I tell you – Ubisoft is playing a joke on us. Remember when they complained about the PC piracy rates being too high? Well, instead of focusing on the F2P market – something that was stated by the company’s CEO – the French publisher and developer has released a PC version of I Am Alive and has confirmed to RPS that they’ll be ditching the controversial ‘always-online’ DRM system.
As Ubisoft’s worldwide director for online games, Stephanie Perotti, said:
“We have listened to feedback, and since June last year our policy for all of PC games is that we only require a one-time online activation when you first install the game, and from then you are free to play the game offline.”
Stephanie added that Assassin’s Creed III PC will be played in offline mode and that PC gamers will be able to activate the game on as many machines as they want:
“Whenever you want to reach any online service, multiplayer, you will have to be connected, and obviously for online games you will also need to be online to play. But if you want to enjoy Assassin’s Creed III single player, you will be able to do that without being connected. And you will be able to activate the game on as many machines as you want.”
Stephanie has also clarified on the ‘95% Piracy Rates’ comment that was made a few days ago. According to Stephanie, this is not the average rate of PC piracy, and only relates to specific or popular PC games. Not only that, but the PC piracy number often varies depending on the territory.
“Research showed that it can reach that rate for some specific or popular PC games, and that number often varies depending on the territory. So we are not saying that it applies to all PC games for all territories, and we’re not saying that the same situation would apply for any game.”
Pretty funny that Ubisoft’s CEO did not clarify on this when he complained about PC piracy. Stephanie has also said that she did not wish to discuss about the ‘Always-Online DRM Is Successful’ statement – that was made almost a year ago by Ubisoft – and that it was an unfortunate comment.
Good news then for all PC gamers that are fans of Ubi’s games. Ironically though, I Am Alive has been leaked prior to its official release date. Let’s hope that the French company has – actually – learned from its mistakes and false statements!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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