The developers of The Witcher 2, who are also the operator of classic gaming website GOG.com, say that DRM treats customers like criminals.
CEO and co-founder Marcin Iwiński spoke at a press conference in Warsaw, Poland saying that he believes DRM simply doesn't work, and so this is the main reason why The Witcher 2 will be DRM-free (as are all games on GOG.com).
Referring to Call of Duty: Black Ops and how the game was downloaded hundreds of thousands of times only a few days after release, even though the game featured DRM, Iwiński believes that the debate about DRM is moot if it doesn't work at all.
"We could have some argumentative debate, saying, 'Yes it works, so why don't you do it?' No, it doesn't work," he told the press conference.
He then added: "It's a crazy thing. Gamers – legal customers – buy the game and you are limited with your ownership, while the illegal alternative has no limits. This is totally not fair and totally stupid.
"Why should I buy this legal version if it's inferior in a certain way? I'm not saying it's a problem for everybody, but for a lot of people it is. In games like The Witcher, you don't need to be connected to the internet to play. There are a lot of games like that.
"But with a lot of protections you have to be online. You have to be connected constantly or you cannot play. I know the internet is everywhere, but if you go on holiday and you have a laptop and you don't have an internet connection, it means you cannot play your games. I think it's not fair."
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CEO and co-founder Marcin Iwiński spoke at a press conference in Warsaw, Poland saying that he believes DRM simply doesn't work, and so this is the main reason why The Witcher 2 will be DRM-free (as are all games on GOG.com).
Referring to Call of Duty: Black Ops and how the game was downloaded hundreds of thousands of times only a few days after release, even though the game featured DRM, Iwiński believes that the debate about DRM is moot if it doesn't work at all.
"We could have some argumentative debate, saying, 'Yes it works, so why don't you do it?' No, it doesn't work," he told the press conference.
He then added: "It's a crazy thing. Gamers – legal customers – buy the game and you are limited with your ownership, while the illegal alternative has no limits. This is totally not fair and totally stupid.
"Why should I buy this legal version if it's inferior in a certain way? I'm not saying it's a problem for everybody, but for a lot of people it is. In games like The Witcher, you don't need to be connected to the internet to play. There are a lot of games like that.
"But with a lot of protections you have to be online. You have to be connected constantly or you cannot play. I know the internet is everywhere, but if you go on holiday and you have a laptop and you don't have an internet connection, it means you cannot play your games. I think it's not fair."
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