“Steamy” New Anti-Piracy Measures Coming to Games for Windows

Piracy prevention is increasingly moving toward online authentication and license purchase rather than the traditional disc and data encryption that prevented unauthorized copying and distribution. Microsoft just announced some new elements of Games for Windows that indicate a shift toward a Steam-like, online activation model. Microsoft goes to great lengths to avoid use of that game-killing dirty acronym, DRM, but DRM by any other name…

It looks like Games for Windows will include a onetime activation that will only decrypt critical data if a game can be confirmed as officially released. Given that many games are downloaded illegally millions of times before they officially ship, Microsoft is trying to counter the distribution of prematurely leaked games.

Last year’s Spore, for example, would have benefited greatly from zero-day piracy countermeasures; it was well on its way to being the most pirated game of 2008 long before its official release date.

Microsoft’s authentication measures will amount to a Steam-style authentication for offline games, and will include the ability to save game data on external servers. Microsoft dresses this up as a boon for gamers: “Hey kids! You can play your saved game anywhere!” In reality, it is a quite transparent means of keeping tabs on license rights. But it needn’t be a bad thing, Microsoft’s DRM-lite isn’t any more severe than what you currently find on consoles.

Microsoft’s anti-piracy measures will end up being a mixed bag for gamers. Users without an internet connection will be forced to get online to authenticate their copy of a game. *Boo!* *Hiss!* But frankly, compared to more draconian DRM measures, like only allowing three installs of a game ever, Games for Windows will be a bit easier to swallow.

Microsoft privateers might be successful in reducing piracy to a degree, but as many have learned, online authentication cum marketplace services like Steam can rouse the ire of entire communities. We’ll have to wait for Windows 7 to go gold to get an idea of just how effectiveand intrusive Microsoft’s new measures will be.