Ubisoft's controversial 'always on' PC DRM hacked

25 April 2010
Ubisoft's always-on digital rights management solution, dubbed the "Online Services Network," has apparently been circumvented by hackers. News of its arrival on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks began circulating in places like social-news site Reddit Wednesday morning.
The DRM, which now ships with every new PC game made by Ubisoft, requires that gamers have a constant connection to the Internet in order to play their games. The security feature caused a large backlash by users for its inclusion in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed 2 title, which was released last month.

The hack itself removes the DRM entirely and is being claimed by a consortium known as Skid Row. It requires users to download and install a modified version of the game's executable file to their computers. These modified game files, alongside a crack that can be applied to a retail version of the game, were uploaded to various file-sharing sites late Tuesday evening.

Attached to the "readme" file that comes with the hacked content (which can be found here), Skid Row alerted other hackers that the group's methods were safeguarded against reverse-engineering in order to fend off competing hacking groups and Ubisoft itself.

Skid Row also left a note for Ubisoft directly, telling the company to spend less time on its DRM and more on the actual game play:

"Thank you Ubisoft, this was quiete [sic] a challenge for us, but nothing stops the leading force from doing what we do. Next time focus on the game and not on the DRM. It was probably horrible for all legit users. We just make their lifes [sic] easier."

Prior to Skid Row's release, there has been a hack that emulated the back and forth of Ubisoft's DRM servers to the game. However, it did not work for all users or localizations of the game. In the readme file, Skid Row claimed its new solution "cannot be compared to that."

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3 comments

  • Comment Link XGoldX Sunday, 25 April 2010 15:04 posted by XGoldX

    Great! As I'm not a "fan" of thievery more often i see it as only "right" solution. I'm not saying it's good but how many times i was using original software with cracks provided by razor or reloaded. This whole DRM is a fucking joke. How the fuck they can sell ma a product with so many limitations that i can barely use it and call it fair. Should i be grateful and worship creators / producers that in their infinite greatness i can use software i payed for? Or wait and beg for patch that will hopefully fix problems with protection software. Hopefully this idiots will understand that there is no software that can protect them, there is no holy grail of protection. Sooner idiots on top will understand that, sooner we get better products without that fucking stupid unrestricted protection of their goods that in my opinion are against the law. They can do anything they wish to make us life harder but do smallest thing that don't suit in great honest protections against thievery and you are a fucking robber so demoralized that best place for you is prison and cell with a murderer or better a gas chamber. Ironically PIRACY is our last line of defence, without them they will do everything they want and now they can't as there is always a smart guy that ruins their fucking snobbish plans to rob us. PEACE !!!

  • Comment Link Warduk Sunday, 25 April 2010 14:55 posted by Warduk

    not bothered really cos my brother paid for the game :-)

  • Comment Link Mr Pig Sunday, 25 April 2010 14:29 posted by Mr Pig

    Owned tbh

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