Assassin’s Creed escapes DRM’s clutches

Ubisoft has decided not to bundle its controversial always-on DRM with upcoming release Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.

The confirmation was issued to PC gaming blog Rock Paper Shotgun, which goes on to speculate that the decision could indicate a strategic withdrawal from the system.

Always-on DRM has become somewhat of a bugbear for PC gamers in recent years, with Ubisoft being one of its greatest defenders.

It requires that anyone playing a title that uses on PC remain connected to the internet throughout their play session, even if playing solo or offline.

In theory this isn’t a huge issue. After all, how many PCs equipped to run such games are not online? But that all goes out of the windows should a publisher’s DRM servers go down (or are taken down by hackers, as has happened to Ubisoft before), effectively blocking owners of legitimate software from accessing their property.

Critics of such DRM argue that such inconvenience will push PC gamers toward piracy, as illegal copies of the game are not blighted by such technical hindrances.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations will be released in the UK on November 15th.