Ubisoft Uses Internet Crack To Get Around Its Own DRM

from the ah,-the-irony dept

Fri, Jul 18th 2008 1:52pm — Mike Masnick

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

30 Comments

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Lostalaska, 18 Jul 2008 @ 2:11pm

Really!?
Points and laughs...
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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!
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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!
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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.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jul 2008 @ 3:01pm

The torts shine bright, all through the night...
(clap, clap, clap)
Deep in the heart of Texas!
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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
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Runicrules, 18 Jul 2008 @ 3:48pm

Smooth...
Extremely classy... genius even, i'd say it's ju-*cracks up laughing*
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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?
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sores, 18 Jul 2008 @ 4:22pm

sores :( not again!
ubisoft gave me sores :(
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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!
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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.
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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.
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Billy, 18 Jul 2008 @ 8:20pm

Shut up.
You're all idiots.
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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.
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TrustNo1, 18 Jul 2008 @ 8:32pm

All hail RELOADED!
Gotta love those No CD cracks! DRM free since the Amiga...
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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)
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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.
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John Wilson, 19 Jul 2008 @ 10:29am

Where's MLS???
I guess this is something he'd consider "moral". :-)

ttfn

John
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Jul 2008 @ 2:12pm

If it was my code I need to be payed for my crack Lol
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Splatter, 28 Jul 2008 @ 6:50pm

ironic, no more words to say this.
if my english is bad, sorry i`m chilean
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dick, 28 Jul 2008 @ 6:54pm

fuck you
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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.
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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.
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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
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دردشة, 5 Jul 2009 @ 11:28am

Thank You
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شات صوتى, 17 Jul 2009 @ 7:51am

hi
Thank You

http://cam.h22h.com
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your mom, 31 Dec 2010 @ 11:17am

HA
and ubi learns that piracy can have it advantages
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