Guru3D.com
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • Channels
    • Archive
  • DOWNLOADS
    • New Downloads
    • Categories
    • Archive
  • GAME REVIEWS
  • ARTICLES
    • Rig of the Month
    • Join ROTM
    • PC Buyers Guide
    • Guru3D VGA Charts
    • Editorials
    • Dated content
  • HARDWARE REVIEWS
    • Videocards
    • Processors
    • Audio
    • Motherboards
    • Memory and Flash
    • SSD Storage
    • Chassis
    • Media Players
    • Power Supply
    • Laptop and Mobile
    • Smartphone
    • Networking
    • Keyboard Mouse
    • Cooling
    • Search articles
    • Knowledgebase
    • More Categories
  • FORUMS
  • NEWSLETTER
  • CONTACT

New Reviews
G.Skill TridentZ5 RGB DDR5 7200 CL34 2x16 GB review
ASUS TUF Gaming B760-PLUS WIFI D4 review
Netac NV7000 2 TB NVMe SSD Review
ASUS GeForce RTX 4080 Noctua OC Edition review
MSI Clutch GM51 Wireless mouse review
ASUS ROG STRIX B760-F Gaming WIFI review
Asus ROG Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition mouse review
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Headset review
Ryzen 7800X3D preview - 7950X3D One CCD Disabled
MSI VIGOR GK71 SONIC Blue keyboard review

New Downloads
AIDA64 Download Version 6.88
Intel ARC graphics Driver Download Version: 31.0.101.4255
GeForce 531.41 WHQL driver download
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 23.3.2 WHQL download
GeForce 531.29 WHQL driver download
CrystalDiskInfo 9.0.0 Beta3 Download
AMD Ryzen Master Utility Download 2.10.2.2367
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 23.3.1 WHQL download
Display Driver Uninstaller Download version 18.0.6.1
CPU-Z download v2.05


New Forum Topics
NVIDIA GeForce 531.41 WHQL driver Download & Discussion 3060ti vs 6700xt a year later Valve to Discontinue Support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 on Steam Starting 2024 Amernime Zone AMD Software: Adrenalin / Pro Driver - Release Discovery 22.12.2 WHQL AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 23.3.2 WHQL - Driver Download and Discussion Uninstalling drivers Windows power plan settings explorer utility Any reason not to enable "Prefer Max Performance" for individual game profiles? Thanks, RTX 4080 Owner's Thread Philips Launches 45B1U6900C Dual QHD SuperWide Monitor with Multi-Client KVM Switch




Guru3D.com » News » Ubisoft changes Anno 2070 DRM after Guru3D critique

Ubisoft changes Anno 2070 DRM after Guru3D critique

by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 01/21/2012 03:17 AM | source: | 0 comment(s)

Anno 2070Over the past week a news post of ours resulted in a lot of coverage on the web. Long story short -- while we where testing the RTS game Anno 2070 for PC (from Ubisoft) we ran into downright silly DRM copy protection issues. You may install Anno 2070 on three PCs as you get three activations. That's fair and OK we feel.

However we discovered that while swapping out NVIDIA graphics cards, each time after reinstalling a card the DRM kicked back in, rendering the game inactivated. Three strikes, an you are out.

Our news post on this went viral on the web and Ubisoft got a lot of heat due to this. After getting into contact with the game producer BlueByte our activation limitation was lifted.

By itself great, but then we ran into a judgment call we needed to make. Initially we had a hard time rethinking, should we even test Ubisoft titles anymore as the DRM protection is way too heavy. We've thought about it hard and long.

In our opinion not writing about something is the most bad thing you can do and as such we decided to continue with that article. By excluding Ubisoft from the benchmarks we'll never be able to address issues like this DRM story, and they'll continue what they are doing. In fact if we'd have excluded Ubisoft titles we never would have been able to report about this issue.

By posting an article and explaining/mentioning DRM time after time, there will be more awareness about it and in the end that message will get across to Ubisoft and the producer. In the hope that one day they'll see the light.

Secondly, BlueByte certainly do not deserve getting the heat that they do this way. This company together with the developer Ralated Designs makes such brilliant and very unique game titles. It would be such a shame if they'd get damaged in the process. I would not like to have that on our account.

That said and with the VGA performance review posted moments ago we received an email from BlueByte, the producer of the game with the following information:

Hi Hilbert,

Just wanted to let you know, that we now remove the graphics hardware from the hash used to identify the PC.
That means everyone should now be able to switch the GFX as many times as he/she wants.

Cheers,

We are very happy to see that the activation scheme has been changed for anybody and everybody who purchased and is purchasing the game, you may now swap out as many graphics cards as you want. It doesn't mean though that you can change hardware (significant hardware like motherboards) more then three times. As that protection will still will apply.

But this certainly is progress, a small success really and we are happy to see that the game industry does listen towards their user-base. Overall though BlueByte and Ubisoft should have realized earlier on that this is just not the way to go.

DRM has become an annoyance factor for end-users. And though we agree there should be a certain level of game-copy protection, DRM has evolved way too much up-to a point where the publisher slowly but steadily moves into the same level as what they are fundamentally fighting, piracy and software pirates. And you as a consumer, should be protected from a publisher sniffing and checking your PCs hardware components and demanding that you are on-line to play a game.

With this statement made I'd like to invite you to check out our  Anno 2070 VGA Graphics performance review. We thank everybody that helped out and although it leaves everybody with a bitter taste in their mouth something did change on the positive side of things .. and that's progress.

What do you think about this step ? Let's us know in this thread.







« Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 7950 Card Leaks · Ubisoft changes Anno 2070 DRM after Guru3D critique · AMD Radeon HD 7900 driver 8.921.2 RC11 »

Related Stories

Why Guru3D probably never will review Ubisoft titles anymore - Anno 2070 - 01/14/2012 06:54 AM
So it's Thursday in the 2nd week of January 2012. I

E3 - Ubisoft announces Far Cry 3 - 06/08/2011 09:30 AM
Far Cry will go the rev 3

Ubisoft Launching Movie Studio - 05/04/2011 10:04 AM
Ubisoft is launching a brand-new division called Ubisoft Motion Pictures, dedicated to adapting its game properties to film and television. UbiMovie hasn't done anything yet but it does have an impres...

Ubisoft DRM Completely Cracked - 04/23/2010 10:33 AM
After heaps of complaints about their protetcion and DRMs Ubisoft's controversial digital rights management platform has reportedly been hacked, cracked and slashed by a consortium known as Skid Row. ...

Ubisoft Apologizes for Server Outage With Free Game - 03/26/2010 11:49 AM
Ubisoft is generating some goodwill as earlier this month some players of Assassin's Creed 2 and Silent Hunter 5 were unable to play their games due to outside attacks on Ubisoft's DRM servers. Now it...



Guru3D.com © 2023