With the recent concerns over DRM – particularly the obnoxious, intrusive copy protection found in Spore and the PC version of Mass Effect, it stands to reason that many top-shelf games are going to come loaded down with spyware in the form of piracy “protection” this holiday season. Not so, at least for one much-anticipated title.
Shacknews reports that Bethesda’s upcoming Fallout 3 will not ship with intrusive digital rights management, preferring instead to rely on a simple disc-in-drive check. The result: legitimate consumers get to enjoy their game without interference, installing it on as many computers as they like without fear of activation woes. Meanwhile, pirates will doubtless crack the game and distribute it online. Buy or steal, it’s up to you; but in the meantime Bethesda is doing the right thing by treating everyone as innocent until proven guilty.
Sez Bethesda honcho Pete Hines:
“We’re pretty mild about how we do it… It’s very important for us not to ruin the experience for the person who did buy a copy, so we try to be very careful… We want to remove anything that is a hindrance or an annoyance to the player, we’re trying to just get to the game and have fun.”
Pete was careful to note that the company does take precautions to stop pirates from stealing a product that’s been the blood, sweat and tears of 150 people for 36+ months, but the company prefers to manage the task without alienating honest consumers.
Fallout 3 is due for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 on October 27.