Tagged: starforce

CDV Ditches Starforce, Settles for Lesser Evil

Following Ubisoft, German publisher CDV has publicized that it has ditched the notorious Starforce copyright protection system and will be migrating to TAGES copy protection for future titles.

TAGES will first be integrated into the retail release of Glory of the Roman Empire which is scheduled to hit North America on June 26. The publisher will continue to integrate TAGES on a case-by-case basis after the release of the game.

Ubisoft Drops Starforce

Bringing smiles to gamers’ faces, Ubisoft has officially announced that it will no longer be using the much controversial Starforce copy protection system in its games. This comes after news that the publisher dropped Starforce from Heroes of Might and Magic V.

Starforce has been under much fire lately. Many users have claimed that the software has caused problems to their computers, with Ubisoft getting slapped with a $5 million lawsuit by gamers who claimed that Starforce’s DRM has compromised the security of their machines. The anti-piracy company was also recently in the news as one of its employees posted a link to a site where one could illegally download Stardock’s Galactic Civilizations II, apparently trying to prove that without their software pirating a game is easy. The company was served another blow when Aspyr Media decided to abandon Starforce from Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars, as well as sever all ties with the company.

Starforce Apologizes for GalCiv 2 Incident

Stardock is in the news once again – an update on the Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords website follows-up on the recent story of the exclusion of copy-protection program in the game. The update states that StarForce has apologized for the incident and that various torrent sites have already pulled down links to the pirated copy of the strategy title.

Also mentioned in the post was the mention of how popular the game is. It appears that GalCiv 2 was on EBGames’ top selling games list, taking the top spot in PC titles and #2 in all platforms.

No StarForce in SpellForce 2

Responding to negative reactions to the inclusion of StarForce, seemingly the world’s most hated copy protection program, Aspyr has sent out word that although the recently released SpellForce 2 demo features StarForce, the full retail version will feature some other less-hated copy protection software.

Aspyr Media is responsible for publishing the North American release of Spellforce 2. We wanted everyone to know that Starforce will *not* be included in the retail release of this game. Starforce is being used in the demo in cooperation with the European publishers of the title, JoWood Productions. This is to help prevent reverse engineering that could lead to our product being put up on illegal software networks. We apologize for any inconveniences Starforce may have caused and would again like to reassure everyone that we have chosen alternative copy protection software for our final release product. Thank you for your interest in Spellforce 2!

GalCiv II and Starforce

A post on the official Galactic Civilizations II website talks about the exclusion of copy-protection systems in the game, stating that the developer is not inviting piracy. In fact, the post (logically) states that piracy can’t be avoided, but has to be reduced, and that the developer’s weapon to fight piracy is by offering legit players “convenient, frequent, free updates.”

The post goes on to talk about Starforce, the most hated copy-protection system in the planet. Apparently, a member of the company posted a link to a torrent site which was offering the full game for free download. It seems that the company was pissed that Stardock didn’t include their copy-protection software in Galactic Civilizations II, which, as it turns out, has been selling rather well. A related post discloses that the company has shipped more units of GalCiv II in the first 10 days than the total sales of the first GalCiv in its lifetime.

Good to see some developers still have their heads on their shoulders!

X3: Reunion Demo

On Egosoft is a playable demo for X3: Reunion, offering the chance to sample the space exploration and combat title. However, people who are anti-Starforce might want to stay away from the demo, as the copy protection method is present in the demo. The file has been mirrored on 3D Downloads, 3D Gamers, FileFront, Gamer’s Hell and Worthplaying.