Devil's Advocate: Why Ubisoft's DRM worked

I'd like to introduce you to our new friend, the Devil's Advocate. It's the DA's job to defend in the indefensible, to not despise the despicable. He's here to present the other point of view - the one that has pissed you off. And what better way to get the giant ball of hate rolling than to tell us all why Ubisoft's DRM was a fantastic success, and why the company did the right thing when they implemented it. Prepare for thine blood to boil... and possibly to gain a little insight into the other side's point of view.

So you hate Ubisoft’s controversial DRM scheme. So you think it’s an invasive inconvenience with no significant benefit for consumers. Okay, that’s cool – but who cares?

The thing about Ubi’s new DRM is that it doesn’t matter how much you hate it – it WORKED. Though an incomplete crack popped up a day after release, Assassin’s Creed 2 was not properly hacked for more than a month. In an industry where hi-profile releases are frequently pirated before they go on sale, that is an incredible success.