Ubisoft’s much-loathed “always on” DRM, a system that had plagued PC versions of games like Assassin’s Creed 2, has not been official policy since June 2011 according to the company’s worldwide director for online games, Stephanie Perotti. Ubisoft has stopped short of saying the DRM system was a mistake, but will move forward with a “one time activation” DRM system for PC titles.
“We have listened to feedback, and since June last year our policy for all of PC games is that we only require a one-time online activation when you first install the game, and from then you are free to play the game offline,” Perotti told Rock, Paper, Shotgun in a lengthy interview.
For the forthcoming Assassin’s Creed 3, you’ll need a one-time online activation of the game for each PC it’s installed on (and, Ubisoft says, the game can be installed and activated on as many machines as you want).
“If you want to enjoy Assassin’s Creed 3 single player, you will be able to do that without being connected. And you will be able to activate the game on as many machines as you want,” Perotti confirms.
An internet connection will still (obviously) be required for multiplayer and various other “online features” (leaderboards and soforth), but the single player campaign can be played offline following the one-off activation.
