CD Projekt: We Will Never Use DRM Again

[Lily]

Today, at GDC 2012, the studio behind the popular RPG The WItcher 2 says that they will never use DRM on any of their titles again. They went on to say that the Securom protection on The WItcher 2 was cracked and distributed in less than two hours, even though the GOG version was distributed DRM free. They were quite surprised -- they expected the GOG version to be the one getting pirated. DRM just does not work they say -- it hinders people's enjoyment of the game, and makes zero difference to piracy.

In other news, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the sky is blue and water is wet.

 

[Foxi4]

CD Projekt, I love you to bits. You're the frontier of the Polish gaming industry and you have your hearts in the right place - that's a great decision!

 

[Click This]

Now, if EA were to follow their example...

 

[YayMii]

Well, at least someone in this industry knows what's going on. Kudos, CD Projekt.

 

[Rydian]

Now, if EA were to follow their example...

Hell would freeze over.

 

[DarkStriker]

What DRM did the witcher have? Something stupud like the Assassin Creed one?

 

[MarkDarkness]

What DRM did the witcher have? Something stupud like the Assassin Creed one?

No, it's not that Assassin's Creed blasphemy. It's standard SecuROM bullshit... it installs unrequested software on your computer, and in the past it has been known to make DVD drivers completely unusable (permanently) due to bugs.

 

[notmeanymore]

Saying "you can't pirate this" is just a challenge to all hackers. Some don't even care about the piracy, and just like cracking.
But not using DRM puts a whole lot of people out of a job. Licences should be much easier to manage than the crazy DRM systems we have now.

 

[KamiKazeKenji]

I'm glad CD Projekt realizes the obvious, that which many other developers and publishers refuse to come to terms with. DRM is nothing more than a hindrance, both to the end-user and the industry itself.

 

[Gahars]

This is certainly a step in the right direction. Plus, it gets them extra publicity, so it's a win-win for everyone, really.

 

[the_randomizer]

Now, if EA were to follow their example...

For EA to stop using retarded DRM is like expecting Ubisoft to be intelligent. The people that work at CD Projekt are geniuses.

 

[deathking]

Look how lovely and nice they are..NOW
after they tried to blackmail pirates with legal threats if they didnt pay 20X the value of their game - so if you torrented it they sent a $1200 bill to you or you would go to court
they now realize blackmail and drm doesnt work,

 

[Bladexdsl]

Now, if EA were to follow their example...

and ubi...

 

[Hyro-Sama]

I got two words for ya kid.

Bullshit.

 

[Midna]

Now, if EA were to follow their example...

For EA to stop using retarded DRM is like expecting Ubisoft to be intelligent. The people that work at CD Projekt are geniuses.

Geniuses? They just have a hint of common sense.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

Not only does it not work... but they have to pay these companies to do it.

I honestly wonder why these companies paid for this stuff for so long... It literally is a waste of money.

 

[Qtis]

The reason why I like console games. No bullsh* need to have a load of different measures preventing piratism. Good to see other firms going the route of not f'ing with the people who actually buy the games. DRM prevents pirating on the general level (between friends for example), but truly doesn't stop it on the internet level. Also DRM hinders the possibilities of using the game like it was supposed to :I

 

[qlum]

While drm doesn't stop piracy it could still have a use. First of all onlineplay it stops it still stops or hinders pirates there and second it prevents people from just installing the game and giving the gamedisk to a friend to also install the game on his pc. Although I doubt that the second part is really important and the first part just relies on registering a cd key in a database.

 

[Ziggy Zigzagoon]

THis just begs: why did they not pirate the GOG version?

 

[T-hug]

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings on Xbox 360 is a day 1 purchase for me.
Never played the series and the trailer sold me right away.
I am not big on PC gaming but after reading this statement all I can say is congrats to this studio.