Always-on DRM

Always-on DRM or always-online DRM is a form of DRM that requires a consumer to remain connected to a server, especially through an internet connection, to use a particular product. The practice is also referred to as persistent online authentication. The technique is meant to prevent copyright infringement of software. Like other DRM methods, always-on DRM has proven controversial, mainly because it has failed to stop pirates from illegally using the product, while causing severe inconvenience to people who bought the game legally.

Usage

Popular video games such as Diablo III and Starcraft 2 employ always-on DRM by requiring players to connect to the internet to play, even in single-player mode. Reviews of Diablo III criticized its use of always-on DRM.[1][2] As with Diablo III, SimCity (2013) experienced bugs at its launch due to always-on DRM.[3] Its developer, Maxis, initially defended the practice as being a result of the game's reliance on cloud computing for in-game processing, but it was later confirmed that cloud computing was only necessary to support the inter-city and social media mechanisms.[4][5][6] Tim Willits at id Software has also defended the use of always-on DRM, arguing that it would make updates easier. This later received even more criticism, with users stating that these updates could potentially render the game unable to be played.[7]

A major disadvantage of always-on DRM is that whenever the DRM authentication server goes down or a region experiences an Internet outage, it effectively locks out people from playing the game, hence the criticism.[8] Another major disadvantage is that if the servers are ever shut down, the game is rendered completely unplayable.

Ubisoft's first titles requiring an always-on connection were Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic and Assassin's Creed II, of which the former had reportedly been cracked as of the first day of the game's release.[9] Assassin's Creed II was later cracked on the day of its release in Japan. Ubisoft also used always-on DRM in Driver: San Francisco, which was also cracked.[10] However, the company announced in September 2012 that it would not employ always-on DRM in its future games.[10]

Ubisoft again garnered criticism after revealing they were making their latest racing game The Crew always-online, despite the fact that the game has a campaign. As a result, it received mixed reviews. Ubisoft later confirmed that the game would not be available offline, as they wanted to make the game a living world with multiplayer and single-player combined.

EA was later criticized for making their latest game Need for Speed always online, even though it had both single player and multiplayer modes. EA later stated that this was because the game was an ever expanding world that would be constantly updated and that it would be required for taking snapshots and posting them on Autolog, which would earn the player Experience points and other rewards if the snapshots are liked enough. This later garnered more criticism. In the end, it was later found out that the reason for drastic framerate drops in Need for Speed on all platforms was because of the always-online connection.

HITMAN™ was later criticized to be always-online to be able to save in certain areas of levels in the game. Square Enix clarified that there would be no fix for it as the game was "a constantly, evolving, living world of assassination that will grow alongside the community with frequent content updates in between the launch of each location. This live content includes new contracts, escalation contracts, elusive targets, and even additional challenges", and while it is possible to play the game offline, two separate save states for both offline and online have been made. However, the game was later patched to make sure that all locations and levels could be fully played in offline mode, with the disadvantage being that leaderboards would not be accessible, regular updates would not be installed, and live events would not be available for playing.

Quantum Break, a game developed by Remedy was also criticized for being always-online on the PC version, due to the fact that live episodes limited to 4K resolution had to be streamed because of storage limitations according to Microsoft, despite the fact that personal computers can be constantly upgraded with more storage as time goes by. Nevertheless, it is possible to play the game offline without logging in to Microsoft, but it will result in the live-action cutscenes in the game being disabled, leaderboards becoming inaccessible, and it will also result with another consequence, the game's protagonist Jack Joyce wearing a pirate eye patch, which is a reference to another Remedy-developed and Microsoft-published game Alan Wake, where the protagonist Alan Wake would wear an eye patch should the Steam version of the game ever be pirated. Playing the game offline without logging in to Windows Store will make the game think that it has been pirated and make Jack wear the eye-patch, but warez group 3DM managed to make a trainer for the game with an option to remove the eye-patch.

DOOM was also later criticized of requiring to be always-online in order to use the Vulkan API recently implemented in the game in an update, although it can still run offline with the OpenGL executable.

Star Wars: Battlefront was patched by EA Games with an offline mode sometime in July 2016.

Xbox Play Anywhere games like ReCore, Gears of War 4 and Forza Horizon 3 have also been criticized of being required to be online to be launched and to be authenticated every 24 hours. Denuvo was also criticized of using a similar method.

As of October 2015, always-online games with single player modes that now have had dead servers for six months and longer are now exempt from DMCA prohibitions on circumventing copyright protection.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kain, Erik (17 May 2012). "'Diablo III' Fans Should Stay Angry About Always-Online DRM". Forbes. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Jary, Simon (16 May 2012). "Diablo III players angry as Hell at launch chaos". PC Advisor. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  3. ↑ Usher, William (5 March 2013). "SimCity Now Available; Always-On DRM Causes Major Launch Day Issues". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  4. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (21 December 2012). "Maxis: SimCity's always-on DRM for gamers' benefit". GameSpot. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "SimCity Boss's "Straight Answers" Seem Pretty Wiggly". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  6. ↑ Thier, Dave (March 18, 2013). "One Simple Change Allows SimCity Offline Play". Forbes. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  7. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (10 August 2011). "Id Software on always-on internet debate". Eurogamer. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  8. ↑ "Ubisoft DRM Authentication Servers Go Down". Escape Magazine. 7 March 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  9. ↑ Geek.com. Ubisoft’s always-connected games DRM already cracked. Accessed 2013-03-12.
  10. 1 2 Karmali, Luke (5 September 2012). "Ubisoft Officially Ditches Always-On PC DRM". IGN. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  11. ↑ "Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies" (PDF). www.copyright.gov. October 28, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
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