Today
on Headline RePLAY: Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime admits that Diablo III’s always-online requirement is DRM, Fortnite may require constant online access and Deadpool: The Game is closer to the
source material than you may think.
In a
state of the game address to Diablo III
players, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime concedes that the always-online requirement
is a form of DRM, but insists that it combats issues like cheating and in-game
cracks while being important for the “long-term integrity of the game
experience.”
“One
other common topic we’ve seen in the forums is the always-connected experience,
and the perception that the online requirement is nothing but an infective form
of copy protection that has already been cracked” wrote Morhaime on the game’s
official forums. “While we’ve never said that this requirement guarantees that
there will be no cheating or game cracks, it does help us battle those problems
(we have not found any fully functional cracks).
“More
important to us is that the online requirement is critical for the long-term
integrity of the game experience,” he continued. “I fully understand the desire
to play Diablo III offline; however, Diablo III was designed from the
beginning to be an online game that can be enjoyed with friends, and the
always-online requirement is the best way for us to support that design.”
Morhaime
elaborated by stating that features like the friends list, cross-game
communication, co-op matchmaking, persistent characters, customer support,
service, and security are all directly tied to the “online nature” of the game.
He reiterates that the online components are “essential” to the design of Diablo III and believes that improvements
can still be made to expand the “online experience” and make co-play more “rewarding.”
|Source:
Blizzard
It
looks like even Epic Games’ upcoming sandbox survival game, Fortnite, won’t escape the possibility
of an always-online requirement. Producer Tanya Jessen, however, says that it
would be used to improve the game and not as DRM to combat piracy.
“That’s
[always-online requirement] something we don’t know yet,” Jessen told Rock,
Paper, Shotgun. “It’s going to be really dependent on gameplay, and it’s also
dependent on platform—the method of getting updates and stuff like that. So I
can’t say for sure today one way or another [whether or not we’re going to use
it].”
Jessen
explains that the focus will be on cooperative play, and an always-online
requirement may come with the territory. “Fortnite
is a game that’s being developed as a co-op experience primarily,” she
said. “That’s our number one focus. This is a game you’re gonna want to play
with your friends, and it’s most fun with your friends. So whatever we decide
to do there is gonna be more relevant to the most fun experience you can have
with you friends [than I tis to piracy]. But I can’t nail that down today.”
|Source:
Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Comic
book fans that want authenticity in their comic book video games is getting it
with Deadpool: The Game—it’s being
written by the current author of the Deadpool
comic series, Daniel Way.
The
High Moon Studios game about the “merc with a mouth” is slated for a release
sometime in 2013.
|Source:
Joystiq
