Ubisoft apologises after DRM server fail

Thousands of gamers were locked out of Ubisoft's games after the publisher's DRM system was attacked
Thousands of gamers were locked out of Ubisoft's games after the publisher's DRM system was attacked

Ubisoft has issued an apology about the recent spate of attacks on its DRM servers which has blocked thousands of players out of its games this month.

PC gamers began to report problems with the French publisher's games, including the recently released Assassin's Creed 2 over the weekend. Ubisoft admitted that its servers had been taken down by attacks from hackers.

Players are required to log-in online via Ubisoft's DRM system, to prove that they have bought a legitimate copy of a game. The attackers flooded the anti-piracy servers with web traffic, forcing it to collapse.

Gamers are understandably slightly miffed at being locked out of games they have shelled out for, with some claiming that Ubisoft's DRM system - which requires PC gamers to be online at all times, even for single-player gaming - is too draconian and needs to be reviewed.

Ubi apologises

In a statement on Monday, Ubisoft said it "would like to apologise to anyone who could play Assassin's Creed 2 or Silent Hunter 5 yesterday.

"Servers were attacked and while the servers did not go down, service was limited from 2.30pm to 9.30pm Paris time. 95 per cent of players were not affected, but a small group of players attempting to open a game session did receive denial of service errors."

Ubisoft also subsequently confirmed via Twitter that "our servers are under attack again" and that "we're working on it" on Monday.

Assassin's Creed 2 has sold over eight million copies worldwide since release in November.

And despite the company's assurances that only a handful of players were affected, however, it appears that the problems may not yet be over.

Via The Guardian

Adam Hartley