Ubisoft has issued an apology to customers who were affected by server moves this week that affected games requiring "always connected" DRM - even when they tried to play single player games. Because Ubisoft uses a DRM scheme on some games that require a constant connection, shutting the servers down that these games require made them unplayable.

CD Projekt RED, makers of The Witcher 2, say that there are real issues that could arise from Microsoft attempting to block the use of used games in its next generation console. Rumors have surfaced that Microsoft plans to block the use of used games on its new platform - a rumor many game developers heralded as a "good idea." Used games have become a punching bag for publishers and developers in the last several years who spend a lot of money developing games only to see marginal returns.

Destructoid points out in this story that Ubisoft's plan to take down servers next week shows why "always on" DRM is a bad idea. During the maintenance the publisher has planned next week, any game that has "always online" DRM will not be playable. That means that legitimate copies of games won't work. Which games will be broken next week?

As part of its earnings announcements today, Electronic Arts revealed that its digital games service Origin generated around $100 million in the 2011 calendar year from an estimated 9.3 million consumers.

The company also said that its MMO (created by BioWare) Star Wars: The Old Republic currently enjoys about 1.7 million active subscribers since launching in December, with 2 million units sold.

Speaking to Eurogamer, EA Partners executive producer Jeff Gamon says that it will not use an Online Pass or code system for the upcoming Syndicate game. This is obviously great news for consumers who absolutely loathe this new practice by publishers such as EA, THQ, and Ubisoft.

Gamon said that EA decided to leave Online Pass out of the re-imagining of the dystopian Bullfrog strategy game classic to appeal to more players.

EA's next chapter in the SSX action snowboarding game series will have an Online Pass system within. All players (both those who buy new and used) will be able to access the game's Explore and Global Events multiplayer modes, but any in-game credits earned will be withheld from the player until an online pass code is activated. That code is included in new copies of the game, but used game buyers will have to pay $10 for a code.

A dust-up over 38 Studios' Kingdoms of Amular: Reckoning locking on-disc content behind an "online pass" system has raised the ire of some gamers - which in turn has brought studio founder and former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling out of the woodwork to defend the plan.

The Online Pass Code was found in early copies of the game sent to reviewers and leaked onto the Internet. When fans found out they took to the official forums to complain about it.

The text that came with the review copies of the game reads:

We missed this a couple of days ago, but it's a pretty important story for fans of Twisted Metal. According to IndustryGamers, Eat Sleep Play's Twisted Metal for PlayStation 3 will include an Online Pass system that requires you to punch in a code to play online.

Paradox Entertainment CEO and co-owner Fred Wester thinks that digital rights management schemes are a waste of money, a hassle to users, and usually implemented to appease a CEO or Board of directors that thinks it somehow stops piracy.

Ubisoft has found itself on the defensive yet again after customers in Europe who bought the latest Anno strategy game complained about its digital rights management software. Reports surfaced last week that the DRM, which offers a limited number of activations, were being used up if users changed their hardware configurations.

CD Projekt, the oft-admired developer and publisher known for The Witcher series and its cool stance on offering DRM-free products to its customers, fell from the community's grace in December. A story surfaced that the company was using a copyright trolling law firm in Germany to send demand letters to people who had been identified as having illegally downloaded The Witcher 2. The company said at the time that it did this because, while it was all for offering its products without copyright protection, it did not support its games being pirated.

The Humble Indie Bundle 4 has ended, and was the biggest bundle offering to date, selling 435,236 bundles for a total of $2,372,194.97. By the end of the pay-what-you-want DRM-free indie games bundle event, the organizers offered a total of 12 games including Nightsky HD, Cave Story+, Gratuitous Space Battles, Jamestown, Bit.Trip.Runner, Super Meat Boy, Shank, Crayon Physics Deluxe, VVVVVV, Cogs, Hammerfight, And Yet It Moves, and a bundle of soundtracks. 

The Humble Indie Bundle 4 is on fire, already generating nearly $1.8 million and well over 340,000 bundle sales. The pay-what-you-want promotion has added an additional five games into the mix from Humble Indie Bundle 3 as well as their full soundtracks. To get all these extras, consumers simply need to pay more than the average price of $5.16.

CD Projekt, makers of The Witcher 2 and owners of Good Old Games, has not denied that it has hired a law firm to demand payments from individuals who it believes downloaded The Witcher 2 illegally. We reported on this story earlier this week.

A TorrentFreak report asserts that CD Projekt has hired a law firm in Germany to go after those who downloaded DRM-free copies of The Witcher 2 - even as it extolled the virtues of its games being DRM-free. CD Projekt was not available for comment at the time of this writing due to the late hour in its home country of Poland - but we hope to bring you an official response to this story as soon as it becomes available.

Many gamers hate DRMs as an unneeded cumbersome burden on gamers that legitimately purchase software. However, Croteam, the makers of the Serious Sam franchise, have managed to protect those gamers and make the life of pirates who don't buy the game miserable. 

The Witcher 2 developer CD Projekt RED estimates that 4.5 million copies of its action-RPG have been pirated. The game has sold 1 million copies through various channels. Speaking to PC Gamer, CEO and co-founder Marcin Iwinski said that the number is also a conservative number.

GOG.com, the DRM-free digital distribution platform for classic PC games, announced its plans for 2012 and 2013 today. The company revealed that it will start offering new titles in 2012, that it will bring new improvements to its online portal, and that it is making a stronger effort to work with "ambitious developers and independent publishers" to bring their games to market.

Speaking at a press conference in a room full of investors and journalists, Managing Director Guillaume Rambourg said the following:

Bohemia Interactive issued an interesting release today revealing how it has handled piracy over the years. The company claims that it uses a unique brand of copy protection that manifest itself as a form of gameplay / quality degradation. Naturally when a game starts messing up - even a pirated one - people start to complain about bugs. From the release:

Zachary Knight (better known as EZK around GamePolitics) has written an interesting article at TechDirt about Good Old Games CEO Guillaume Rambourg's comments to Edge Magazine about how keeping games DRM-free has helped his company make money and has kept its customers happy.

Cracking and hacking group Razor1911 has found a way to allow owners of the PC version of Battlefield 3 to play online without using EA's Origin service. Battlefield 3 owners are required to have an Origin account to run even retail versions of the PC edition of the game. In the documentation to the crack (you can read the document here) the group laid out its reasoning for hacking EA's executables (besides doings it for the lulz):

Electronic Arts is denying claims from German gamers and the press that its download service Origin spies on users' computer activity and potentially breaks Germany's Privacy laws.

Overclock.net has gathered an avalanche of stories related to how Battlefield 3 and Origin are being received in Germany (thanks to Solarian for tip). The short answer is that Germans seem to hate it because of the company's terms of service and what Origin is doing on people's PCs.

Valve front man Gabe Newell says that there is a way to beat piracy, and it involves content creators and publishers providing better service. In other words, obtrusive DRM solutions are not the answer to the problem.

"One thing that we have learned is that piracy is not a pricing issue. It's a service issue," said Newell at a tech conference in Seattle. "The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting anti-piracy technology to work. It's by giving those people a service that's better than what they're receiving from the pirates."

Reclaim Your Game, a company that promotes and specializes in removing DRM schemes to make lives easier for both consumers and companies, offers a story about one of its members who has written a strong letter to Cyanide Studio about the DRM used in Blood Bowl. The fantasy sports title set in the Warhammer universe uses SecuROM as its weapon of choice against piracy. The letter, penned by Lachlan Kingsford, can be found below:

Reclaim Your Game has compiled a list of all the games protected by StarForce's DRM. Dmitry Guseff of StarForce even helped the group with its list, adding a few game names the group was unaware of.

"I don't know all the particulars of each game or if any of the versions have changed, but this should help some of you," notes Lisa Pham, CEO of Reclaim Your Game. At the end of her list she asks the community to contribute any game names they might have missed.

Rick Falkvinge, founder of the Swedish and first Pirate Party, stops by TorrentFreak to offers his opinions on digital rights management. As you can probably guess, he thinks DRM should go the way of the dodo. Falkvinge starts by saying that after the European Greens’ adoption of his party's position on DRM, he has been getting a lot of questions about why DRM should be banned. He lays out his first point with the following:

The government of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has resubmitted a revision of the Canadian digital copyright law (C-11) to Parliament. The bill is being described by Canadian media as pretty much the same as the previous bill submitted by Harper's government the last time. This time the bill will probably pass.

Is Humble Bundle’s pay-what-you-like pricing scheme a bit too rich for your blood?

Well, how does “free” sound?

Good Old Games, the DRM-free classic game digital distribution service, is nearing six million downloads today. When it does, the 6 millionth downloader will win every game available in the Good Old Games catalog. As of this writing, the site was at the 5,828,597 download mark. If you need further motivation to download something for a chance to win, you can pick up Baldur's Gate 2 Complete, Planescape, Icewind Dale, and other classic RPG's on the cheap.