RUSE drop-kicks publisher Ubisoft's game-strangling anti-piracy software

Publisher Ubisoft’s ridiculous proprietary anti-piracy software, which requires a constant connection between your PC and Ubisoft’s servers, will not be applied to the company’s upcoming real-time strategy game, RUSE. The game will instead use the Steamworks API created by distributor/developer Valve. You will still have to activate RUSE online, but a constant connection to Steam’s servers isn’t required, which is a big improvement over the Ubisoft system.

The reasons for Ubisoft’s decision to let RUSE stray outside the steely gaze of the company’s proprietary DRM appear to be pragmatic. Steamworks provides community management and matchmaking features that the developers of RUSE won’t have to spend as much time designing and testing now, which frees them up to finish the core game.

This isn’t a sign that Ubisoft’s executives have found their hearts, however. The company, anticipating that someone could mistake this announcement for intelligent thought or a permanent move to discard its draconian anti-piracy system, has already stated that other future PC games will continue to use the hated constant-connection DRM system.