GPU Restriction Removed From Anno 2070 DRM After Community Outcry
Over the years Ubisoft has become the poster child for DRM. Time and again this company has released titles containing restrictive software that does little more than irritate paying customers, and at times render legally-purchased games useless. Over the last week, there has been an outcry surrounding the DRM in Anno 2070, which started when the guys over at Guru3D tried to benchmark the game.
After they had swapped out the GPU a few times, they found that the game would no longer activate. Thinking this to be a simple bug, they rang Ubisoft support, who informed them that the software was operating as intended. They stated that the game was limited to no more than three hardware changes. After that time, you would need to purchase a new license.
Ubisoft has remained steadfast in their decision. However, BlueByte (who produced the game) went ahead and stopped checking the graphics card when identifying the PC, thus allowing you to swap out GPU’s as much as you like. While this is good to hear, it’s hardly a solution to the overlying problem.
Companies like Ubisoft need to realize that locking down their sofware with restrictive DRM does little more than prevent paying customers from playing the game. It also ensures that the pirate community thrives, because if someone can’t play their game due to the Ubisoft servers being down, they’re just going to find a pirated copy and play.
