14 DAY TRIAL // Western developers seem to no longer be the only ones who are interested in creating ever more capable DRM solutions in order to protect their video games from piracy, with the creators of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 announcing that the game will require a constant connection to the Internet in order to be played.
The developers at GSC Game World are saying that the main reason for the tougher than usual protection measures is that previous titles in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series were widely pirated.
Speaking to the Ukraine based website KP Sergey Grigorovich, who is the leader of the GSC Game World development studio, has stated, “Part of the content will be located on the server and downloaded as the game progresses. Permanent internet access is required. Text information, code and quests will be loaded through that connection. Software piracy is an issue for us, we try to fight it, but within reason.”
He added, “If people can not afford a licensed version, it is to our advantage if they download a pirated copy, and then want to buy a license. In Ukraine, there are different products that people love so much that they buy a license in principle. We want to create just such a product.”
It's not clear what will happen if the Internet connection of a player drops while he is playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.
Fans of video game series tend to react angrily to the announcement of such DRM measures and they often manage to persuade developers to tone them down, sometimes through post launch patches.
GSC Game World has announced that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is in development in August of 2010 and since then no release date has been mentioned, although fans are expecting a launch during 2012.
The game will be launched on the PC, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.