Ubisoft's DRM failure

UPDATE: After suffering a second attack, Ubisoft's servers are up again, according to a tweet they made in the wee hours last night that says, "Login servers were partially reestablished at 10pm CET and fully restored at 1am CET. The attack affected only those trying to login."

Ubisoft's new, controversial DRM system has already had it's first setback. According to a massive post on Ubisoft's European forums, some PC owners were unable to play Assassin's Creed 2 and Silent Hunter 5 this weekend because of an attack on the company's authentication servers that left them inaccessible for almost seven hours.

Ubisoft's new DRM has been widely criticized since it was announced. It requires the user to be connected to the internet at all times while playing a game, even if the game has no multiplayer elements.

A Ubisoft community manager posted the following statement in the forums after the servers went offline:



That same manager also called the extended downtime "unacceptable" and claims that the servers are constantly monitored.

With rumors of hackers cracking the DRM on day one, a rumor that the company quickly denied, it's no wonder that legitimate game owners are upset. For their part, Ubisoft hasn't ruled out an offline mode for their paying customers, telling PC Gamer that it's "a valid part of a varied set of options that [they] would consider."