Starcraft II Lead Designer Dustin Browder has revealed to IncGamers that the game will include a DRM authentication process.
This, coupled with Blizzard’s decision to omit LAN mode from Starcraft II, seemingly forms the foundation for the developer’s new anti-piracy measures.
“You need to connect once to install the game,” said Browder. Additionally a player will be asked to enter their Battle.net account details or create a new account during the installation process.
Although this is arguably DRM in its mildest form, those players without a connection or who refuse to open up a Battle.net account will have access to a relatively limited single player experience. “You can [play single player offline], but we don’t encourage it.” Browder said. “We totally allow it if you want to do it,” but the point is “you don’t get access a lot of the stuff.”
Although over 80 000 Starcraft fans have now signed an online petition appealing to Blizzard to incorporate LAN into Starcraft II, Browder says that Piracy is not the primary reason for the omission.
“The really big reason for looking at this is we’re trying to create an integrated experience. When you log into StarCraft you’re logging into Battle.Net. When you sit down to play, when you’re playing solo play – hopefully – you’ll play on Battle.net with us. You’ll have access to your friends list [and] you’ll have access to your achievements.”
However noble or inclusive this policy may appear to the greater gaming community, the reality is that constant and affordable internet access with acceptable latencies is currently a luxury in countries such as South Africa.
Although this may slowly be changing the reality is that unless Blizzard hosts a server locally, Starcraft’s Battle.net policy may prove problematic for local gamers.
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