0
Max Beland, who is the creative director of Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell: Conviction , has stated that Digital Rights Management (DRM) is absolutely vital to the success of PC -based games.
-based games. Said Beland during a recent interview with VG247:
We consider that protecting our PC games is vital to our business, and will allow us to continue investing in the development of creative and innovative games on the PC platform.
If you just heard a “ka-thump,” that was every gamer in the world jumping up and disagreeing at once.
Gamers’ resistance to overprotective DRM is not news to anyone. Many people surely have bad memories of when they legally paid for a game only to have a DRM error tell them they couldn’t play it, because the DRM system didn’t recognize the purchase. The most recent gigantic screwup with DRM occurred with Assassin’s Creed 2 , which required gamers to have a constant internet connection or else they couldn’t play the game. And then, when the game’s servers got hacked, nobody worldwide could play the game until it was fixed!
DRM is still a hot-button issue with PC developers since they wish to protect themselves from the rampant piracy that occurs online. On the one hand, who can blame them? The money expended to develop and publish a game in today’s marketplace is quite substantial and piracy likely hinders their return profits. However, the people who legally pay for games feel like they’re being cheated of their purchase, which is is often $60 or more, due to the controlling, and downright annoying, DRM that is included with many current games.
Do you agree with Beland and think DRM is vital to games making a profit on the PC? Have you had any unpleasant experiences with DRM?
Source: VG247