Ubisoft's DRM Currently Winning Against Pirates

Earlier this week we learned that pirates have already packaged and released a version of Silent Hunter 5 that supposedly found its way around Ubisoft's new Internet-required DRM scheme.

It turns out that the pirates may have jumped the gun on their victory cries, as there are now reports that players are unable to play Silent Hunter 5 past the first mission. It seems that the game may be making repeated requests for authentication between levels before allowing the player to continue.

An early crack was also released for Assassin's Creed II (which hits Australia and Europe before North America's March 9 release), but those who have tried it say that they are unable to advance very far into the game without being sent back to the menu screen.

In an Ubisoft statement reported by Rock, Paper, Shotgun, the game company said: "You have probably seen rumors on the web that Assassin’s Creed II and Silent Hunter 5 have been cracked. Please know that this rumor is false and while a pirated version may seem to be complete at start up, any gamer who downloads and plays a cracked version will find that their version is not complete."

In the early hours of the fight, it seems that Ubisoft is one up on the pirates. Thankfully, Ubisoft appears to be making it a little easier on paying customers.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
  • kingnoobe
    LMAO.. Ya, and I'm sure they have a repack/fixed crack up in no time. DRM is stupid, and how ubi even thinks otherwise is beyond me. DRM turns honest people into pirates not deter them.
    Reply
  • ColMirage
    Enjoy the "Victory" while you can, Ubisoft, they'll find a way to bypass that soon enough.
    Reply
  • alextheawesome
    Tomorrow's article "Pirates Pity Ubisoft's DRM"
    Reply
  • scione
    i give the pirates a week to work everything out
    Reply
  • eklipz330
    I'm usually against Draconian DRM, but go UBISOFT!

    but SCREW YOUR DRM! im still not buying it =]
    Reply
  • winner4455
    Keyword: Currently
    Reply
  • gm0n3y
    Yay, DRM that makes a game unplayable unless you are connected to the internet.
    Reply
  • Jaseball
    Most of the people doing cracks most likely have little interest in the actual game or playing it. It's the challenge and making 'the man,' look like an idiot by breaking supposed security quickly.

    I personally believe in supporting game developers and artists and buy my software, pay 99 cents for a song download, and keep things legitimate, but I won't support Ubi's new DRM scheme.

    It's tiring enough to bring game disks with me for single player, but being restricted by having to have an internet connection is just too much. What if I am on a plane? In a remote vacation spot? In a hotel that charges $15 for wireless access?

    The entire point of paying for a game is to play it at my convenience and while I don't believe in piracy I do agree that this sort of DRM harms consumers like me and actually encourages more piracy, but Ubi has probably taken this into consideration and doesn't care.

    Thankfully I thought Assassin's Creed, while smooth and nice looking was pretty boring and repetitive and never planned on getting AC2.
    Reply
  • rooket
    I remember there were problems with L4D2 but I bought it because I wanted to play it online. Long story short, total utter waste of money.
    Reply
  • doc70
    ..."Thankfully, Ubisoft appears to be making it a little easier on paying customers."...

    I don't know what you're smoking, Marcus, but I want some of that...
    Reply