We all knew it was going to happen. Ubisoft’s controversial DRM, which requires a constant Internet connection in order to keep games running, has finally been cracked. A group known as Skid Row has taken credit for the hack, which allows users to download a new executable file with the DRM portion removed.
In the hack’s readme file, there is a little message for Ubisoft:
“Thank you Ubisoft, this was quiete [sic] a challenge for us, but nothing stops the leading force from doing what we do. Next time focus on the game and not on the DRM. It was probably horrible for all legit users. We just make their lifes [sic] easier.”
Ubisoft has absolutely no sympathy from me, and if this hack truly works, then it only stands as proof that excessive anti-piracy measures never work. All it does is give the publisher a power trip over the more loyal consumers while pirates just sit back and wait for the latest way around the restrictions. Ubisoft bred a lot of bad blood with customers over this stupid idea, and now it runs the risk of previously loyal gamers, as well as hardcore pirates, screwing with its games.
When Spore famously burned consumers with hidden SecuROM, it became the most pirated game that year, and I am certain we’ll see a lot of retaliatory piracy in this case too. Ubisoft has nobody to blame but itself.
Ubisoft’s controversial ‘always on’ PC DRM hacked [Cnet]
