The requirement of some modern PC games to have a constant Internet connections is upsetting gamers, and rightly so.
These measures are a form of Digital Rights Management (DRM), which means if someone wants to play a game like the newly released Diablo 3, they need to be connected to the Internet, even if they are playing a single-player component that requires no Internet otherwise.
Big publishers like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft have defended their decisions to DRM, saying they are necessary to combat piracy.
However, there are major drawbacks for players. People sometimes play games on laptops, away from Internet connections. These people wouldn’t be able to play games with always-on DRM. If a player loses their Internet connection, they can sometimes lose hours of progress, through no fault of their own.
In some cases, always-on DRM doesn’t even curb piracy. Popular game Assassin’s Creed 2 had its always-on DRM removed by the hacker consortium Skid Row less than three weeks after it was released on computers, according to CNET. In the end, Ubisoft, the company who published the game, removed the DRM for PC players.
If publishing companies truly care about piracy, they will also care about players who legitimately buy their games. There are numerous alternatives to always-on DRM. Games can use serial codes that get checked every time a game is started with an Internet connection.
A great alternative is the DRM system by Steam, a game-publishing platform. Steam connects your game with an account, and lets you install it on a computer as long as you are logged in on that account. In addition, it allows players to play a game offline if they want.
Always-on DRM is a brute-force solution. Companies shouldn’t let the crimes of a few ruin gaming experiences for the rest of us.
