Ubisoft devising new tools to combat piracy on PC
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Jul 30th 2009 at 12:30AM } 
"All together, on home consoles, the piracy is low," he said. "But on the PC, the piracy increases quite a lot, and we are working on tools that will allow us to actually decrease tremendously the piracy on PC, starting next year in fact and probably one game at the end of this year." Will they also mark a tremendous decrease in consumer friendliness? We'll have to wait for that one game at the end of this year, and with Splinter Cell: Conviction out of the picture, Ubisoft's new measures will most likely debut in November with Assassin's Creed 2.
Remember what that game's creative director, Patrice Désilets, told us about the 35 million people who played Assassin's Creed 1? "Not all the people bought it. They played it on PC."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Kyammi @ Jul 30th 2009 12:39AM
WHAAAAT? PS3 has piracy? Since when?
Lucas @ Jul 30th 2009 12:47AM
First time I've heard of it as well.
kevinski @ Jul 30th 2009 12:47AM
I'm assuming that it's done by somehow loading games off of the hard drive.
Fun DMC @ Jul 30th 2009 12:48AM
Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can't play backups on the PS3. I found it interesting that they brought up the DS, the PS3, and the 360, yet neglected to mention the two systems easiest to pirate on (the Wii and the PSP).
Sly @ Jul 30th 2009 12:54AM
i've seen games running off the hard drive, but if i remember right, you had to have the disc in, so it was pointless.
Sly @ Jul 30th 2009 1:10AM
oh, and if i remember right, it had the risk of bricking your ps3, so extra incentive not to do it.
DeepFriedSushi @ Jul 30th 2009 1:43AM
theres a method where you get a demo of a particular game and swap the files with the full version.
Ralph @ Jul 30th 2009 8:08AM
I'm sure they'll fight off the pirates as they attack one at a time while the others watch and taunt.
MarioSpitza @ Jul 30th 2009 8:44AM
@Fun DMC
Joystiq is leaving the most interesting bits out (God knows why). Go into the link and Ubisoft will actually give individual comments regarding piracy on each.
Here's a funny part: Looking at the comments, it seems as if PSP and PC piracy are the highest (not too surprising), but the DSi and Wii seems to have the lowest.
Papa Midnight @ Jul 30th 2009 8:53AM
"Guillemot highlighted the existence of piracy on every console, including DS, PS3 and Xbox 360"
Actually, yes the PS3 does have piracy and it's about time someone noticed it.
deaftly @ Jul 30th 2009 8:58AM
Install linux and you can run a bunch of emulators, so technically yes, it does have piracy.
emperorzeroxx @ Jul 30th 2009 10:51AM
I believe the ps3 piracy is refurring to the method used for getting free psn store games... as well as ps2 backups working on the ps3 through a different exploit.. and the whole new pc tools they plan on using will probably be cracked within the first week of the games release.... ubisoft should try and save time and money by not even bothering xD
Extinction @ Jul 30th 2009 4:39PM
No. Ps3 has no ps3 game piracy
Papa Midnight @ Aug 4th 2009 10:18PM
@Extinction: Keep telling yourself that.
deanb @ Jul 30th 2009 12:43AM
I'm getting AC2 on PS3, but if they can make some unobtrusive, non PC breaking, non-online anti-piracy measurement it will be interesting to see what they do
Dan Bugglin @ Jul 30th 2009 12:48AM
Valve fought Russian piracy by simply offering a good Russian translation at launch time for their new games. Piracy rates plummeted. They figured that people who buy $1000 gaming rigs pirate games for a superior product... in Russia's case, a good translation was being made by the pirates before Valve released an official translation.
Pop Quiz: Based on this lesson, when "legit" games become harder to use thanks to whatever new DRM Ubisoft cooks up, what will happen to piracy?
Blank-Mage @ Jul 30th 2009 12:52AM
I only pay for games I'm willing to buy, anything else gets the piracy treatment. Yeah, The Witcher? Wouldn't pay for that.
Look At This Suit @ Jul 30th 2009 12:56AM
So it's worth playing, but not worth paying for?
Here's what I want you to do. Walk into a restaurant, order anything. Doesn't matter. When your server comes up to you after your meal, tell him that you LIKED the food, but not enough to PAY for it. I'm sure he'll understand. That, or he'll throw you out on your ass. Might as well see which.
Kodros @ Jul 30th 2009 1:20AM
@Look At This Suit - I don't think that's entirely accurate. Lets say the restaurant had something on the menu that you would try. For $20, forget it, I don't care that much. But if the restaurant said, "you can have it for free". I'd take it.
I'm not endorsing piracy but it's silly to say that 100% of the people that pirate a game would have paid for it.
Look At This Suit @ Jul 30th 2009 1:22AM
But the restaurant isn't saying that you can have it for free. It's the guy in the back alley giving it to you for free.
avan @ Jul 30th 2009 4:19AM
Plus you need shirt and shoes to go in and pray nobody spit on your food
Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Jul 30th 2009 7:22AM
Ah, your comparison with Valve would absolutely work for Ubisoft. After all, last Holiday season, they tested the waters of DRMless software including Prince of Persia on PC. They said, at the time, this was to test the viability of their software in the market to see if their efforts to go DRM free would be rewarded like Valve's and Stardock. Hell, the PC version of their games were even $20 cheaper than the console version.
What happened? What always happens. Prince of Persia, the poster child for the test (not the only PC game Ubi let go DRM free last holiday, just the highest profile), was downloaded 20 times for every copy legitimately sold. I mean think on that for a second. Ubisoft put some real faith into the community and said, "Here, prove you can do alright by us and we'll do this more in the future." The PC gaming community's response? Stealing 20 copies for every copy sold according to torrent trackers. 20 fucking copies.
What's the excuse? Not enough languages? This is Ubisoft, that's bullshit. Invasive DRM? It was free of that. Too expensive? It was $20 cheaper than the console version. At some point, PC gamers need to realize DRM like Steam and whatever this is going to be exists solely because ANYTIME a company shows faith in the users of that platform, they get fucked.
The Baron @ Jul 30th 2009 10:43AM
Nobody bought Prince of Persia because it was a marketing fail and mediocrely reviewed. Most of the people who pirated were probably out of half-assed curiosity as opposed to "normally I'd buy it, but free is even better!".
It's the same with Assassin's Creed. Do they really think they would have sold 35 million copies if there was no such thing as piracy? Those are the kind of numbers reserved for Wii launch titles.
arisc2 @ Jul 30th 2009 11:50AM
>The PC gaming community's response? Stealing 20 copies for every copy sold >according to torrent trackers. 20 fucking copies.
And once again those magic numbers....how do they know that 20 copies where actually pirated and played? i mean come on!!! look i just downloaded a pirate copy of prince right now, and i played it and finished it, so the real number is 21.....oh wait!!! i lied as a Mather of fact i bought my copy so it was 2 against 20??no wait!!! i lied again, i do downloaded the game but i didn´t played it , it´s there completly dormant in a dvd somewhere, so as i didn´t played the game then it means i didn´t do anything bad right? those numbers doesn´t mean a damn, if those numbers where right then why they don´t complain for their sales for the 360?? how many xboxes are out there right now?? 3 millions? then why they only sold 1 million copies of far cry 2 on all the platforms??i mean, only the xbox should have reached those numbers without a problem.
the only real numbers that can be counted are the units sold plain simple any magic maths of for each one 23 where pirated is nothing but crap, and in this times where buying games is starting to be a less of a priority for any person that has a p.c. or a xbox or a ps3, selling more than 1 million on three platforms should be considered a hit.
SharpShooter @ Jul 30th 2009 12:52AM
I'm very interested in this PS3 piracy that Ubisoft is talking about..
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Jul 30th 2009 12:59AM
yea me too. i don't see any piracy on the PS3 scene, but then again i'm not really looking for it either. i may pirate a PC game here and there of a game on 360 i'm not sure i'll like but that's about it. PS3 games are too big to pirate effectively at this time.
deanb @ Jul 30th 2009 1:07AM
I don't even get who'd be able to pirate PS3 games. 360 n Wii are undertandable, 4-9GB games n every PC has a DVD burner. Ps3 games are 25-50GB games, very few PC's with BD readers, never mine BD burners. and BD burners probably cost as much as a PS3, so you may as well buy your games, it'd be cheaper.
Premature ejaculation man @ Jul 30th 2009 5:05AM
Though who would want to download 50gb's for MGS4? =p Seriously, where I'm from with data limits, I'd be able to download it and be capped for the rest of the month.
deaftly @ Jul 30th 2009 9:52AM
Burners are pretty cheap - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106254
Media is too
Filter @ Jul 30th 2009 12:54AM
I think the only way to block a majority of piracy is to have online checking of keys. anything else will be cracked in a week, if not days.
Personally, i think a game with securom = torrent for most people. Having to validate a product online (or phone for people w/o access to teh tubez) isnt intrusive and to my knowledge is the best way to combat piracy.
as for console piracy, i think, for the 360 at least, its a LOT more widespread than people think. check a torrent site for how many people are seeding popular titles, and then add a few hundred, if not a thousand more for all the private trackers.
Blank-Mage @ Jul 30th 2009 12:55AM
"Remember what that game's creative director, Patrice Désilets, told us about the 35 million people who played Assassin's Creed 1? Not all the people bought it. They played it on PC."
So, they magically know exactly how many people pirated it when they counted?
arisc2 @ Jul 30th 2009 1:15AM
A better question would be: remember the 35 millions people that played assasins creed? do you know how many actually finished and enjoyed it?
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Jul 30th 2009 12:57AM
i'll be interested to see what they come up with. everyone else has pretty much failed miserably so far. the task is to come up with some way to stop piracy without making it an annoyance for the people who actually pay for games, has yet to be done effectively.
deanb @ Jul 30th 2009 1:04AM
I'd say Valve have done quiet well.
Vidikron @ Jul 30th 2009 1:20AM
@deanb
At best they've reduced the amount of pre-launch piracy, but basically any game on Steam can be had via piracy.
Doz @ Jul 30th 2009 1:07AM
I have an idea on how to stop it.... don't hype the crap out of a game that turns out to be a repetative bore with a terrible story line...... *ahem Assisins creed...
This works both ways, don't expect people to pay $90 then get burnt with a rubbish game, then expect us to pay another $90 incase you finally make a decent game...
Alex @ Jul 30th 2009 1:09AM
Just make the retail version have to be played in Steam, people really like steam since it uses Community aspects so it doesn't feel like DRM, so it will actually convince more people into getting the game.
Flo @ Jul 30th 2009 1:12AM
Beat me to it.
Flo @ Jul 30th 2009 1:10AM
The only form example of DRM that I actually like is Steam. It isn't obnoxious, It doesn't install root kits on you computer. It lets you tie all of your games to your account and play them on any computer. But other than that I hate all forms of DRM. Don't restrict usage on something because the consumers MIGHT upload to the web. Ubi should just release it on steam =/
arisc2 @ Jul 30th 2009 1:13AM
UBI is always complaining about piracy, and specially on the p.c. if they are worried that their products don´t sell maybe they should start making games that are good? assasins creed is boooring, far cry 2 was nice but after some time the novelty banishes, prince of persia was plain simple easy, ubi hasn´t created anything that you could call a top title, they don´t even appear on the top ten of any platform, and forget about that stupid pirate proof protection thing, anything that is protected can be cracked, that´s how it is. Remember what happened with starforce? the unbeatable protection?? now it´s cracked every weekend.....
Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Jul 30th 2009 7:37AM
Assasin's Creed, Farcry 2, and Prince of Persia all showed up on console top ten lists. All three won huge acclaims, two of the three were Joystiq Game of the Years or at least made it into their lineups. Barely a blip on PC though. Hell, to try and appease the self-entitled fucks ruining PC gaming, Ubi even tried going DRMfree last holiday only to get record high downloads.
The quality is there, the justification to steal is bullshit. Just be glad they're even still putting anything on PC nowadays.
arisc2 @ Jul 30th 2009 10:48AM
i didn´t read those, but even if that´s what happened that doesn´t change the fact that assasins creed was completly overrrated and prince of persia was an easy game.
ubi got very happy with the sales of farcry 2 on the three systems, they didn´t give numbers but they said it sold over a millon in three weeks on 3 major platforms: xbox, ps3 and p.c. i doubt the pc sold only 3 from that million, and that´s not a blip on p.c.
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/11/far-cry-2-sells-a-million-copies-worldwide/
and i don´t need to be only glad they're even still putting anything on PC man, sorry but that worked with the amiga when everybody was leaving it for the p.c. or as the companies called it "greener pastures" and any game was like a masterpiece for the amiga. That doesn´t work for a market that it´s there, and steam is the biggest example of making money with the p.c.
i never justified stealing from them, i spend a good amount on three games that were not good as they said. And they are not going anywhere because as ubi said, piracy is present on all platforms, i still doubt that ps3 part but only because blue rays are very expensive right now otherwise it would be the same.
The Baron @ Jul 30th 2009 10:48AM
FC2 was just terrible. Weirdly I way preferred Assassin's Creed. But it's weird that Ubisoft's "big 3" all suffered exactly the same design problem: endless repetition and nothing well-written or deep. The only thing in those three games I thought was clever, story-wise, was the Prince of Persia ending. But the game leading up to that was pretty average.
arisc2 @ Jul 30th 2009 11:36AM
Exactly my point man, far cry 2 technically was very good, i really enjoyed the jungle and the whole idea of going anywhere was good, but the game missions where not really funny, i didn´t have a single problem in any of the missions not even the hard ones, at least the p.c. version had the advantage of saving anywhere anyplace, not like the console version where you have to survive the whole mission and the return to one if your houses if you want to save, and the voices!! jesus!! they should have invested in some actors to make the voices at least interesting. ubi´s games are not as good as they used to be, to be honest i wouldn´t really care if they stop making games for the p.c. or for any platform right now.
Kamizar @ Jul 30th 2009 1:20AM
Tool"s", I thought making a game good-enough-so-people-will-buy-it-out-of-respect was one tool...?
Here come the down votes.
Blank-Mage @ Jul 30th 2009 1:45AM
Works for me.
Silicon Siren @ Jul 30th 2009 2:27AM
Breaking News: Ubisoft spending game development funds on scratch off lotto tickets.
Maybe they should use those spare coders to make better PC games. Or developers could worth together to setup an infrastructure like Live has or Steam has. Something where there is a standard community, achievements and whatnot.
Plastic Rat @ Jul 30th 2009 2:33AM
Oh geez, keep telling yourself that Yves.
Wasn't he just whinging about the rampant piracy on consoles... yesterday... now consoles are ok, but the PC is a mess of piracy? WTF dude?
Every time this guy opens his mouth my estimation of his IQ halves.
How long will it take to get it into these morons heads that when a game doesn't sell, it's because the game is more than likely a load of crap kicked out the door with flashy graphics and marketing in the hopes of getting people to buy before they realize what they just bought?
Breakerchase @ Jul 30th 2009 2:36AM
How about integrating the games with Steamworks (like Empire Total War) or offer SDKs and mod kits? Recent Ubi releases like EndWar have been pretty shitty on the PC. All they do is sloppily port the game over and give no second thought to things that would lengthen the game's life.
Balloonfighter99 @ Jul 30th 2009 3:19AM
The only way to fight pirates is more pirates. Old timey peg leg, eye patch pirates. Imagine a salty dog climbing through the window, sword in teeth, creeping toward someone downloading a game. Thats the answer.