Just Cause Developer: DRM Sucks

[Greg Tito]

Just Cause Developer: DRM Sucks

Avalanche Studio thumbs its nose at Ubisoft's DRM.

In a direct response to comments made by fellow game studio leader Martin Edmonson defending Ubisoft's right to protect its property [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112755-Driver-San-Francisco-Dev-Stands-Up-For-Ubisofts-DRM-Practices], the founder of Avalanche Studios Christofer Sundberg said that DRM is a bunch of bollocks. Sundberg knows that piracy is a problem, but believes that all DRM does is punish the people who've bought your game legitimately.

"I don't like always-on DRM solutions at all, since they offer nothing to the consumer," Sundberg said. "If you continuously give something extra for registering and being online, and award them for actually paying for and playing your game, it'd be different, but always-on DRM only says:

'Thank you for buying our game, we trust you as far as we can throw you.'"

Using DRM does not to prevent piracy. Just like there will always be stealing, murder, and generally nasty behavior in the world, people will never stop cracking games and hosting those files online. "PC games always have and always will be pirated, cracked, modded and what have you," he said. "That is the nature of the PC as a platform; you can never get around this problem."

Sundberg's solution is to offer a carrot rather than wield a big DRM stick. "My solution to the problem is to start designing games for the PC player, and award PC players for being part of the community of your game and for staying connected to you - not forcing them," he said. "If you continuously tell the player that you care about their opinions, and appreciate their investment, you will lower the amount of bootleg copies."

I don't know about you, but that sounds like a fine strategy. Better than having to deal with terrible DRM servers always going down, anyway. The best part is that Sundberg is willing to put his job on the line for you, the customer:

"We don't have much choice, as the publisher owns the IP, but I can assure you we would go down screaming before anything like this ends up in any Avalanche game."

Source: Edge [http://www.next-gen.biz/news/avalanche-drm-helps-no-one]

Permalink

 

[cybran]

I both love and respect this man.

I paid for Just cause 2, and I promise I WILL pay for the next one, keep it up avalanche!! ^^

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

the founder of Avalanche Studios Christofer Sundberg said that DRM is a bunch of bollocks. Sundberg knows that piracy is a problem, but believes that all DRM does is punish the people who've bought your game legitimately.

Him. Him I like. He understands.

 

[Delock]

Damn... It's too late for me buying a new copy of Just Cause 2 for him to get any money from it, isn't it?

Seriously, this sounds like a brilliant idea that just earned my respect for this guy.

 

[Irridium]

And now I will buy their next game.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well well, some intelligent developers out there, that haven't got a fat check from Ubisoft

 

[RobinHood3000]

I paid for Just Cause 2, and now I'm even more proud to say it. It's nice to see that the DRM issue is slowly shifting more towards the rational side of things.

 

[mjc0961]

I got Just Cause 2 during the Steam Summer Sale for $5, but this makes me wish I had paid more. This guy is intelligent and deserves to get paid. Now if only other people in the industry had as much intelligence and common sense.

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

This man...I love this man. Thank you for being the one voice of reason in a sea of stupid.

 

[The-Epicly-Named-Man]

I feel like sh*t for not getting JC2 (*snigger, just realised that could stand for Jesus Christ 2) yet now. This guy has really earned my respect, his attitude is refreshing in an industry filled with id's and Blizzard's.

 

[kurupt87]

Not only was JC2 a great game but it also appears the man responsible for it is a bit of a dude.

Apparently, I'm keeping an eye out for games from Avalanche.

 

[scottdkp]

I bought Just Cause 2 and loved every minute of it. Totally worth my time and money.

My complaint is that unlike other consumer goods, if I buy a game and its clearly a poorly put together ill conceived piece of trash I can't get my money back, even after only 30 min or so of playing and hating it. The industry is causing their own problem by releasing games that suck 2 out of 3 times because they were rushed into production or simply developed around a poor or overused concept. If I get a bug riddled game with the plot intricacies of a room temperature cheese sandwich I want to send that festering pile of donkey feces right back where it came from so I can go out and buy a good game and give a developer who deserves the money.

Sadly, today I have to rely on finding a Demo to try out. If I like the game I then need to go to a brick and mortal store to buy it. Then I need to delete the demo, install the game and oops.. now I have DRM for something I rightfully bought.

If I had the wherewithall to download something it's coming with DRM long since removed/disabled. There is no POINT to DRM. If I buy it legitimately I get stuck with DRM, if I pirate it, DRM comes pre-disabled. There is no benefit for anyone in this engagement. Pirating isn't being disuaded in any way by its inclusion.

I'm hoping with the advent of downloadable games we will see the option to "try" before we buy. If we like it after an hour of play we pay out full price and we get a DRM free copy unlocked. If it sucks, we move on and the game expires and prompts us to remove it from our system. This is a DRM I could deal with.

 

[Quesa]

Just like there will always be stealing, murder, and generally nasty behavior in the world, people will never stop cracking games and hosting those files online.

Uh.. so.. we should stop trying to prevent stealing, murder and.. well I guess most people have given up on nasty behavior, but I'm holding out hope we can start hanging people for that someday soon.

I don't buy (or play) a game with obnoxious DRM, as a hardcore Blizzard fan for as long as there's been Blizzard I'm seriously debating not getting Diablo 3, but screw you pirates, screw you.

 

[Aeshi]

If he honestly thinks that offering "incentives to join the community" will ever be able to beat "get the game for free" he is either very, very naive or very, very stupid.

If stopping Piracy was that simple somebody would've done it ages ago.

 

[Zakarath]

If he honestly thinks that offering "incentives to join the community" will ever be able to beat "get the game for free" he is either very, very naive or very, very stupid.

If stopping Piracy was that simple somebody would've done it ages ago.

Except he isn't trying to stop piracy. He understands, as just about every other major studio doesn't, that you can never prevent piracy from occuring. You can only try and encourage people to buy your game, or at least not discourage them with punishing DRM.

 

[koroem]

I both love and respect this man.

I paid for Just cause 2, and I promise I WILL pay for the next one, keep it up avalanche!! ^^

Quoted for truth. This guy understands reality. The industry needs more people like him working in publishing and PR. Too many publishers act like morons and cause piracy because they don't understand anything other than how to piss off customers. Keep terrible DRM away from Just Cause 3 and you have another purchase from me. Include terrible DRM and you'll lose this sale.

 

[mrscott137]

Respect. :L

 

[Trishbot]

This man is totally, 100% right.

I feel like buying a copy of the game on PC now just to support his consumer-friendly approach to gaming.

When a studio makes you WANT to pay, you're doing good. When a company makes you REGRET your decision (thanks for nothing, Ubisoft...), you're doing it WRONG.

 

[antipunt]

Common sense is uncommon I tell ya!

 

[ph0b0s123]

'Sundberg's solution is to offer a carrot rather than wield a big DRM stick. "My solution to the problem is to start designing games for the PC player, and award PC players for being part of the community of your game and for staying connected to you - not forcing them," he said. "If you continuously tell the player that you care about their opinions, and appreciate their investment, you will lower the amount of bootleg copies." '

This is a great sentiment, but what does it actually mean in practice? Where have these carrots been allied in the past or are going to be in future to keep legit players sweet. As without this sort of substance it seems like a speech a politician would make about vague things like hope and change which never really manifest.

I brought Just Cause 2 but stopped playing it dues to the awe full control setup. One which would not allow you to have multiple controllers setup for different playing modes. You know like you would do with a PC.....