Ubisoft: Reducing the Need for DRM
Gamers hate Ubisoft’s always-on internet-based DRM. They really hate it and have nerdraged on forums all over the internet about it. They are not too keen on limited activations either, or one of the many other schemes Ubisoft has imposed on them to date.
Ubisoft’s boss, Chris Early therefore wants to “reduce the need for DRM” by trying a different strategy. In particular, he’s thinking of using “companion gaming”, which integrates the games with social platforms, mobile devices and an element of the cloud. “The question is, with enough on-going content development, content release, engagement at the community level, can we create that kind of MMO value system? I think we can. As the rest of the game industry continues to evolve, the more you hear about cloud gaming, the more you hear about companion gaming, the less a pirated game should work in all of that environment. So, therefore the value of that pirated content becomes less.
“Will some people still pirate? Yeah, they will. Will the person who really wants that broad experience pirate? We hope not.” There’s a lot more on this over at Eurogamer and it’s well worth a read.
“Is it fair for someone to enjoy our content without us receiving some value for that? I think at the core of that is, no,” he said. “Otherwise, other than works of charity, there would be few games made. The balance, however, is, how do we do anything about that and not harm the person who is giving us value for that?
“That’s been the delicate balance that the industry has walked over time. It continues to be one that we grapple with as an industry. How do we create content and receive good value for that, and at the same time, not inconvenience the player who has given us value there?
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