Game Companies Who Treat Customers Like Crooks

Posted May 7, 2008 by Stephen Hammill

Updated May 7, 2008 at 04:47 PM

News like this should come packaged with an audible, barley perceptible groan.

Bioware, maker of “Mass Effect,” has announced it plans to use SecuROM on the PC version of the game, which hits store shelves May 28.

The DRM software requires the user to “check in” with the Bioware servers every ten days and prove the copy of the game is authorized and not pirated. Basically, the user must activate the game upon start up and re-activate it repeatedly, which of course, requires an Internet connection.

Now, if you’re reading this you’re probably a loyal Couch Potato, replete with good fashion sense, healthy skin and nails and a higher-than-average intelligence, which means we’re probably preaching to the choir when we say this tactic is stupid.

Why would a company make a paying customer clear annoying hurdles which a pirate would easily avoid anyway?

Can someone who buys this game opt for the “pirated” version, absent the repeating authorization code demands? Maybe Bioware can charge extra for it—package it as a collector’s edition.

Apparently, the PC version of “Assassin’s Creed” performs similar checks. There’s talk that the expected PC-hit “Spore” will feature the DRM, too.

PC game makers are clearly concerned about piracy, and like the music labels before them, they are trying DRM as a tactic. One can only hope the eventual consumer backlash will, as it did with music, force the game makers to think of solutions that don’t burden the paying customer.

Speaking of backlash, there’s been plenty of it over at the Bioware forums. You can practically see the virtual pitchforks. Some are claiming Bioware would never have implemented the DRM scheme if it were still an independent game developer. (Electronic Arts purchased Bioware in January.)

UPDATE: The Admins over at the Bioware forums are locking any posts regarding the DRM issue and routing all who wish to voice concerns to a single “sticky” post. So much for the concept of a forum.

In the meantime, it’s only a matter of time before hackers breach the high gates of the next-gen consoles, at which point, far more gamers can expect the sting from the DRM whip.