It is becoming increasingly clear that Ubisoft is terrible at PC DRM, and it isn't likely to ever do anything to fix it. The company is one of many requiring game owners to be online in order to play their PC games. It seems Ubisoft's most recent issue revolves around the company lying to fans and press about how the DRM would work in the PC port of From Dust.
Originally, From Dust was supposed to debut simultaneously on Xbox 360 (via the Live Arcade distribution method) and on PC. The PC version of the game was pushed back, but Ubisoft reassured fans that the game would not require a persistent Internet connection to play. The official company line was that players would have to activate the game via the Web but from then on, the game could be played offline. The PC version of the game was recently released and it turns out Ubisoft lied. The game requires an active Internet connection every time it starts up, not just on initial activation.
Instead of discussing the issue with press and fans, Ubisoft instead is opting to pretend the original promise of how the DRM would work just never happened. A forum post by the company that initially detailed how DRM would work was deleted and the new company line about the game needing a connection every time it was booted was essentially put in its place.
Rock Paper Shotgun captured an image of the original forum post which read,
"We are aware of some confusion over the inclusion of DRM in the release of From Dust on PC.
To prevent any on-going confusion we would like to clarify From Dust PC will release with DRM requiring a one-time only online activation. After which you will be able to play the game offline."
Ubisoft has removed that language and posted a new statement. That new statement reads,
"Due to the recent confusion over the type of DRM used in From Dust, please find the following explanation of the type of DRM used.
From Dust requires an internet connection when you start the game.
Make sure you are connected to the internet when you attempt to start the game.
After you have signed in and the game is running, you no longer need the internet connection and can disconnect from it if you so wish."
Those two statements don't mean the same thing at all. It's not only distressing that Ubisoft completely changed their stance on DRM for this game but that they are essentially pretending they never made the original claim in the first place. This doesn't exactly sit well with fans who are already upset over DRM requiring a persistent Internet connection in major titles. What's even more offensive is that Ubisoft stands by this method of DRM claiming it works very well. If this kind of business keeps up, it seems very likely that PC players will not be at all interested in what Ubisoft has to offer.
I, for one, won't be buying From Dust on PC. Not only is the misleading DRM stance troubling but the game runs horrendously on the very system it should have been best on. The frame rate is locked in at 30fps, there are no graphical options, and there is no anti-aliasing support (jaggy edges abound). Did you buy From Dust on PC? Are you upset that Ubisoft mislead consumers about the DRM? Are you less than thrilled with how the game runs on PC? Let us know how you feel about Ubisoft's latest mishap.
