Ubi Blames Assassin's Creed II DRM Woes On Server Attacks

Ubisoft has stated the Assassin's Creed II DRM problems preventing some users from playing the games were caused by "attacks" on its servers.

In a tweet, the publisher revealed the attack happened between 2.30pm and 9.00pm Paris time.

[Dorjan]

I hate single player DRM frazum frazum

[Leord]

See, this just shows that if there's a server problem due to hacks or anything else, DRM customers are the ones who suffer.

There will always be black hats out there, that's not the issue! The issue is DRM.

Get rid of the sheit!

[darkmurder]

Doodle Ridden Mess

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

For pirates, the vast majority of them have high speed internet.

The people that are practically forced to buy games without an alternative is the people that don't have internet access! Ooppps!!!

[Maticus]

Wow, that's a score for the hackers isn't it? Bastards.

[Cogo]

I can't believe it's that hard to DDoS a game server or three...

[Malfurion]

What the hell do these people get out of it, ruining people's weekends. Well done, yeah, you're a hero.

[Leord]

To be fair, it does show the weaknesses of the DRM system. As I said above, there will always be "bad" hackers.

People might understand now that the only ones who lose on having DRM are people BUYING the games.

You don't see pirates whining about this kind of stuff.

In fact, if you hacked your copy of the game, you wouldn't have had the trouble either.

I am not saying pirating or hacking is good at all, just that DRM is worse than all.

[PrimordialSoupBase]

Sorry but the people who bought Assassin's Creed II and SH5, whether aware or not of the DRM, deserve this. It's a wake up call of what's to come when, on a rainy day their internet goes down, and they can't play the damn game.

Their purchase proves they don't realise how serious this is. Now they do.

[STK026]

I wouldn't go as far as saying they deserve it though. They wanted to play AC2 on PC, and were willing to support Ubisoft despite the DRM they used, and the price tag they put. They didn't have to suffer because hackers wanted to show Ubisoft how wrong they were to use such restrictive methods to counter piracy. Ubisoft made a mistake (In my opinion), and Ubisoft alone should have to pay for it, not the honest customers who want to play a game they paid for. Comparing this to losing the internet is nonsense, considering one is caused by people with or without the intention to cause damage, while on the other hand you have a natural phenomenon. It would be like saying an earthquake and a war is the same, it kills people and devastates the land.

So, I'm not saying we should only blame the hackers responsible for this, but I don't think it's fair to say that honest customers got what they deserved.

[PrimordialSoupBase]

I didn't say they were the same thing. What they experienced over the weekend is an example of what's to come, be it weather or a hacker. The only way to prevent DRM like this is for people to keep away from it and not show their support by buying the games. It's the only leverage the paying customer has, and they are putting their own platform in a choke hold by buying into this.

[AndyA]

Ironic that those playing a cracked version of the game are not experiencing issues.

[thetamer]

If anything this means that cracked games are the way forward. If you're paying for something that doesn't work, what's the point? Somebody needs to hire those crackers to work on DRM.

[kraze07]

Ubi blames the hackers. I blame the DRM. Legit gamers blame the pirates. We can all point fingers, but everyone knows the problem lies with the DRM.

[Fyzzu]

It's a thorny issue. The problem is that no DRM is infallible, and I suspect that some of the more intrusive types really do put people off from buying it. Compare to games that have no DRM - like, famously, Jedi Knight II, or even more niche titles from places like Stardock - which sold bucketloads.

[Smkt]

or maybe it's the piracy?

[BeaArthur]

kraze07...agree, typically I blame the hackers exclusively but there is enough blame to go around on this one. Especially considering Ubisoft hosed the legit players in order to try and stick it to the hackers. Piracy is a part of PC gaming, either deal with it or stop making PC games.

[Model]

someone should sue ubi

[AliTheBrit19]

Welcome to PC gaming

Jump In, and Play Beyond

Console Gaming FTW!

[Charmers]

Ah call me picky but I prefer a platform that doesn't seize up just because it can't tell when a year is a leap year or not and prevents me playing EVERY game.

[FantasyStar]

lol, that was a good one Charmers.

[FragGen]

@7.1: Right, you prefer one that can seize up for any reason whatsoever without warning. I (heart) the PC but DO NOT even go there on the stability argument vs consoles, you will be pwned.

[Charmers]

Then you have problems with your PC if it seizes up for "no apparent reason". I run two PC's here 24/7 and have never had a problem with the pc "seizing up for no apparent reason". I guess it's like the old saying "A bad workman blames his tools".

As for you saying consoles are stable ?????? erm did you miss the whole RROD mess ? did you miss the YLOD mess ? How about the firmwares bricking consoles ? . The fact is consoles are not exactly beacons of stability.

[Harry190]

I picked my axe yesterday night and paid a little visit to their server farm.

[jjesso1993]

god what was the point in this drm it was cracked days before assasins creed 2 offically came out then they denined it had be cracked god drm just makes me want pirate the game.

[dkgshiz]

This is just going to ruin PC gaming. Developers will eventually realize PC gaming is a lost cause and eventually drop all support for it.

[JsonHenry]

All the while the Pirates are playing their games without a problem and the people who legally obtained their games are suffering the fallout.

[CaulkSlap]

Paying customers suffer, cracked torrent downloads keep on playing. How do they not see something wrong with that business model?

[radphil]

if no one else has called them out earlier on this situation.

They first said that the servers were down to overwhelming demand on the PC games, and then they said "It's due to hackers that hit our servers it were down".

How much more PR bull are they going to actually spin here? =\

They know the DRM is frowned upon from people, yet don't want to admit it.

[hazelamy]

any system where buying the game isn't enough to actually let you play it is wrong in my book, one reason i cannot stand steam, it's ok for downloadable titles, but i don't want to be forced to use it for disc titles.
pirates don't have to deal with this bullshit, this will increasing piracy not reduce it.