An open letter to CD Projekt, or Why I Cancelled My Preorder Over DRM
I have been eagerly looking forward to The Witcher 2 for quite some time; it was easily my most anticipated game of the year (well, apart from TESV, but that's way off). I've had it preordered off amazon for months. I even upgraded my PC to be able to play it, comforted by the fact CD Projekt has in the past made numerous statements about how they wouldn't put DRM in their retail releases. And now, that has changed.http://www.thewitcher.com/images/newsletter/TW2_FAQ_April2011.pdfWhy you would go back on your word after so many statements slamming DRM, I don't know. But I do know this: I refuse to buy any game with any form of DRM, be it Steam, online activation, limited installs, or whatever. You are only punishing the consumer with this sort of nonsense. Pirates get around it within days, if not hours. The reason cited in the above-linked press release, to ensure the first people playing the game are those who paid for it, is complete nonsense. How many games with DRM have been pirated before they were even released? Tons. At the very latest games are cracked the day of release, which ensures pirates get to play on the same day. So the excuse given in the press release is utter hogwash.Online activation in particular angers me, as it potentially hampers the consumer from installing their game a few years down the road. Sure, CD Projekt is doing well now, but any number of things could happen in the future. Game companies go bankrupt all the time. They get swallowed up by larger companies that drop support for older titles. Servers go down, as do phone lines. Natural disasters happen. There are a million things that could happen that could cause someone to be unable to activate their game. As such, having any form of online activation for a single player game is completely unacceptable. If I buy a retail copy of a single player game, I should be able to put the disc in my computer, install it, and play it. Period. I shouldn't have to register, I shouldn't have to go online. You claim in your letter "registering legal copies will be problem free" - I don't care. It's the principle of the matter. Contrary to what publishers and developers might think, once I buy a piece of software, I own that copy of the software.If the tone of this post is angry, well, it's because I am angry. Furious, is more like it. This kind of crap is why I play on consoles more and more. I know when I put a game in my xbox or whatever that it'll play without these kinds of problems. Companies claim DRM is to punish pirates, but it's not, at least not completely; it's really about squashing the used resale market. After all, games with DRM can't be traded in and resold.Congratulations on your hypocrisy, CD Projekt. You just lost a sale, as well as a supporter.
I have been eagerly looking forward to The Witcher 2 for quite some time; it was easily my most anticipated game of the year (well, apart from TESV, but that's way off). I've had it preordered off amazon for months. I even upgraded my PC to be able to play it, comforted by the fact CD Projekt has in the past made numerous statements about how they wouldn't put DRM in their retail releases. And now, that has changed.http://www.thewitcher.com/images/newsletter/TW2_FAQ_April2011.pdfWhy you would go back on your word after so many statements slamming DRM, I don't know. But I do know this: I refuse to buy any game with any form of DRM, be it Steam, online activation, limited installs, or whatever. You are only punishing the consumer with this sort of nonsense. Pirates get around it within days, if not hours. The reason cited in the above-linked press release, to ensure the first people playing the game are those who paid for it, is complete nonsense. How many games with DRM have been pirated before they were even released? Tons. At the very latest games are cracked the day of release, which ensures pirates get to play on the same day. So the excuse given in the press release is utter hogwash.Online activation in particular angers me, as it potentially hampers the consumer from installing their game a few years down the road. Sure, CD Projekt is doing well now, but any number of things could happen in the future. Game companies go bankrupt all the time. They get swallowed up by larger companies that drop support for older titles. Servers go down, as do phone lines. Natural disasters happen. There are a million things that could happen that could cause someone to be unable to activate their game. As such, having any form of online activation for a single player game is completely unacceptable. If I buy a retail copy of a single player game, I should be able to put the disc in my computer, install it, and play it. Period. I shouldn't have to register, I shouldn't have to go online. You claim in your letter "registering legal copies will be problem free" - I don't care. It's the principle of the matter. Contrary to what publishers and developers might think, once I buy a piece of software, I own that copy of the software.If the tone of this post is angry, well, it's because I am angry. Furious, is more like it. This kind of crap is why I play on consoles more and more. I know when I put a game in my xbox or whatever that it'll play without these kinds of problems. Companies claim DRM is to punish pirates, but it's not, at least not completely; it's really about squashing the used resale market. After all, games with DRM can't be traded in and resold.Congratulations on your hypocrisy, CD Projekt. You just lost a sale, as well as a supporter.
