Ubisoft Uses Internet Crack To Get Around Its Own DRM

from the ah,-the-irony dept

Ubisoft, one of the larger video gaming companies out there, has a somewhat troubled history of overburdening its games with awful DRM. And, as with most DRM systems, the people it tends to hurt most are the legitimate purchasers who somehow run afoul of whatever DRM rules are in place. In this case, the Ubisoft game Rainbow Six: Vegas2 (R6V2) had some DRM that would check to see if the physical media (CD-ROM) was in the drive before it would let you play. Unfortunately, Ubisoft also offered the game as a download via IGN's Direct2Drive store. They had set it up so this would work even without the actual CD, but a recent patch didn't take that into account, and broke the game for anyone who had purchased it via D2D.

So, what does Ubisoft do? It releases a patch that isn't actually a "patch" but a well known crack that it downloaded off the internet. As TorrentFreak points out at the link, according to the way companies like Ubisoft look at things, it "stole" someone else's code and passed it off as its own. And, of course, there's the somewhat delicious irony that it didn't just "steal" any code for its own use, but the very code that companies like Ubisoft insist is evil, immoral and illegal. Except, of course, when Ubisoft is in desperate need of it, apparently.
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Filed Under: crack, drm, piracy, video games
Companies: ubisoft


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  • identicon
    Lostalaska, 18 Jul 2008 @ 2:11pm

    Really!?

    Points and laughs...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Jul 2008 @ 2:23pm

    OK so now that a crime has been committed, a lawsuit MUST be filed. In Civil Court... POST HASTE!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Jul 2008 @ 2:35pm

    Is UBISoft Publicly traded?

    Speaks volumes to the quality of delivery teams at Ubisoft. And if the Developers had difficulty re-compiling a solution without the DRM technology in time for the delivery date, they are top notch too.

    Just a team of winners all the way around!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Roflcopter, 18 Jul 2008 @ 2:51pm

    HAHA LOL!

    So they broke their own game to sell it? If this doesn't show why DRM is useless, I dont know what does.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Jul 2008 @ 3:01pm

    The torts shine bright, all through the night...
    (clap, clap, clap)
    Deep in the heart of Texas!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    wasnt me, 18 Jul 2008 @ 3:46pm

    poetic (i don't know about the justice part but poetic)

    or as they say in the gaming world: Owned

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Runicrules, 18 Jul 2008 @ 3:48pm

    Smooth...

    Extremely classy... genius even, i'd say it's ju-*cracks up laughing*

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    wasnt me, 18 Jul 2008 @ 3:48pm

    oh wait, isn't circumventing DRM illegal? i wonder how that will work? who will sue them and collect the damages?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    sores, 18 Jul 2008 @ 4:22pm

    sores :( not again!

    ubisoft gave me sores :(

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Where Credit Is Due, 18 Jul 2008 @ 4:25pm

    Time To Give Credit

    There are some great people in the world that make no-CD/DVD cracks available for all of us, even those of us that buy games. Putting a disk in the drive to play is not acceptable for most people and these 'crackers', whom I would call bright programmers, deserve thanks from all users as well as the companies that make money selling the discs that we can install with and then put in the closet thanks to the individuals that give us the no-media cracks.

    Thanks and thanks again. We love you, whoever you are!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Trevlac, 18 Jul 2008 @ 5:05pm

    I recently moved and all of my PC games are in a storage container. My PC games are still installed. So I was feced with two choices: drag everything out of storage just to find my game CDs to play them or download a bunch of no CD cracks.

    I chose the latter.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    mslade, 18 Jul 2008 @ 5:34pm

    This is why...

    I never buy Ubi games. Oh, I play Ubi games, but I never buy them. I'll leave it at that.

    Ubi's DRM is one half of the problem, their lack of support (on par with most game vendors) is the other half.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Billy, 18 Jul 2008 @ 8:22pm

      Re: This is why...

      That makes no sense. You can get around the big, bad, evil DRM (oh wait, it just checks for the disc? BOO HOO!) whether you buy the game or not. And stealing the game doesn't make the support situation any better. You losers just like to make up excuses to make yourselves feel better about what you know is wrong. Grow up.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Seagato, 19 Jul 2008 @ 10:29am

        Re: Re: This is why...some should lurk moar.

        "That makes no sense. You can get around the big, bad, evil DRM (oh wait, it just checks for the disc? BOO HOO!) whether you buy the game or not."

        Do tell how someone who bought a digital download of the game is supposed to let a check run for a disk that doesn't exist.

        "And stealing the game doesn't make the support situation any better."

        As with any overly restrictive DRM scheme, it was those that BOUGHT the download that had the problems. Could say it was Ubisoft guilty of perpetrating theft (or fraud) upon customers who purchased a defective product. That would be more accurate anyway, since infringement isn't theft. Illegal, but not theft.

        "You losers just like to make up excuses to make yourselves feel better about what you know is wrong."

        Who are you addressing here? Ubisoft and other content purveyors who use instantly devaluing crap DRM that prevents paying customers from using what they bought? Makes just as much sense.

        "Grow up."

        Be less 12. Neener.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Sal, 19 Jul 2008 @ 12:08pm

          Re: Re: Re: This is why...some should lurk moar.

          I think he was talking about the guy that said he plays, but not buys Ubi games. I think he has a very good point. While I think it is stupid and hypocritical to steal a drm crack and sell it off as a patch, that is no reason to not pay for a game that cost a lot of money to make.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Seagato, 19 Jul 2008 @ 6:11pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re: This is why...some should lurk moar.

            Yah, I know. ;)

            As someone who's paid for games only to get screwed over by DRM (as in not being able to play the game I paid for), I definitely understand the resentment, however. I DO know that they cost money to make and distribute and support, that's why I've always bought. But they don't get my money anymore. I don't 'pirate', I just don't buy.

            And it's the fault of publishers that use stupid DRM, not the fault of pirates, that I'm a ex-customer. I'm sick of hearing the 'cause and effect' crap. I paid but I got the shaft. Does not compute.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        mslade, 1 Aug 2008 @ 10:34pm

        Re: Re: This is why...

        You're confused. If the problem was having to insert a disc, I wouldn't gripe. The problem is that Ubi's DRM is generally laden with bugs and requires you to jump through hoops, at the end of which you may or may not be able to play the game you paid for.

        Or you get a hacked exe and magically everything works.

        To put it in perspective, I've cracked legally purchased copies of the few Ubi games I've owned just so I could play what I paid for.

        You can say I'm contributing to the support problem, but it's a "chicken or the egg" question and I know that in my case, they started it. I buy (legally) just about everything I use. There are only a few companies (Ubi is one) who I would never pay another dime to.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Billy, 18 Jul 2008 @ 8:20pm

    Shut up.

    You're all idiots.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    TrustNo1, 18 Jul 2008 @ 8:32pm

    All hail RELOADED!

    Gotta love those No CD cracks! DRM free since the Amiga...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Quibbly, 19 Jul 2008 @ 7:56am

    Crack has a flaw

    I purchased Rainbow Six Vegas 2 from D2D and was unable to play the game. Reason? When the game loads, it required me to install update number 3. Well, the game would not load for me. If you look on D2D site and UBI, there is no mention of the error, nor any solution. You have to send an email to both. D2D said I needed to contact UBI. UBI had me download a file and yes, it was the crack, but the crack was only for patch2, not three. So yet again, the game wouldn't load.

    This is very depressing that a game developer can't develope a program to fix this issue, so has you download a crack (which in it's on course, is a security issue). The crack is not for the correct verstion.

    Now, back to the crack and the security issue behind it. Many of these no CD cracks are loaded with trojans, keyloggers, virus's and spyware. Wow, after the crack, my system went to shit and was now infected with a keylogger.

    Thanks UBI, you guys rock!!!! (not)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    John Wilson, 19 Jul 2008 @ 10:29am

    Where's MLS???

    I guess this is something he'd consider "moral". :-)

    ttfn

    John

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    James, 19 Jul 2008 @ 6:38pm

    A similar situation has happened before.

    When the Unreal series of games was released in a collection, Unreal 2 still required a CD check to play the game. All of the other games in the series don't have a CD check. For Unreal 2, the publisher used a no CD crack in the collection in place of the original game EXE. The crack can be found on many game WAREZ sites.

    The developer of Unreal 2 is no longer around, which is way they had to go this route. EPIC Games is the developer of all the other games in the collection, and released official patches that remove the CD check, usually after the first year or so.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 21 Jul 2008 @ 2:12pm

    If it was my code I need to be payed for my crack Lol

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Splatter, 28 Jul 2008 @ 6:50pm

    ironic, no more words to say this.
    if my english is bad, sorry i`m chilean

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    dick, 28 Jul 2008 @ 6:54pm

    fuck you

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Sam, 14 Aug 2008 @ 5:18pm

    Rabbid Rabbit Book

    hi. i am a fan of the Ubisoft game Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 and am interested in wanting 2 know if i had your permission to write a book about raising/caring for a Rabbid, from catching or finding one to going through tips and pointers on raising one. if you like the idea please let me know and contact me at the email given above or my cell : 330-606-4762. Thank You.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 16 Nov 2008 @ 10:37am

    Hahah what they dont know is that pirates can crack there crappy snoopware shit before the release so i hope they go bankrupt

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    دردشة, 5 Jul 2009 @ 11:28am

    Thank You

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    شات صوتى, 17 Jul 2009 @ 7:51am

    hi

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    your mom, 31 Dec 2010 @ 11:17am

    HA

    and ubi learns that piracy can have it advantages

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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