DRM server transition to make some Ubisoft games unplayable starting tomorrow

[nsane.forums]

While DRM schemes are designed to make sure only legitimate purchasers can play a game, the opposite will be true starting tomorrow for some Ubisoft titles. That's when a planned server migration will temporarily disable the DRM servers for some of the company's Mac and PC titles, making it so only pirates with cracked, DRM-free versions of the games will be able to play.

The games affected by the planned outage include:

• Assassin's Creed - Mac
  
• Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2 - PC
  
• Might & Magic : Heroes VI - PC
  
• Splinter Cell Conviction - Mac
  
• The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom - PC
  
• The Settlers - Mac
  

In addition, people playing recent Ubisoft PC games that use Ubisoft's Uplay system will only be able to play if they have previously logged in to confirm their purchase, and online modes for many games will be temporarily unavailable. The company hasn't clarified exactly how long the server transition will take, but promises to keep gamers updated via its Twitter account.

At least gamers will have warning this time—back in 2010, a "server malfunction" caused by a massive DDoS attack prevented some players from logging in to confirm their legal purchases. And hey, the temporary outage will prepare these games' owners for the inevitable day when Ubisoft decides its simply no longer worthwhile to maintain its DRM servers for "classic" titles, ensuring that cracked versions will be the only ones that are usable.

Last fall, Ubisoft Reflections founder Martin Edmonson said the company's DRM methods were a "quite morally correct" way to protect the company's investment in making games, arguing that "if there was very little trouble with piracy then we wouldn't need it."

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