Ubisoft Removes Online Authentication from From Dust

In two weeks, at least. Yesterday, an Ubisoft rep posted on the Ubisoft forums that in two weeks, a patch for the game will be released that removes all forms of online authentication. The reason for the wait is because apparently saved games are stored in a cloud-based system, and not locally, which is a pretty strange thing to do.

From the post:

We recognize that one of our posts in the From Dust forum regarding the need for authentication in the game was not clear. We sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding. Our tech teams are working on a patch that should release in approximately two weeks that will eliminate the need for any online authentication. This development time is required as we are working to ensure that those who have already started the game, and who’s progress is currently saved on our servers, will receive and save their game information locally. Once the patch is ready, players who already have the game will automatically receive the update on their next login and subsequent game sessions will be 100% offline.

Anyway, yeah. Ubisoft listened and removed the DRM. Hopefully they do the same with Driver: San Francisco and actually remove the DRM, not slightly change. Of course, none of this would be happening if they just simply didn’t include the DRM in the first place, but progress is progress I suppose. Even if it’s progress to how things were in the past.

Hopefully this is the start of a future where Ubisoft games don’t have always-online DRM or online checks every time you start a game.