitiello's Kool-Aid, who recently downplayed DRM with claims that it's only an issue for 0.2 percent of gamers, at least Wright acknowledges the other side of the coin, which is that gamers tend to be enthusiasts who frequently change around their system.

Does EA deserve all the blame one this? Hit the jump and let us know what you think.

Image Credit: Flickr Jeff Croft

EA Responds to Spore DRM Critics

Paul Lilly — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:35:37 -0500

Game publisher Electronic Arts has been catching a great deal of flak over its decision to saddle Spore with SecuROM inspired DRM. What was to be a hotly anticipated creature creator game now stands as a product to be made an example of by angry PC gamers who have the nerve to want to be treated like a consumer rather than a potential thief. Well over 2,000 Amazon 'customer reviews' have Spore pegged with a 1.5 star rating, most of which feature angry rhetoric over Spore's DRM, which limits users to three activations As one reviewer put it, "this basically means that you are actually RENTING the game, instead of owning it."

But is EA being unreasonable? The publisher claims the three PC limit essentially represents a balance of meeting the needs of the largest portion of its user base while still limiting piracy. EA notes that, according to its own stats, less than 25 percent of its customers ever activate a game on more than one machine, and those that wish to activate on more than three accounts fall into the under one percentile.

"EA has not changed our basic DRM copy protection system," said Mariam Sughayer of EA's corporate communications in a statement to Gamasutra.com. "We simply changed the copy protection method from using the physical media, which requires authentication every time you play the game by requiring a disc in the drive, to one which uses a one-time online authentication.

Sughayer went on to note that of the 453,048 activations for Spore, 77 percent activated on a single PC, 23 percent activated on more than one, and just 1 percent of users tried to activate on more than three machines (yes, 77 + 23 + 1 = 101).

Assuming EA's numbers are valid, an argument could be made that the hoopla surrounding Spore's DRM scheme is being blown way out of proportion. After all, if hardly anyone even cares to install a game on more than three PCs, than what's the big deal?

On the other hand, how many copies has EA prevented from being pirated due to its DRM scheme? Not only has Spore been cracked since day one, but as Maximum PC's guru of Gaming Roundups Nathan Grayson points out, some users are encouraging the practice of pirating Spore as a way to send a message to EA. It's a tired song and dance that publishers seem unwilling to acknowledge - no matter what copy protection scheme is implemented, pirates will find a way around it, and paying customers will be the ones to pay the penalty.

What are your thoughts - is Spore's DRM scheme being blown out of proportion?