Blizzard Does Not Believe DRM is the Answer

Blizzard has revealed their forward thinking method in the fight against video game piracy and hints that they will not be gumming up Starcraft 2 with the usual slew of DRM protection, and instead rely on Battle.net in the fight against piracy

When it comes to dealing with piracy, especially in software, the easiest and most prevalent approach today is to simply load it up with massive amounts of DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection. Well how well does this actually work? Not well at all.

Take for example, one of the most anticipated games of 2008, "Spore" which used the latest DRM at the time in an attempt to deter pirates from distributing the game. However what was hailed as the most anticipated game of 2008, soon became the most pirated game of 2008.

Why was this the case? Isn't DRM suppose to lessen the spread of piracy? Well, in "Spore" 's case, the DRM that was suppose to keep people from ripping/illegally distributing the game, ended up ruining a lot of the user experience for the people who had actually legitimately bought the game; while pirates ended up cracking the DRM anyways, and ended up with a much better experience playing
the game after stripping out the DRM!

Backlash against Spore's obsessive DRM was widespread, from professional critics to satirical comics. Comic: "Desperate Measures" from Penny-Arcade. See the full sized here

So the honest consumer in effect got "screwed over" while the pirates ended up with a better experience. Which resulted in Spore going from most anticipated, to most pirated.



Luckly for all fans of Starcraft 2, Blizzard seems to have acknowledged some of the logical fallacies that have plagued the DRM obsessive video game industry. Co-founder, and Executive Vice President of Blizzard, Frank Pearce, states:

If you start talking about DRM and different technologies to try to manage it, it's really a losing battle for us.”

They will instead rely on Battle.net to counteract attempts at piracy, and keep their focus on improving the honest consumer's experience:

We need our development teams focused on content and cool features, not anti-piracy technology.”

Blizzard has definitely showed themselves as more forward thinking compared to a large number of those in the video game industry who have obsessed over DRM as the answer to piracy. Definitely, the damage that DRM can do to the satisfaction of the consumer can be devastating, and ruin their overall experience. And in the end, it is the consumer that supports and purchases the games.

You can catch the full interview with Frank Pearce, where Pearce goes into Blizzard's perspective on DRM, in the link provided below.

Links
Videogamer.com - Interview with Frank Pearce
Penny-Arcade.com - 'Desperate Measures' Comic