PC's Grand Theft Auto IV copy protection explained in detail.
Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC is days away and Rockstar is promising big things for the version. Double the number of people in multiplayer, better graphics, machinima features. And the inevitable forced inclusion of Games for Windows Live and SecuROM.
Measures like these are designed to combat the whole reason we’ve had to wait six months for the game: piracy. Releasing a multi-platform game on PC at the same time as consoles is rapidly appearing to be sales suicide, with many titles now having PC versions delayed. The sheer lack of attention given to the port is often another good sign that PC game releases are viewed as a financial black hole.
We’ve seen the reaction to SecuROM manifest itself pretty badly with the releases of games like Bioshock, Spore, and Far Cry 2. People just don’t like huge restrictions being placed on the way they use their $100 worth of game. The battle for a happy medium goes on, and while it becomes more and more apparent that strong online ties are the ultimate path to victory, we are stuck with annoying copy protection on most retail games for now.
Even Fallout 3 copped a lot of flack for using basic disc checking in SecuROM. There are certainly cases where it causes games to stop working for no reason, however, the vocal majority seems to favor the political rather than those affected. So, it isn’t much of a leap to see Rockstar pre-empting the criticism by releasing the world’s most anally retentive copy protection FAQ.
Posted up on Voodoo Extreme, the FAQ covers every conceivable question one could ask about the implementation of SecuROM and how the game can be used. It is pretty impressive and also a sad sign of the sheer amount of internet anger Rockstar has copped over the years (even the phrasing of the questions reeks of trollish fire). The actual implementation is on the lenient side of the equation, as the FAQ points out.
Does GTA IV include any version of SecuROM? If so, what kind? Is it like a rootkit?
GTA IV PC uses SecuROM for protecting our EXE until street date has passed, to ensure the retail disk is in the computer drive, and is used for Product Activation of the title. Product Activation is a one time only online authentication when installing the game. GTA IV has no install limits for the retail disc version of the game, and that version can be installed on an unlimited number of PCs by the retail disk owner.
How many times will I need to authenticate my retail disk? I’ve purchased the game… why do I need to constantly remind your company that I’m not a dirty pirate?
You will only need to authenticate the retail disk once per Windows account per machine. Even if you uninstall and re-install the game, it will not have to be re-authenticated.
There are some unique circumstances under which you may have to re-authenticate the software on a machine. For example, if you change any two ‘major’ components on your PC, i.e. CPU and video card, you will have to re-authenticate the title.
Also, if you install on a different PC or under a different Windows account on the same machine, you will have to authenticate that installation as well, but this is standard to any software needing a serial.
To be completely fair, GTA IV is the kind of game that people who usually pirate will buy anyway. By now, GTA has become a pretty beloved PC franchise despite its console roots. The fact that Rockstar always puts in the effort to make the game play well with a keyboard and mouse is probably a big part of that. There is also a digital distribution option you can go down as well, with the game hitting Steam at the same time as store shelves if you really cannot stand the disc checking aspect of DRM.
Supporting our habits:
Post new comment anonymously (Anonymous Gibbon)