''The truth is DRM does not work'', says CD Projekt Red

[News Portal]

When CD Projekt Red released two versions of The Witcher 2, one that shipped with DRM, and one that came digitally and DRM-free via GOG.com, which do you think would be pirated first? Copying the file and giving it to a friend without DRM would seem simplest, surely. But the numbers have shown that the boxed, DRM'd version was pirated more and faster.

Guillaume Rambourg, GOG.com's managing director says the DRM itself is at fault. "My guess is, that releasing an unprotected game is not the real deal, you have to crack it to gain respect and be able to write: “cracked by XYZ.” How would “not cracked by XYZ, as there was nothing to crack” sound? A bit silly, wouldn’t it?" CD Projekt's CEO agrees, saying "The truth is [DRM] does not work. It’s as simple as that. ... I do not see any future for DRM at all."

Source: Forbes

Read full article by GON News

[Bluefire]

DRM = Legit owners + Pirates download to avoid your ****.
No DRM = Only Pirates download.

Sadly the future for DRM isnt "No DRM" its going to be "Always On DRM" aka BF3/Diablo3.

Sure you could pirate BF3, but what would be the point, singleplayer was **** and the game may as well have shipped without it.
Sure you could pirate diablo3... but what would be the point ?
You cannot play eihter without an account and 24/7/365.25 fast, highly stable internet connection.

[cyclobs]

Have my babbies

[Disco LT]

Sadly the future for DRM isnt "No DRM" its going to be "Always On DRM" aka BF3/Diablo3.

It's a bleak future if all we've got to look forward to from here on in are laggy single player games

[cyclobs]

Sadly the future for DRM isnt "No DRM" its going to be "Always On DRM" aka BF3/Diablo3.

It's a bleak future if all we've got to look forward to from here on in are laggy single player games

or **** multiplayer games where you have to rely on swearing 10 year olds to have fun

[Cyrinno]

Sadly the future for DRM isnt "No DRM" its going to be "Always On DRM" aka BF3/Diablo3.

It's a bleak future if all we've got to look forward to from here on in are laggy single player games

Tell me about it Diablo 3's latency has been horrible. It's all over the place especially when the Americans are on.

[thefinn]

Think of the children!

DRM is one of the more stupid acts of gaming companies (and let's face it, there's a lot of stupid acts by gaming companies) in the modern era.

[DarkMellie]

Sadly, it seems they've either succumbed to their own PR or they're being deliberately misleading. The nom-DRM wasn't touched out of a twisted sense of respect for CDPR's DRM stance, we've seen similar notions of respect during Anonymous' time in the sun.

If all companies went DRM free does anyone honestly think no-one would steal games anymore?

[Auld]

Sadly, it seems they've either succumbed to their own PR or they're being deliberately misleading. The nom-DRM wasn't touched out of a twisted sense of respect for CDPR's DRM stance, we've seen similar notions of respect during Anonymous' time in the sun.

If all companies went DRM free does anyone honestly think no-one would steal games anymore?

Thats a bit of weird logic though, there has been DRM for years and it hasn't stopped people stealing games. But it does make producing them more expensive.

[DarthLondar]

If all companies went DRM free does anyone honestly think no-one would steal games anymore?

Piracy is always going to exist, and it's inevitable that any form of DRM will eventually be cracked, so why waste money on it when you could be using it to improve your game? The only people making money off of it are the companies that license DRM out to gaming companies, eg. SecuROM, TAGES.

[Novocaine]

Tell me about it Diablo 3's latency has been horrible. It's all over the place especially when the Americans are on.

You must have a terrible connection, I haven't had any lag at all, even on launch day.

[RSOblivion]

Get to Hell level and you'll see the lag...

D3 is the most obvious incarnation of it, but I think Ubisoft are the ones who really showed how bad DRM can be for their bottom line. They went from AMD like competition for EA to almost and indie publisher within 3 years of forced online DRM.

[Mekon]

I think Ubisoft are the ones who really showed how bad DRM can be for their bottom line. They went from AMD like competition for EA to almost and indie publisher within 3 years of forced online DRM.

Buh? Ubisoft is doing just fine - they are still the 3rd largest publisher in both Europe and the US...

The reason they saw a sharp decrease in revenue back in 2009 was because the bottom fell out of the casual DS/Wii video game market (no great surprise). They moved out of that segment and are kicking along quite happily.

Their online DRM hasn't affected their bottom line much, if at all - probably because they are predominantly focused on the console side of the market. PC is (and always has been) the ugly red-headed sister.

[xanarax]

Look, DRM isn't to stop piracy 100%. It's about keeping honest people honest. A successful launch can make or break a game being profitable.

They need to do it, while I don't agree with always on DRM. I think there are ways you can implement it and give a value added bonus, such as say Steam where users can download it on any machine with their login and use their cloud and mod services.

Poor implementations are Games for Windows Live (even though I've never had any problems personally) and Ubisoft's always on. Blizzard's Diablo 3 implementation I can see the merit in it, however until they've ironed out the kinks users will experience problems.

[Krogan]

Well DRM was never designed to stop online piracy, it's only purpose has been to stop amateur piracy, aka borrowing out a game you played to your siblings or friend etc.