14 DAY TRIAL // BioWare is on the verge of wiping out the PC piracy problem. And the company will not do this by adding more and more DRM to its titles, as Electronic Arts might want. The way to get rid of pirates, the BioWare style, is to create copious amounts of downloadable content and to increase the fidelity of PC gamers.
Ray Muzyka, who is the boss of BioWare, has recently told MTV Multiplayer that "We're doing a lot of post-release downloadable content on all of our PC titles going forward. We think it's a good thing to encourage players to make them want to buy a PC title".
The comments from Muzyka are interesting, seeing how, initially, the PC version of recent role playing game Mass Effect was to have one of the most intruding pieces of copy protection devised for games. Only after an initial public outcry did the publisher, Electronic Arts, scale down the scope of the DRM.
It's interesting to note that some games that do not have any DRM and only ask for a valid serial number, like the Galactic Civilization II series from Stardock, are virtually non-existent on peer to peer networks while high copy protection titles, such as Mass Effect, are ever present on file sharing services. The difference is the level of support that companies like Stardock provide to players as opposed to companies such as Electronic Arts.
BioWare is due to release a DLC pack for Mass Effect, called Bring Down the Sky. The pack is already available for the Xbox 360 version of the game and offers two hours of new and good gameplay. Gamers initially expected the pack to be out at the same time as the game on the PC, but technical issues delayed its release.
We're currently waiting for BioWare to make some announcements regarding its upcoming Dragon Age title.