Deus Ex: The Fall Gets Jailbreak Update

[Andy Chalk]

Deus Ex: The Fall Gets Jailbreak Update

Deus Ex: The Fall will be updated to run on jailbroken iOS devices because "it's the right thing to do."

It came to light yesterday [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125901-Deus-Ex-The-Fall-Disables-Weapons-on-Jailbroken-Devices] that the iOS-exclusive Deus Ex: The Fall was designed to keep weapons from firing on jailbroken iPhones and iPads. A pop-up message informing players that they "can't fire on jailbroken devices" made it clear that this was not a bug, it was DRM.

The reaction to this unpleasant surprise was about what you'd expect, especially since neither Eidos Montreal nor Square Enix had seen fit to warn buyers that the game wouldn't run on jailbroken hardware. Responding to that outrage, Square Enix said today that it will issue a patch to remove the restriction - not because it was a bad idea from the get-go, but because it failed to give people the heads-up about it.

"We have not been clear in our communication earlier this week when we launched Deus Ex: The Fall. We did not state clearly that the game would not support jailbroken devices and so we will be switching this off via an update, so that all the supported iOS devices will be able to play the game in the near future," Square Enix said in a statement.

"We feel it is the right thing to do in this situation and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused," it continued. "No customer should be out of pocket when we were not clear from the start, so we'll get the game updated as soon as possible so that everyone who wants to play Deus Ex: The Fall can do so regardless of whether their device is jailbroken or not."

The company didn't say when the update will be available but promised to announce its release via "Eidos Montreal Community channels."

Source: Penny Arcade Report [http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/remember-jailbreaking-your-iphone-is-legal-square-enix-to-remove-deus-ex-dr]


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[Kargathia]

So it's going to take longer for the company to update it, than it took for a few anonymous enthusiasts to release a reverse-engineered crack?

I'm sure there's some valid explanation, but they still look bad.

 

[Mark D. Stroyer]

It's actually just a way to encourage players to do a pure stealth run. Can't shoot your way out if you fail!

 

[CriticalMiss]

How nice of them to fix the problem that they created. Maybe 2013 will be the 'Year of the U-Turn' in the games industry.

 

[KeyMaster45]

So it's going to take longer for the company to update it, than it took for a few anonymous enthusiasts to release a reverse-engineered crack?

I'm sure there's some valid explanation, but they still look bad.

The valid explanation is that Apple's approval process for patches and apps takes days sometimes weeks to be completed. It's quite possible they've already got the patch ready to go, but Apple's jungle of red tape will keep it from showing up on the store for quite some time.

 

[JarinArenos]

At least they're fixing it, I guess. Would be nicer if companies would stop throwing sh- ... excrement at the wall to see what sticks (doesn't make a big PR mess) though...

 

[kailus13]

What exactly were they hoping to accomplish in the first place? You'd figure that after releasing on a single platform that they'd want to keep as many potential customers as possible.

 

[VonKlaw]

Can't help but notice that they haven't actually said they regret putting such a stupid thing in the game in the first place, merely that they're sorry for not telling anyone about the stupid thing first.

This whole thing just feels like corporate shill-ness to the max - "Oh, our Apple masters demanded that this doesn't work on devices that have been jailbroken - legally - because they are bad bad people. WE OBEY."

 

[-Dragmire-]

They say they weren't clear about it... did they say it at all?

There's quite a difference between, "We didn't tell you clearly." and, "We didn't tell you".

 

[Oskuro]

What I fail to see anywhere are the words "we won't do this in the future".

They are apologizing for not warning players beforehand of the limitation. But from the statement I'm guessing they won't drop this practice, but just add a "won't work with jailbroken devices" line somewhere on the EULA so no one can complain anymore.

 

[Da Orky Man]

What I fail to see anywhere are the words "we won't do this in the future".

They are apologizing for not warning players beforehand of the limitation. But from the statement I'm guessing they won't drop this practice, but just add a "won't work with jailbroken devices" line somewhere on the EULA so no one can complain anymore.

EULA's aren't valid in a significant amount of the world. Not sure about the US, but I'm aware that the EU has established that EULA's are basically null and void, and I'm fairly sure China did something equivalent.

 

[Abomination]

The entire thing seems pointless from the get go.

They won't allow it on jailbroken devices because, I guess, they don't want pirates to get their product... so they'll only allow it on stock phones. But it's not like someone's going to buy a whole new iPhone just to work their game on it in a legal manner, so they've just cut out a potential customer for no reason at all.

They're not preventing lost sales to piracy. They're just preventing piracy while preventing actual sales to individuals with jail broken handhelds.

It's like they're burning the entire farmstead down to stop the barn from catching on fire.

 

[direkiller]

The entire thing seems pointless from the get go.

They won't allow it on jailbroken devices because, I guess, they don't want pirates to get their product... so they'll only allow it on stock phones. But it's not like someone's going to buy a whole new iPhone just to work their game on it in a legal manner, so they've just cut out a potential customer for no reason at all.

They're not preventing lost sales to piracy. They're just preventing piracy while preventing actual sales to individuals with jail broken handhelds.

It's like they're burning the entire farmstead down to stop the barn from catching on fire.

Yea Im a bit confused on this aswell

if a unofficial patch already exists fixing this I assume you can pirate the game already or will soon.
So they managed to stop 0% of pirates and cut off potential customers.

Worse still piracy becomes the only option to play the game for some people so this is more likely to increase piracy numbers.


so yea
Why did they think this was a good idea?

 

[Slash2x]

The entire thing seems pointless from the get go.

They won't allow it on jailbroken devices because, I guess, they don't want pirates to get their product... so they'll only allow it on stock phones. But it's not like someone's going to buy a whole new iPhone just to work their game on it in a legal manner, so they've just cut out a potential customer for no reason at all.

They're not preventing lost sales to piracy. They're just preventing piracy while preventing actual sales to individuals with jail broken handhelds.

It's like they're burning the entire farmstead down to stop the barn from catching on fire.

Yea Im a bit confused on this aswell

if a unofficial patch already exists fixing this I assume you can pirate the game already or will soon.
So they managed to stop 0% of pirates and cut off potential customers.

Worse still piracy becomes the only option to play the game for some people so this is more likely to increase piracy numbers.


so yea
Why did they think this was a good idea?

Because they are fucking idiots. There was a hack for the problem about 6 hours after the game came out.... So their "protection" made people have to get a hacked version of the game, EVEN IF THEY PAID FOR IT! So to discourage piracy you punish your legitimate customers into pirating the game or it is STILL not playable................ This has to be the most mentally deficient DRM move ever.

 

[Seydaman]

I think Ubisoft still holds that title.

 

[Doom972]

They pretty much admitted that it was a stupid idea by fixing it instead of refunding those who got it and have jailbroken devices.

 

[Baresark]

Haha, yeah, because jailbroken devices are only for piracy. Idiots. The people who make these decisions are morons. Not that this game actually stands a chance at being any good at all. Good luck to them, but I'm a bit bitter that they sequel everyone asked for came on a device no one wants to game on. So little respect for Square Enix anymore.

 

[Antsh]

Haha, yeah, because jailbroken devices are only for piracy. Idiots. The people who make these decisions are morons. Not that this game actually stands a chance at being any good at all. Good luck to them, but I'm a bit bitter that they sequel everyone asked for came on a device no one wants to game on. So little respect for Square Enix anymore.

Are they able to detect if the game was not purchased or only that it is being executed on a jailbroken device?

Meh, either way, they have the full right to add these restrictions if they like. They should be up front about it, though, so it is a nice gesture that they're removing the restriction since it wasn't disclosed.

Really no different than Apple dropping official support on a device that you jailbreak.