Dishonored 2's launch-day bugs and DRM issues are nothing new in gaming; move on

After much anticipation, Dishonored 2 has finally made its way to PC and console, but not without a bagful of performance issues, DRM and bugs. Gamers are complaining of massive performance drops on even high-end PC hardware (including a GTX 1080) and console gamers have complained about some minor bugs. The bigger issue is DRM or Digital Rights Management. Dishonored 2 is using a controversial but effective DRM solution called Denuvo that has many gamers up in arms. Some have even asked for refunds on their pre-orders.

First, the bugs Video games are software and software always has bugs. Always. The fact that Dishonored 2 is buggy at launch is nothing new. I know of no game that performed flawlessly at launch date. If you’re on PC, you just have to be lucky enough to win the hardware and software lottery. #ConsolePeasants are lucky that way, their console’s limited hardware makes testing games much easier and the result is a more stable game. To top it off, PC gamers these days are left with console ports anyway, which are never going to perform as well. That said, you do have to bear in mind that developers usually make more money on console. Why wouldn’t they pay more attention to that platform? If you’re a PC gamer like me, just deal with it. We’re a relative after-thought to console and there’s not much we can do about it. I’ve long since given up on playing games on launch day; it’s just too much hassle. Now, the DRM DRM is the bane of the PC gamer just as much as piracy is the bane of developers. The two go hand-in-hand and regardless of which camp you’re in, the game industry is about money and developers and publishers will do whatever it takes to make them money.

For paying customers, DRM is a pain to deal with. DRM is designed to ensure that only the paying customer is playing the game. This is meant to prevent piracy. While all that’s fine on paper, some DRM requires users to be permanently online, which is not always an option, others limit the number of times you can install a game. Dishonored 2 uses a DRM system called Denuvo, which, if you’re a gamer or pirate, is the worst kind of DRM around. For the gamer, Denuvo is a pain because it limits the number of devices you can install your game on. Worse still, Denuvo connects to an authentication server before letting you play the game, meaning that your game may not run if your internet connection is unstable. Gamers also worry about what will happen to their games when Denuvo dies. If the servers go offline, can you still play your game?

If you’re old enough to remember Microsoft’s disastrous Games for Windows Live, you’ll remember that when Microsoft pulled the plug on it, a great number of games were completely unplayable without complicated patching. Is it any wonder then that some gamers are demanding refunds? Despite this, some developers love Denuvo because games so protected are almost impossible to pirate . Essentially, cracking a Denuvo-protected game takes a lot of time, months even. Those initial few months are when developers and publishers actually make money on their game. An argument against DRM is best left for another time, but I just wish developers and publishers would emulate the extremely successful CD Projekt RED (the makers of The Witcher franchise) and just release their games DRM Free. Pirates be damned!