Reclaim Your Game - RYG's List of DRM Vendors

We will keep this list updated as we continue to populate our website with articles, evaluation reports and other relevant PC gaming material. This comprehensive list of DRM and DRM Vendors should be self-explanatory with appropriate links provided for secondary reading material. Again, if you do happen to find something that should be added, then please email us and we'll see what we can do.

For now, we hope you're find our list of DRM and DRM Vendors useful for your personal whims.

NOTE: If you're looking for our DRM list of PC Games only, you can find them below, within the DRM section as described below or on our Evaluation List of PC Games.

CONTENT

Battle.NET
ByteShield
DRM Free
EA Core / EA Origin (Origin)
Games For Windows Live (GFWL)
GameShield
Generic Disc-Verification-Based DRM
GOO (Gamestop / Impulse’s DRM)
Online Services Platform/Uplay (Ubisoft’s DRM)
ProtectDisc
SecuROM
SolidShield
StarForce
Steam
Uniloc

2. ByteShield

Websites: www.byteshield.net, www.byteshield.net/supportfaq.html
Operated by: ByteShield Inc

About ByteShield: ByteShield is a DRM service that is developed, operated and owned by ByteShield Inc.

ByteShield's primary DRM service is its periodic online activation system, which consists of a username/email, password and a Data Activation Code, or DAC. This DAC acts like a serial key that allows users to download missing components required to play a ByteShield-protected game from ByteShield's direct servers. The amount of periodic activation limits, which are set purely upon the number of game launches, can be configured exclusively by Developers and/or Publishers.

ByteShield is one of the very few DRM services that is capable of a complete removal (both files and registry keys) upon a full unistallation of a PC game. Like Ubisoft's Online Services Platform, ByteShield's DRM is capable of allowing users to install any ByteShield-protected game across multiple machines. However, users can only play their game on ONE active machine.

DRM Characteristics: Periodic Online Activation, Serial Key (DAC) Online Activation, User account verification.

Relevant Documentation: ByteShield's Product Datasheet, DRM Instructions, End User FAQ.

Known issues for PC Gamers as found by RYG:

Poor notification and record keeping of periodic online activations;
Can reconnect to in-house servers upon each game launch even after a successful online activation has been made;
DRM may interfere with certain antivirus and firewall software;
Navigation for support pages and documentation, from an end-user point of view, is difficult to find and, at times, inconsistent;
Issue-centric customer support.

RYG's assessment of ByteShield: You can find our initial assessment on ByteShield's official website back in 2010 when we first used Project RYG 1.0. Subsequent evaluations can be found below:

Football Manager 2011

Useful Links: RYG's ByteShield DRM List.

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3. DRM Free

About DRM Free: It’s the most well-received form of non copy protection, but the most misunderstood for all the right reasons. Here, we set the standard for what DRM-Free is and what isn’t.

If DRM is all about employing a system of controlled use upon the media that’s implementing it, then DRM-Free is its antithesis. It must be so in its entirety. That means disbarring any copyrights or trademarks applied to the gaming medium, the game bought by consumers is theirs and theirs to use it to their personal whims.

Semantically speaking, a general ‘disc check’ isn’t DRM free. A game bought on Steam without any third part DRM isn’t DRM Free. A serial key applied isn’t DRM Free. Having inert DRM files installed isn't DRM Free. Perhaps a proper example that exemplifies this DRM Free notion are the games that are sold through Good Old Games (GOG). For the most part, the classic games they’ve placed for sale are considered DRM Free. However, we urge you to make sure as we have not evaluated every game sold through GOG.

This is a particularly high standard upon which we adhere and one that must be consistently performed if only to analyse each DRM scheme with accuracy and consistency.

DRM Characteristics: None

Relevant Documentation: Good Old Games; Humble Bundle

RYG's assessment of DRM-Free: Please refer to the following PC games evaluated by RYG that were considered DRM-Free by the Industry.

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4. EA Core / EA Origin (Origin)

Websites: www.origin.com/au/about, store.origin.com, www.origin.com/au/faq
Operated by: Electronic Arts Inc.

About Origin: Origin is both a digital distribution service and a DRM that is developed, operated and owned by Electronic Arts Inc. Origin DRM requires an EA user account, serial key, online verification, which will follow with SecuROM’s Release Date Checking process.

Prior to the launch of Origin, EA’s DRM was known as EA Core, which served either as a generic disc verification-based DRM and/or a serial key verification, which was validated through EA’s servers. Gamer are given an option to either access their downloadable content or save their games on EA’s Cloud-based servers (Amazon Web Services).

DRM characteristics: Serial key / Online activation; Pre-release date check; Periodic / Persistent online-activation; user account verification; Disc verification.

Relevant documentation: EA Origin EULA; EA’s Privacy Policy

Known issues for PC gamers as found by RYG:

SecuROM, especially its Release Date Checker, is a key component in Origin’s DRM, which isn’t made clear, known or publicly available through Origin’s official website and its Product EULA.
Resale or account transfers prevented due to its User account-based / serial key DRM feature;
Can be implemented as a persistent-online DRM, particularly with accessing DLCs;
Can reconnect to third party servers upon each game launch, even after a successful online activation has been made;
Origin DRM waivers any known liability against its customers in the event of a security breach of its servers. Any data saved, stored or given to EA, according to them, isn’t safe.
Origin’s Privacy Policy, at times, fails to delineate between what is personally identifiable information and what is not. Moreover, what isn’t personally identifiable can be identified by EA through other means.
Any disputes made against Origin or EA are written and navigated in such a way that it ensures any type of litigation or dispute raised against EA will ensure EA is never liable for them.
Inconsistent support pages and documentation, especially in reference to how the DRM is specifically implemented;
Inconsistent customer / technical support.

RYG’s assessment of Origin: Please refer to the following PC games evaluated by RYG that were implemented with EA Origin:

Mass Effect 3

Useful Links: RYG's EA Core / EA Origin DRM List

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9. Online Services Platform/Uplay (Ubisoft's DRM)

Websites: Ubisoft Support - https://support.ubi.com/en-gb/ Online Services Platform is now known as Uplay - http://uplay.ubi.com/en-GB/
Operated by: Ubisoft Entertainment SA

About Online Services Platform (OSP): Ubisoft’s DRM, dubbed Online Services Platform (OSP), is a DRM service that is developed, operated and owned by Ubisoft Entertainment SA. OSP’s features are centered around an online-based DRM system with its most prominent being its persistent online DRM feature. Within this persistent or permanent online connectivity include remote storage of savegames and gameplay progressions and periodic online verifications. Serial key and/or user-account verification comes as standard. OSP can be implemented “inertly” where gamers can play any OSP-protected game without the need to be connected to the Internet. While it is not specifically stated, OSP does require an ADSL connection at the very least in order for gamers to play OSP-protected games without issues. Of course, this is dependent upon the reliability and stability of Ubisoft’s third party servers.

DRM characteristics: Cloud-based gameplay; Persistent / permanent online-activation; Serial key / online-activation; Serial key only; user account verification.

Relevant documentation: Refer to Ubisoft's support page on OSP for further information.

Known issues for PC gamers as found by RYG:

Requires an ADSL connection at the very least to play any persistent online-based game;
Resale or account transfers prevented due to its User account-based / serial key DRM feature;
Autoupdate feature cannot be set during the first activation of the OSP-protected game;
Can be implemented as a persistent-online DRM;
Can be implemented to have savegames remotely stored (rather than locally stored);
Can reconnect to third party servers upon each game launch, even after a successful online activation has been made;
Third party servers used for OSP may have reliability and stability issues;
Inconsistent support pages and documentation, especially in reference to how the DRM is specifically implemented;
Inconsistent customer / technical support.

RYG's assessment of Online Services Platform: Please refer to the following PC games evaluated by RYG that were implemented with Online Services Platform:

Useful Links for PC Gamers: How to detect OSP, How to remove OSP by RYG, RYG’s OSP List.

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11. SecuROM

Websites: www2.securom.com, www.sonydadc.com
Operated by: Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation (DADC)

About SecuROM: SecuROM is a DRM service that is developed, operated and owned by Sony DADC Austria. SecuROM is comprised of a number of DRM solutions, ranging from its serial key / disc verification system, right up to its online activation platform, which, in itself, can be implemented as a try-before-buy platform, pre-release date checker and/or as an online verification system. SecuROM also provides a service to package and distribute downloable content (DLCs) and game patches. Each of these services can either act in isolation or as a package as requested by their clients.

DRM characteristics: Serial key / Disc verification; Time-based activation; Pre-release date check; Serial key / Online activation; Hardware-binding activation.

Relevant documentation: Release Date Check, Sony DADC's Marketing Material, SecuROM Customer Support Page, SecuROM's FAQ Page.

Known issues for PC gamers as found by RYG:

Earlier versions of SecuROM 7+ can have hardware-binding capabilities, which will affect activation limits;
Will install hardware-binding drivers;
Will reinstall problematic and specific registry keys if not removed properly;
Can blacklist certain diagnostic softwares;
Can blacklist certain disc-emulation and/or disc-copying softwares;
Can reconnect to in-house servers upon each game launch even after a successful online activation has been made;
Later version of SecuROM 7-8+ will perform dual online activations: 1) to determine the validity of the game's executable and 2) to determine if the game was purchased before the general release date;
Will leave activation information on users systems, even after a successful deactivation of the game itself;
Known to have performance-degrading issues in comparison to a DRM-free copy of the same game;
Inconsistent support pages, particularly if developers and/or publishers opt to implement their dedicated SecuROM-support pages;
Inconsistent customer / technical support

RYG's assessment of SecuROM: Please refer to the following PC games evaluated by RYG that were implemented with SecuROM:

Useful Links for PC Gamers: How to detect SecuROM, How to remove SecuROM by RYG, RYG's SecuROM 7+ List, RYG's analysis of SecuROM in Dragon Age 2.

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