Server error preventing Australians from playing The Settlers 7

Ubisoft's PC game DRM has done an excellent job of keeping people from playing its games. Sadly, the people barred from the games are the ones who actually purchase them. The latest issue to pop up involves the Australian release of The Settlers 7. Players are reporting that the game pops up a "Server not available" message after the initial loading screen, preventing the game from even starting.

The culprit this time isn't exactly the always-on nature of the DRM: it's an issue with authenticating multiplayer profiles ... which, unfortunately, is done before the single-player game can start. Ubisoft released a new patch today, but apparently it's still not fixing the issue. However, users have reported that Ubisoft can resolve the issue if called. If you want to play Settlers 7 today, you may have to settle for talking to tech support about it.

[Via GamePolitics]