STALKER 2 DRM Requires Permanent Internet Connection

Few words can enrage PC gamers as much as the mention of a game requiring you to stay online while you play it. No publisher—not even Blizzard—is free from the criticism that comes with the announcement that the game will need a permanent internet connection.

GSC Gameworld’s Sergey Grigorovich, a developer of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, acknowledged that the upcoming game offer always online DRM. Unlike games that simply check the player’s connection, the system GSC plans to use will stream actual game content. It’ll spell bad news if the authentication server goes offline, and even worse news for players with slow or unstable internet connections.

When Grigorovich was asked how the studio was planning to combat piracy, he responded, “Permanent Internet access is required. Part of the content will be located on the server and downloaded as the game progresses. Text information, code and quests will be loaded through that connection.”

There’s little doubt that pirates are going to somehow circumvent the DRM, which begs me to ask why they’d bother with it at all. Perhaps it’s all a plan to encourage players to purchase the console version of the game, which is due for release at the same time.

via NeoGAF