Hackers Swipe Unreleased Game From Ubisoft

hypnosec writes with news that a group of Russian hackers has compromised the security of Ubisoft's digital distribution platform, uPlay, finding a way for users of the service to download any of its games for free. What makes this particularly notable is that the hackers found a copy of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, an unreleased spin-off of Far Cry 3 that hasn't even been officially announced (except as part of an April Fool's joke). The hackers posted a half-hour of gameplay footage to YouTube, and Ubisoft took uPlay down to fix the security vulnerability. They say no user information was compromised.

Comments

What did they expect?

[fox171171]

That's what they get for being "always on".

Re:What did they expect?

[peragrin]

The only thing to really say is.

"And nothing of value was lost."

Re:What did they expect?

[kelemvor4]

Insightful? Funny? My kingdom for a mod point.

If only there was ...

[DavidClarkeHR]

If only there was some way to:
- Distribute games without using uPlay and alternatives (like Origin)
- Partition, or even separate the storage of sensitive information physically from the internet
- Create new, exciting franchised that engage the community
- Stop releasing garbage ... both accidentally and on purpose.

When a game studio figures out how to do that ... maybe they'll be onto something.

Re:If only there was ...

[viperidaenz]

I'll take your proposal further and say we should used cardboard boxes to distribute the games.
It will be revolutionary

"oops"

[girlintraining]

This begs the question of what an unreleased and undocumented game was doing on a server designed specifically to distribute as many copies of the game as possible. This is weapons-grade stupidity.

Re:"oops"

[LordLucless]

Or why their "always on" DRM doesn't give them enough control nip this in the bud. Unless, of course, they don't add the DRM until just before it goes to market, because it makes it too much of a PITA to develop/test with (but not enough of a PITA that consumers can't be expected to put up with it, naturally)

Re:"oops"

[kelemvor4]

Or why their "always on" DRM doesn't give them enough control nip this in the bud. Unless, of course, they don't add the DRM until just before it goes to market, because it makes it too much of a PITA to develop/test with (but not enough of a PITA that consumers can't be expected to put up with it, naturally)

Customers will always be expected to put up with DRM. That is, until customers stop buying DRM software AND companies somehow equate the DRM as being the cause. Even if the former were to happen, the company would probably find some other thing to blame for low sales figures.

Re:"oops"

[kelemvor4]

If the full (playable, obviously) game's not on a torrent site somewhere, it's probably just a publicity stunt. Yes, the hackers could be looking to blackmail Ubisoft, but there's really no point. It's not like the game's not going to eventually end up on some torrent site after release anyway. All Ubisoft would have to do is ignore the hackers and change the game a bit here and there maybe add some more levels or whatnot, tweak the ending, and call that final.

https://thepiratebay.gl/search/far%20cry%203%20blood%20dragon/0/99/0

Re:"oops"

[PopeRatzo]

This kind of stupidity will cost profit it's life.

Because profits are people, my friend.

Re:"oops"

[ultranova]

It's more correctly "a server designed specifically to distribute as many purchased copies of the game as possible."

You can't purchase games. You can't license them either, since if you had a right to use them, things like the recent Simcity launch would get companies sued for interfering with that with their always-connected requirements. I'm not sure just what the legal construct is, or even if one exists, but if it does it certainly doesn't resemble anything else.

Re:"oops"

[tlhIngan]

Customers will always be expected to put up with DRM. That is, until customers stop buying DRM software AND companies somehow equate the DRM as being the cause. Even if the former were to happen, the company would probably find some other thing to blame for low sales figures.

The best way is to stop giving these companies publicity in any form except how the DRM is a problem.

Don't publicize the game, don't even pirate the game. If you see a torrent for it, have the torrent taken down as well (it's a form of publicity).

Basically the goal is keep awareness down. The worst thing that could happen to anything is to die from obscurity.

Heck, when publicising the failings of DRM, don't even bother with the game name. Just say "EA's latest release has failed because their DRM servers went don't hours after release".

Marketing stunt?

[InsaneLampshade]

Is it all just one big marketing stunt?

Re:Marketing stunt?

[TubeSteak]

Since when does a company obsessed with DRM release a game to bittorrent for free, before it's announced or launched?

Re:Marketing stunt?

[InsaneLampshade]

Maybe they're trying some weird new reverse psychology. "Leak" it to the internet, get a load of press coverage, then a week or so later release it in a "pay what you want" model after telling the press they're no longer developing it because of those dirty pirates. Internet feels sorry for them, it ends up being a roaring profit filled success that they can then use to ram DLC up our rears for the next 12 months.

Not only that if they're not found out then they can use the entire affair to continue to justify massive DRM on all their main titles.

Silly Russians.

[conspirator23]

Don't they know that zero-day warez are supposed to be leaked by employees?

Irony?

[adunstan]

Assuming this wasn't done as a huge publicity stunt, isn't it just hilariously ironic that a DRM system designed to prevent (or at the very least slow down) piracy was used to access a game that hasn't even been announced yet? I hope this is used as a message to further show how futile attempts at stopping piracy like this are and how they actually hurt the paying customer.

Re:Irony?

[adunstan]

What about the fact that the UPlay download service was taken down? Customers who had purchased games cannot download said games because of this. Regardless, my comment about hurting the paying customer was meant as more of a slightly unrelated look at the type of DRM Ubisoft uses, and that this case could be used as an example to how DRM isn't working and then the many ways in which it hurts the customer could be pointed out. My main point was in the irony of the situation, and that no amount of DRM is going to stop piracy; there will always be people in the world that want something for nothing, and are willing to do things like this to get it. I am not justifying the actions of these people at all, I think they are wrong.

As an aside I have no problem with Ubisoft having their own store to sell their games digitally, but when I buy their games from an alternative source, I don't expect to be lumbered with their DRM that for example installs unnecessary browser plugins with security risks and makes me sign up for a UPlay account to play. Just give me the option to download your games and play them, with all other "features" optional.

Re:Who cares?

[Meneth]

It was first uploaded yesterday, 2013-04-09 20:12:34 GMT.

Re:Who cares?

[Dunge]

It has been there since yesterday

Re:Har`first

[fazey]

uh no, actually assassins creed is quite bad ass.

Unreleased game, footage of it being played??

[swilde23]

Either the hackers are also great bug fixers, or the game was more ready for prime-time then some of the crap that is marked "gold".

I wish someone would hack my computer, and fix all my bugs :(

Re:Unreleased game, footage of it being played??

[Zaphod The 42nd]

Its not a new game really, its a standalone expansion pack for Far Cry 3. You don't need Far Cry 3 to play it, but it builds entirely on it and is pretty much the exact same game. So it makes sense that they could crank this out pretty fast and not have too many bugs.

Blood Dragon is just FarCry3 but in the future, with 80s chrome/neon everywhere. Which is fucking awesome.

Re:Har`first

[Archimagus]

Oh come on... EA is at least a contender.

Re:Har`first

[Khyber]

You mean Ass-Bad. Even Borderlands had more variety in the fetch quests, and that was a run of the mill FPS.

Re:Har`first

[crutchy]

who doesn't jack off to the "naked" chicks on the walls in duke nukem?

hail to the king, baby!