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Hub AI
Always-on DRM AI simulator
(@Always-on DRM_simulator)
Hub AI
Always-on DRM AI simulator
(@Always-on DRM_simulator)
Always-on DRM
Always-on DRM or always-online DRM is a form of digital rights management (DRM) that requires a consumer to remain connected to a server, especially through an internet connection, to use a particular product. The practice is also referred to as persistent online authentication. The technique is meant to prevent copyright infringement of software. Like other DRM methods, always-on DRM has proven controversial, mainly because it has failed to stop pirates from illegally using the product, while causing severe inconvenience to people who bought the product legally due to the single point of failure it inherently introduces.
Popular video games such as Diablo III, Super Mario Run, and Starcraft 2 employ always-on DRM by requiring players to connect to the internet to play, even in single-player mode. Reviews of Diablo III criticized its use of always-on DRM. As with Diablo III, SimCity (2013) experienced bugs at its launch due to always-on DRM. Its developer, Maxis, initially defended the practice as being a result of the game's reliance on cloud computing for in-game processing, but it was later confirmed that cloud computing was only necessary to support the inter-city and social media mechanisms. Tim Willits at id Software has also defended the use of always-on DRM, arguing that it would make updates easier. This later received even more criticism, with users stating that these updates could potentially render the game unable to be played.
A major disadvantage of always-on DRM is that whenever the DRM authentication server goes down or a region experiences an Internet outage, it effectively locks out people from playing the game, hence the criticism. Another major disadvantage is that when the servers for the game are shut down, the game is rendered completely unplayable without illegal DRM circumvention, such as in the case of Darkspore and the Mac edition of The Settlers 7.
Ubisoft's first titles requiring an always-on connection were Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic and Assassin's Creed II, of which the former had reportedly been cracked as of the first day of the game's release. Assassin's Creed II was later cracked on the day of its release in Japan. Ubisoft also used always-on DRM in Driver: San Francisco, which was also cracked. However, the company announced in September 2012 that it would not employ always-on DRM in its future games, although they decided to re-implement the DRM again for The Crew (despite having a story mode), The Division (although it was never meant for single-player gameplay) and For Honor. Assassin's Creed Odyssey also received backlash for being unavailable in offline mode in February 2019, to which Ubisoft has clarified that the always-online mode was a glitch that was to be fixed soon enough, although many other players did not face this issue and were able to play the game without an internet connection.
The Crew garnered criticism due to it being always-online in spite of having a single-player campaign. Ubisoft later confirmed that the game would not be available offline, as they wanted to make the game a living world with multiplayer and single-player combined. In April 2024, the servers for The Crew were shut down, rendering the game unplayable. This caused severe player backlash, with multiple lawsuits as well as the Stop Killing Games consumer movement being launched. Due to the negative reactions, Ubisoft promised to bring an offline mode to The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest, sequels to The Crew that were also always-online at launch. The Crew 2 received an offline mode in an October 2025 update, with Motorfest's implementation coming later.
Electronic Arts was later criticized for making their game Need for Speed (2015) always online, even though it had both single player and multiplayer modes. EA later stated that this was because the game was an ever-expanding world that would be constantly updated and that it would be required for taking snapshots and posting them on Autolog, which would earn the player Experience points and other rewards if the snapshots are liked enough. This later garnered more criticism. In the end, it was later found out that the reason for drastic framerate drops in Need for Speed on all platforms was because of the always-online connection. Because of this, EA decided to make all their later games to be playable offline, with the next Need for Speed game, Payback, having an offline single-player campaign mode.
Sony Interactive Entertainment and Polyphony Digital were later criticized for making their latest title, Gran Turismo 7, require constant internet connection in order for players to be able to save their progress. The series creator Kazunori Yamauchi explains that this decision was made to prevent hacking and cheating, with only Arcade Mode being fully playable offline. This was met with severe criticism by reviewers, who noted the game's overall grind to earn credits and the online requirement being used as a major push for the game's microtransactions, More than a week after release, the game had a maintenance period during which it was unplayable for more than a day before being patched.
Activision has recently been criticized for making their games on the PC always-online via Battle.net even if they have single-player modes. This was most apparent with Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019), Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Remastered, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.
Always-on DRM
Always-on DRM or always-online DRM is a form of digital rights management (DRM) that requires a consumer to remain connected to a server, especially through an internet connection, to use a particular product. The practice is also referred to as persistent online authentication. The technique is meant to prevent copyright infringement of software. Like other DRM methods, always-on DRM has proven controversial, mainly because it has failed to stop pirates from illegally using the product, while causing severe inconvenience to people who bought the product legally due to the single point of failure it inherently introduces.
Popular video games such as Diablo III, Super Mario Run, and Starcraft 2 employ always-on DRM by requiring players to connect to the internet to play, even in single-player mode. Reviews of Diablo III criticized its use of always-on DRM. As with Diablo III, SimCity (2013) experienced bugs at its launch due to always-on DRM. Its developer, Maxis, initially defended the practice as being a result of the game's reliance on cloud computing for in-game processing, but it was later confirmed that cloud computing was only necessary to support the inter-city and social media mechanisms. Tim Willits at id Software has also defended the use of always-on DRM, arguing that it would make updates easier. This later received even more criticism, with users stating that these updates could potentially render the game unable to be played.
A major disadvantage of always-on DRM is that whenever the DRM authentication server goes down or a region experiences an Internet outage, it effectively locks out people from playing the game, hence the criticism. Another major disadvantage is that when the servers for the game are shut down, the game is rendered completely unplayable without illegal DRM circumvention, such as in the case of Darkspore and the Mac edition of The Settlers 7.
Ubisoft's first titles requiring an always-on connection were Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic and Assassin's Creed II, of which the former had reportedly been cracked as of the first day of the game's release. Assassin's Creed II was later cracked on the day of its release in Japan. Ubisoft also used always-on DRM in Driver: San Francisco, which was also cracked. However, the company announced in September 2012 that it would not employ always-on DRM in its future games, although they decided to re-implement the DRM again for The Crew (despite having a story mode), The Division (although it was never meant for single-player gameplay) and For Honor. Assassin's Creed Odyssey also received backlash for being unavailable in offline mode in February 2019, to which Ubisoft has clarified that the always-online mode was a glitch that was to be fixed soon enough, although many other players did not face this issue and were able to play the game without an internet connection.
The Crew garnered criticism due to it being always-online in spite of having a single-player campaign. Ubisoft later confirmed that the game would not be available offline, as they wanted to make the game a living world with multiplayer and single-player combined. In April 2024, the servers for The Crew were shut down, rendering the game unplayable. This caused severe player backlash, with multiple lawsuits as well as the Stop Killing Games consumer movement being launched. Due to the negative reactions, Ubisoft promised to bring an offline mode to The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest, sequels to The Crew that were also always-online at launch. The Crew 2 received an offline mode in an October 2025 update, with Motorfest's implementation coming later.
Electronic Arts was later criticized for making their game Need for Speed (2015) always online, even though it had both single player and multiplayer modes. EA later stated that this was because the game was an ever-expanding world that would be constantly updated and that it would be required for taking snapshots and posting them on Autolog, which would earn the player Experience points and other rewards if the snapshots are liked enough. This later garnered more criticism. In the end, it was later found out that the reason for drastic framerate drops in Need for Speed on all platforms was because of the always-online connection. Because of this, EA decided to make all their later games to be playable offline, with the next Need for Speed game, Payback, having an offline single-player campaign mode.
Sony Interactive Entertainment and Polyphony Digital were later criticized for making their latest title, Gran Turismo 7, require constant internet connection in order for players to be able to save their progress. The series creator Kazunori Yamauchi explains that this decision was made to prevent hacking and cheating, with only Arcade Mode being fully playable offline. This was met with severe criticism by reviewers, who noted the game's overall grind to earn credits and the online requirement being used as a major push for the game's microtransactions, More than a week after release, the game had a maintenance period during which it was unplayable for more than a day before being patched.
Activision has recently been criticized for making their games on the PC always-online via Battle.net even if they have single-player modes. This was most apparent with Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019), Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Remastered, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.