Witcher Team: DRM Limiting Our Rights

Just because a studio works in the realm of PC development, that doesn’t mean it has to like every nuance that goes along with the process. CD Projekt Red, the PC-centric developer behind the acclaimed The Witcher franchise, is strongly against the use of online DRM, going so far as to call it "worst thing in the gaming industry."

That’s a pretty bold statement, but when speaking to Forbes, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt project lead Konrad Tomaszkiewicz had quite a bit of information to back everything up.

"In my opinion, DRM is the worst thing in the gaming industry. It's limiting our rights to play games owned by us," Tomaszkiewicz said. "Let’s imagine that you have a game that requires Internet connection to prove that you actually bought it. What if you lose your connection because of your Internet provider? You can't play anymore."

Does DRM actually do its job and stop piracy? Tomaszkiewicz says no, and that’s why Wild Hunt will be DRM-free when it releases next year. It’s a stance that fans appreciate, as many users have been actively attempting to push pirates to purchase an actual legitimate copy of the team’s game instead of downloading it illegally.

That’s a good sign, but it’s unclear whether or not DRM has helped other games see less piracy. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which is said to be 30 times bigger than The Witcher 2, will be the first next-generation RPG, according to CD Projekt Red. Let’s just hope it isn’t also the most pirated one of the bunch.