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Mass Effect to feature silly copy protection

Wednesday, 07 May 2008 11:29
Why the long face, friend? Oh, you've just tried to authenticate Mass Effect again...fair enough
Mass Effect developer BioWare has revealed the PC version of the game will feature a copy protection that uses online authentication to verify the legitimacy of the game.

The much-maligned SecuROM product will re-authenticate the game online after ten days of use, a similar system to that employed by BioShock (and, yes, it was riddled with problems, preventing hundreds, if not thousands of players from playing in the first days after release).

With PC gaming in a relatively precarious state at the moment, in terms of sales figures and so on, such a move by BioWare is likely to antagonise a substantial number of potential players. Already forums are filling with "This is why I bought the game on 360" posts, and it is easy to understand why.

Given the system will doubtless be cracked by dedicated pirate groups within days of release, it is a gamble from BioWare to include the SecuROM activation system. Some see this as penalising legitimate users, while pirates just get a crack and avoid all the hassle.

Nevertheless, BioWare remain steadfast on the issue. Chris Priestly, community communications coordinator at BioWare, posted this statement on the official Mass Effect forums: "After the first activation, SecuROM requires that it re-check with the server within ten days in order to revalidate the CD key.

"If the check is not successfully performed within the ten-day period, Mass Effect will not run until an online check is successful."

Mass Effect will, therefore, require an active Internet connection due to this. The game can, also, only be activated three times, with the re-authentication working on a calendar cycle.

Basically, go on holiday for a fortnight and bam, no more Mass Effect for you. At least, that is how people are seeing it. It would seem foolish for this to be the case, but only time will tell.

As well as this, EA have not specificied how long they intend to support the game. Theoretically, if they decide to shut down the SecuROM servers, not one legitimate purchaser of the game would be able to continue playing ... without getting a crack.

Mass Effect for the PC will be released in Europe on June 6th.


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