DRM
DRM
- Digital Rights Management
- method that controls access to copyrighted material protected by IP
- tied to marketed products, not to the copyright law
- main purpose: to prevent people from copying or sharing a game, sometimes even playing a single-player game without an internet connection
History of DRM
On-disk copy protection
- intentionally bad sectors, odd address markers,...
- dummy Files, oversized CDs, SafeDisc protection
Off-disk copy protection
- Code Wheel
- you need a wheel and holes
- Code Sheet
- look up at something in the manual
- printed in such a way that it can't be copied by a copy machine
- Lenslook
- Serial Numbers and Keys
History of DRM
Activation codes
- only a few installations are possible
3rd party DRM
- SecuROM (CD/DVD protection) - BioShock, Mass Effect, Dragon Age II
- FADE (Operation Flashpoint, ARMA 3)
- Denuvo (Sonic Mania, Devil May Cry 5)
Retail services combined with DRM
- Steam
Constant Internet Connection DRM
- you can't play your game without the internet
Spoiled Gameplay
- the game finds out if it's an illegal copy and begins to humiliate the player
Spoiled gameplay
- the game finds out if it has been copied
- gameplay starts getting worse and worse
- sometimes, weird assets show up
Cracktro
- originated in 80's with Commodore computers
- groups and parties that create cracked games, attached their signatures in a form of artistic assets
- ASCII art, tracker music, intros
- spilled over into demoscene
