Bad news for PC gamers who are fans of Ubisoft. The massive publishing giant has just released details on their new DRM (Digital Rights Management) policy which includes some extreme measures.
From here on out, all Ubisoft PC titles will REQUIRE an always-on Internet connection, or you won’t be able to play the game. Yes, even if it’s a single-player “offline” game. The reason?
This is what the official FAQ states:
“The online services platform authenticates with an Ubisoft account and a permanent online connection allows us to verify that no one else uses the account at the same time. We know that services such as Steam offer an offline mode but this option is not as efficient in its protection against piracy.”
Once again, no offline mode means no play unless you are connected to the Internet. So what happens if you are accidentally disconnected while playing? This differs depending on the game . . . which means that you MAY lose your progress.
“Where exactly you are reconnected in the game may differ from title to title. Settlers 7 reconnects at the exact point where the connection was lost, Assassins Creed 2 reconnects you at the last checkpoint (and not the last auto save). There are many checkpoints so you’re back to the point where you got disconnected in no time.” The Ubisoft representative added, “As long as you do not quit the game, the game will continue to try to reconnect for an unlimited time. Once the game is able to reconnect, you will immediately be returned to your game.”
Although this may be a deal breaker now for gamers on the PC, Ubisoft did has said that even the slowest Internet connection will work fine.
“Our online services platform will require a maximum of 50kbps of available bandwidth, so even with the slowest connection, gameplay won’t be affected.”
You also will not be able to resell your PC games as stated in the FAQ:
“Can I resell my game?
Not at this time.
Can I resell my game along with my Ubisoft account?
Your Ubisoft account features your personal data and cannot be given or sold to anyone.”
– Via Arstechnica, Evil Avatar, thanks to user lockwoodx of Evil Avatar for the image.