By Dan Satherley
Only days after the PC release of blockbuster action game Assassin's Creed II, a fault with publisher Ubisoft's servers has rendered it largely unplayable.
Players are required to be connected to the internet at all times as a part of the game's digital rights management (DRM). If the game cannot log into Ubisoft's servers and authenticate that it is a genuine, legal copy, it stops working.
Today however, Ubisoft's server itself stopped working, prompting gamers to flood the official Assassin's Creed II forum with complaints. Eighteen hours on from the initial post, people are still reporting they cannot play the game.
Ironically, the problem only affects those who have legally purchased copies of the game – 'cracked' copies, stripped of the DRM, don't need to connect to the Ubisoft server, and are reportedly working just fine.
Many players are saying they will now download illegal copies of the game so they can continue to play, rather than wait for Ubisoft to fix the problem.
The game sells for $99.99 in New Zealand.
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