With companies like Ubisoft leading the way to a future where all PC games need to be in contact with their home servers all the time, one group is being particularly harmed by this movement: soldiers stationed in remote locations. Life on deployment is hard, psychologically demanding, and often lonely for soldiers missing their loved ones and families. Gaming is a popular pastime in American bases, but DRM can take that away.
He wanted to keep his name out of the story, but the description of his situation is one we've heard from more than a few members of our armed forces who write to us about Internet connections as a vehicle for DRM. "I'm deployed to Iraq right now, and [DRM] has ranged from annoying to unforgivable for me. I would like to let you know that Steam is pretty awesome with working with deployed folks to make sure we can access/play our games," he told Ars.
"I've had hit and miss success with some of the other download companies. Any kind of game that tries to call home, though, is generally more of a problem than it is worth. Especially ones that try to resolve your IP address with your version/purchase location."
The issue is Internet connectivity. "Net connectivity on some of the larger [Forward Operating Bases]—I'm on Victory Base, it's HUGE and very built-up—is not terrible. However, we all have severe bandwidth caps with the 'government sponsored Internet,' drops in connectivity, or we have to pay a high price for 'civilian' Internet," he explained. The price of his Internet connection? $150 a month for a 192k connection. He also points out that he doesn't want to sound like he's complaining about the situation. "There are definitely guys out there who have it much worse."
None of this is compatible with DRM that requires a constant connection
We get a lot of comments and e-mails about the threat this sort of DRM presents to our gaming troops. In terms of numbers, it's not like keeping the military from playing your games on base is going to hurt your bottom line in any major way, but when you're selling single-player games like Assassin's Creed 2 and forcing gamers to be connected at all times while playing, it effectively means that soldiers won't be able to play.
With flaky Internet connections or low bandwidth caps, a constant Internet connection is something of a luxury. Soldiers are only one group where reliable, constant Internet connections aren't common; those in rural areas or frequent travelers also find themselves with time to spend gaming but without a constant Internet connection.
This sort of DRM makes sense for a world where every device is always connected to some magically open and always-on Internet connection. That world is a very long way away, so by requiring an Internet connection at all times to play a game that isn't online itself is simply alienating an audience. This approach also represents a poor attempt to attack piracy by attacking people who want to pay you money for the game you've made impossible for them to play.
The soldier who contacted us said that his base's PX was pretty good about getting new games—Mass Effect 2 just arrived—but when Assassin's Creed 2 is released on the PC, it's doubtful it will find an audience with soldiers who know they may not be able to play the game during their downtime.
