While we were excited to report yesterday that Ubisoft wouldn't be using its horrible "always connected" DRM scheme for its upcoming strategy game RUSE, it looks like the company hasn't given up on it quite yet. Speaking to GameIndustry.biz, an unnamed Ubisoft spokesperson said that the company would continue using it on future PC games.

"We will continue to use the Ubisoft protection system for most PC games, said a spokesperson.

In case you've never played an Ubisoft PC title, the DRM works like this: In order to play multiplayer or even single player in a game you have to be connected to an Ubisoft server that validates your game. If you should get disconnected from the server, your game - no matter what you are doing in it - will quit or pause.

Of course there is always the chance that Ubisoft will see how well Steamworks works for them as a DRM protection system and eventually abandon its previous solution. Who knows.

Source: GI.biz

Ubisoft has been the whipping boy for DRM opponents because some of its PC releases have required that the player be "always connected" to the internet to play its games. But this week the company is earning some good will. The first is the releases of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World game on PlayStation Network, a wonderful 8-bit beat 'em up that plays like a gussied version of River City Ransom. But for DRM opponents the best news is that the highly anticipated strategy game RUSE won't be using Ubisoft's usual DRM scheme.

A post on Ubisoft’s official forum for the game reveals that, because the game is using Steamworks, it won't require users to be always connected to the internet. Instead it will require you to login to Steam to validate the game once. Here's more from the forum post:

Those speculating on where Clint Hocking, former Ubisoft Montreal creative director, would end up can be put to rest today. Hocking has taken a job at Lucas Arts as creative director on an upcoming and as-of-yet unannounced project. Hocking left Ubisoft Montreal after serving as the company's creative director for nearly nine years. Hocking made his intentions to leave the company publicly on his blog earlier this year, saying: "I am too comfortable. I am too content. And I know where that can lead for me. Fortunately, for the first time in my life, I know the way forward," he wrote in May on his personal blog.

Today LucasArts confirmed that the man who helped steer such franchises as Splinter Cell and Far Cry was now working at the company:

"We are pleased to announce that Clint Hocking has joined LucasArts as creative director on an unannounced project," a LucasArts representative told GameSpot.

Hopefully we'll hear more about this project that Hocking is working on and why he thought it was important enough to jump ship to LucasArts.

In the inaugural edition of PC Gamer's Soapbox, Editor-in-Chief Logan Decker offers Ubisoft an alternative to Ubisoft's "always connected" DRM: steal ideas from your competitors. But before explaining all that, it is important to note PC Gamer's thoughts on Assassin’s Creed 2; last month the magazine told its readers to avoid the game like the bubonic plague. They did this not because Assassin’s Creed 2 is an awful game (in fact it is an awesome game), but because of its absolutely horrible DRM solution:

Avalanche boss Cristofer Sundberg says that DRM solutions like Ubisoft's "always on" protection do more harm than good. Speaking to CVG, Sundberg said that DRM like Ubisoft's does more to punish consumers than it does pirates; who considered cracking it the "ultimate Rubix Cube."

Pirates and crackers do so love to be challenged. But more than that, Sundberg noted that this kind of DRM is the sign of a "scared market" that doesn't fully grasp how much ill will it creates with consumers who simply want to buy and enjoy a game without hassles.

A Charlotte, North Carolina man who stole a PC game from a disc replicator (his employer)—and subsequently uploaded it to an online warez group—has been sentenced to three months in a halfway house.

Dow Jones reports that Christopher Anzalone also received five year’s probation and was slapped with a $25,000 fine for his theft of Assassin’s Creed from Optical Experts Manufacturing (OEM). The game was in the midst of being duplicated for commercial distribution at the time of the crime in February of 2008.

As noted by The Escapist, Optical Experts Manufacturing’s apparent inability to protect its clients from this type of theft resulted in Ubisoft suing OEM in mid-2008 for $10.0 million, alleging “an extraordinary breach of trust and gross negligence.”

The release group Skid Row says it has circumvented Ubisoft’s controversial DRM technology on the PC version of Assassin’s Creed 2.

CNET reports that the group released a modified executable file and crack, which enables the game to be played without a constant Internet connection to Ubi’s servers. The new DRM technology caused problems for many legitimate owners of the game and also caused hackers to attack Ubi’s authentication servers at least twice, taking them down and rendering games unplayable for lengthy periods of time.

Ubisoft is introducing a pair new initiatives for packaged games that will cut down on waste and improve the company’s green factor.

First, the company will eliminate the process of packaging paper game manuals in with their games, a move that would save about 180 tons of paper per year, or 2,300 acres of small forest, reports FastCompany. Manuals will go the digital route and will be able to be accessed through a game’s menu, which, in turn, will open up the design to become more interactive, as, "It will be up to individual developers making the games how rich the digital manuals will be."

Gamers are once again taking to Ubisoft’s forums in order to bark about connectivity issues with the recent release Settlers 7.

While the game does feature Ubi’s DRM technology that requires a constant Internet connection, it appears this time around that the problem is related to authentication. The problem first reared its head in a thread on connectivity issues, in which many gamers complained about being unable to play the title. Some reported that, after starting Settlers 7 and seeing the game’s splash screen, a “server not available” message was presented, rendering the game unplayable.

An avid PC gamer, initially “irate” at Ubisoft’s new DRM technology, has come full circle and decided that the technology “just isn’t that bad.”

Ubi’s DRM, of course, requires a constant Internet connection to play and is enacted on the recent games Silent Hunter 5 and Assassin’s Creed II.  A HookedGamers.com editorial on the subject details why the author changed his stance, following some time spent with the PC version of AC II. The author believes that the vast majority of PC gamers would already possess a constant Internet connection and then, in order to mitigate the impact of DRM on gaming done outside of the home, goes on to detail the growing proliferation of wireless networks:

Since its launch, Assassin's Creed 2 for the PC has been beset by server issues and outages so severe that Ubisoft is trying to make it up to their "patient" fans.

According to a story on Gameindustry.biz, users have gotten emails from Ubisoft offering free DLC for the game. If players bought the collector's edition, which already had the DLC, they are being offered a free downloadable game from the list of Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X, Heroes over Europe, Tom Clancy's EndWar and Prince of Persia.

The server problems apparently have been caused by hackers upset with Ubisoft's new DRM policy. According to the story:

As DRM technology becomes more invasive, an article on CNET takes a look at the methods used and offers some possible suggestions for DRM-free gaming.

The reaction to Ubisoft’s DRM, which requires a constant Internet connection, has been well documented, with a reverse boycott organized and hackers taking down the publisher’s authentication servers twice. The new Electronic Arts release Command & Conquer 4, despite employee claims that the game “has NO DRM. Zip, zero, zilch, none,” also requires an Internet connection to play, which has already resulted in a thread full of complaints on the C&C forums.

A German website (translated) is reporting that the Collector’s Edition of Ubisoft’s Silent Hunter 5 PC game has been recalled in Germany due to the appearance of “anticonstiutional symbols” in the game.

This would indicate that some type of Nazi symbol or imagery was left in the local edition of the game, which is verboten according to German laws. Edge received confirmation from Ubisoft that the game’s standard edition was not recalled, only the special edition.

Ubisoft’s DRM scheme may have angered the wrong group of people, as the software publisher’s servers were attacked again last night.

The company, who also experienced attacks on their servers over the weekend, took to their Twitter account “about 19 hours ago” (in Twitter time) to announce, “Our servers are under attack again. Some gamers are experiencing trouble signing in. We're working on it and will keep you posted.”

About five hours ago the company reported that, “Login servers were partially reestablished at 10pm CET and fully restored at 1am CET. The attack affected only those trying to login.”

Ubisoft’s new DRM scheme, which requires a constant Internet connection to authenticate game sessions, had a bit of a hick up this weekend.

Ubi posted to its Twitter feed this morning apologizing to “anyone who couldn’t play ACII [Assassin’s Creed II] or SH5 [Silent Hunter 5] yesterday.” While the company originally blamed the outage on “exceptional demand,” Ubi stated on its Twitter feed that their servers were “attacked, which limited service from 2:30pm to 9pm Paris time.”

Ubisoft added that “95% of players were not affected, but a small group of players attempting to open a game session did receive denial of service errors.”

Joystiq also points us towards a thread on the Ubisoft forums in which the affected “5%” voice their displeasure.

GP: On a related note, I grabbed Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for the PC this weekend and during the install was prompted to choose my favored method of DRM—disc-based or online authentication (I chose disc-based). In a perfect world there would be no need for DRM, but if it is required, this method of offering the user a choice at least goes a little way towards lessening the impact (and might make DRM-based gaming functionable on an Army base or a cruise ship). Bad Company 2 uses Sony’s SecuROM technology.

As another aside, while the DRM tech worked fine, Bad Company 2 had its own online problems for a little bit yesterday, though their issues appeared to be Punkbuster-related.


|Thanks PHX Corp and DarkSaber!|

Ubisoft is denying claims that their new (and controversial) DRM technology has been breached by crackers.

CVG (via Kotaku) received a message from Ubisoft, which was responding to rumors that their just-released Silent Hunter 5 PC game had already been hacked. “You have probably seen rumors on the web that Assassin's Creed II and Silent Hunter 5 have been cracked,” wrote the company, continuing, “Please know that this rumor is false and while a pirated version may seem to be complete at start up, any gamer who downloads and plays a cracked version will find that their version is not complete.”

The message was also echoed on Ubi’s Twitter feed.

Cracked versions of the submarine game on torrent and file-sharing websites appear with instructions that users must only “Install game and copy crack, it’s that simple!”

Ubisoft’s DRM technology requires a constant connection to the Internet and has been the object of scorn from gamers around the world.

Additionally, while Ubisoft’s Assasin’s Creed 2 won’t be available to PC users until March 16, ShackNews already has an update for the game available, one that alters files to enable gamers to pick up where they left off in the game in the event of an Internet disconnection. Previous reports on Ubi’s DRM tech indicated that any disconnection from the Web while playing would result in a player losing all current progress and see them forced to pick up playing from their last save file.


Thanks E. Zachary Knight!

As Ubisoft’s recent struggle with DRM technology brings the subject back into the limelight again, the always excellent Ars Technica has an article up exploring how DRM can impact a specific group of gamers—soldiers stationed overseas.

A soldier now stationed in Iraq detailed his experiences with DRM, saying his experiences with the technology have ranged from “annoying to unforgivable,” though he called Valve’s Steam platform “pretty awesome” when it came to working with deployed military personnel in order to ensure that they have access to their games.

The unnamed soldier on his experiences with other companies and services:

I've had hit and miss success with some of the other download companies. Any kind of game that tries to call home, though, is generally more of a problem than it is worth. Especially ones that try to resolve your IP address with your version/purchase location.

On-base Internet connectivity can very spotty and expensive, adding to the headache of playing a game with DRM that phones home constantly. The soldier said that the “government sponsored Internet” features severe bandwidth caps, while civilian Internet is extremely expensive—the soldier pays $150.00 a month for a 192K connection.

Ars added its own thoughts on DRM:

This sort of DRM makes sense for a world where every device is always connected to some magically open and always-on Internet connection. That world is a very long way away, so by requiring an Internet connection at all times to play a game that isn't online itself is simply alienating an audience.

Ubisoft recently detailed the specifics of their new DRM scheme, which requires a constant internet connection to merely be able to play the games. Understandably, gamers are upset that a momentary internet connection hiccup can result in losing unsaved game progress mid-session -- even in single-player mode.

Instead of whining about it on the internet, however, game journalist Lewie Procter of SavyGamer is deciding to fight back in the form of a "reverse boycott". In essence, Procter wants people to buy the game en masse, then return the game unopened and untouched at the end of the valid refund period, explaining that they find the game's DRM to be unacceptably restrictive. In theory, the protesters will receive a full cash refund (at Tesco, a UK retailer) and Ubisoft will feel the burn from the retail outlet.

Negative Gamer has already signed on in support of the protest. However, it's unlikely to catch on as well in the US, where many retailers have significant restrictions on refunds for games.

GP: While the intentions are good, I fear that the reverse boycott will ultimately be ineffective. Even if there is an unusually large response, the dollar amount is simply not going to be enough to make Tesco or Ubisoft take notice. But the attempt is far from useless. Negative public backlash has proven helpful, perhaps instrumental, in changing restrictive DRM schemes in the past. Simply bringing attention to the issue could be Procter's greatest success.
 

Dan Rosenthal is a legal analyst for the games industry.

Ubisoft’s new DRM technology, which requires a constant Internet connection, has been put through its paces and the results are not pretty.

PC Gamer test drove the technology, after receiving copies of both Settlers VII and Assassin’s Creed 2 for the PC, which both contain the DRM tech. The site reports that launching a game while offline results in an error message right away.

The next test involved removing a PC’s network cable in the middle of a play session:

This is the same as what happens if your net connection drops momentarily, your router is rebooted, or the game loses its connection to Ubisoft's 'Master servers'. The game stopped, and I was dumped back to a menu screen - all my progress since it last autosaved was lost.

Ouch.

The reverse is also true; if Ubisoft’s master servers were to go down, PC Gamer says that “everyone playing a current Ubisoft game is kicked out of it and loses their progress.”

ReclaimYourGame, which reviews and reports on various DRM systems used in games, offers a pro and con article on Ubisoft’s technology. A sample from each side is below.

Pro:

Ubisoft can now be the sole content, DRM, copy protection provider. No more third party DRMs to worry about. If you have a problem, there's only one place to look and that's Ubisoft. I don't know about you, but I'm sick of being a ping-ping ball when it comes to authentication support.

Con:

How many of you have a family member with their own system that you game with?  I do, and lately it’s gotten ridiculously expensive. It used to be that my brother would buy a game and I would buy a different one, we’d both play through them, then trade them out. No longer, with more games switching to an account based system, it’s becoming an impossibility to do this.

Thanks DarkSaber!

With the beta for Settlers 7, Ubisoft is unveiling a new anti-piracy measure that will require gamers to log into their Ubi.com account in order to authenticate their play session.

While requiring an Internet connection is not the most gamer-friendly initiative ever devised, the invasive technology does have at least two decent aspects, as noted on GameSpy: game saves will be stored online and can be accessed from anywhere (providing an Internet connection is available) and a single game can be installed on “hundreds” of PCs.

GameSpy seems to think that this system is at least a little better than the StarForce DRM system Ubisoft used in the past. As one columnist stated:

I think the DRM benefits of this approach and the ancillary bonuses (remote game saves, unlimited installations, no CD authentication) will end up outweighing the annoyance of having to log-in before playing.

Ars Technica compared the solution to an annoying practice employed by some retailers:

If you're annoyed when you have to show your receipt to someone when you walk out of an electronics store, Ubisoft is not the company for you. This is like having to show your receipt every time you want to turn on your television.

Ubisoft’s new Toronto studio, scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2010, will end up costing about $800.0 million Canadian, $263.0 million of which was subsidized by the Province of Ontario.

The Ontario Technology Corridor now claims to employ some 272,000 people across 6,700 companies; figures that prompted the Canadian Province to boast in a press release that it “wants Europe to know that the Ontario Technology Corridor is unique in the world for its depth of talent and serious government commitment to the digital entertainment industry.”

Ontario also recently donated $10.0 million to the University of Waterloo and $9.0 million to the Ontario College of Art & Design in a bid to fund digital-media based programs and improve campus infrastructures.

The Toronto Ubisoft studio, to be headed up by Assassin’s Creed producer Jade Raymond, is expected to create 800 additional jobs in the Province over the next ten years.

A Texas-based company has filed a lawsuit alleging that a group of game makers violated its patent related to voice recognition technology.

Filed on November 10 in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas, plaintiff Bareis Technologies, LLC names Ubisoft, Inc. Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc., Electronic Arts, Inc. and Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. The lawsuit revolves around a U.S. Patent for “Optical Disk Having Speech Recognition Templates for Information Access,” which Bareis owns.

The games specifically called out as infringing in the complaint are Ubi Soft’s Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Lockdown, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Jungle Storm, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2 Summit Strike, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon 2, and Tom Clancy’s EndWar, SCEA’s SoCom: U.S. Navy SEALs, SoCom II: U.S. Navy SEALs, SoCom III: U.S. Navy SEALs, SoCom Combined Assault, EA’s NASCAR 06 and NASCAR 07 and Disney’s Phonics Quest.

The plaintiff is seeking a jury trial and “all damages caused by the infringement of the ‘407 patent, which by statute can be no less than a reasonable royalty.”

The Montreal Gazette reports that a $10,000 lawsuit filed against the game publisher by the bishop of the Raëlian Church has been thrown out.

Raëlism is a UFO-based religion founded in 1974. From the newspaper story:

Daniel Chabot had sued for moral and exemplary damages claiming he was discriminated against based on religion...

 

Chabot had argued before [Judge] Lachapelle that his training program at Ubisoft was cancelled after it was discovered he was a member of the Raëlians.

According to Raëlism's Wikipedia entry, the government of France considers it a cult.

Yesterday's edition of the Houston Chronicle's Game Hack blog ponders whether racism is becoming a norm in video game design.

Blogger Willie Jefferson expresses concern over 2009 releases Resident Evil 5 and Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (pic at left) as well as the in-development Left 4 Dead 2. RE5, of course, has already been the subject of much debate over its depiction of African villagers as zombies. Jefferson writes:

I am disturbed by the growing trend of racist undertones that are cropping up in video games.

One of the games that comes to mind is "Left 4 Dead 2." ...Set in New Orleans, players will have to fight their way through hordes of zombies - with several of them who appear to be African-Americans. When I saw the first trailer for the game, all I could think about was Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath...

The game that really inspired this blog entry was Ubisoft's "Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood." The game starts out with players assuming the role of Ray, a Confederate officer... the Confederacy, as far as I am concerned, wanted to keep their cheap slave labor and the like. I can not stand the Confederate flag... To me, the flag represents hate -- and offends me and many others to no end. [It] made me wonder how much research Ubisoft did for this game...

As a minority, had the South won, I wouldn't be in this position I am today...

Recent news that the government of Ontario plans to grant $263 million to assist video game publishing giant Ubisoft in the creation of a game development studio in Toronto has generated a good bit of controversy.

Supporters maintain that Ontario is investing in job creation while critics see a government handout to a company that is profitable, foreign and in the business of creating violent games.

But Brad D. of ExGamer.net looks at the deal from the game addiction perspective. In last week's podcast, Brad comments on the new marriage between Ubisoft game makers and Ontario bureaucrats:

The government of Ontario has just made a massive investment in the firm Ubisoft... When we see massive infusion of cash, let's say in... casinos, we always see that matched with public education programs around the potential dangers of excessive gambling...

 

When I see a quarter-billion dollars being invested by the government in the video game industry, it raises a couple of eyebrows. While I'm thrilled to see jobs in any industry that will be high-paid and lasting, I am concerned that the government is not matching that with some kind of investment in education on the risks of excessive [video game] usage.

The unprecedented $263 million grant with which the Ontario government enticed Ubisoft to open a new game development studio in Toronto has drawn its share of fire since it was announced last week.

Most of the criticism has focused on the economics of the deal and the idea of giving away so much taxpayer money to an already-profitable, foreign company.

This morning, columnist Andrew Dreschel of the Hamilton Spectator takes a few shots at the money angle, but also slams the government of Premier Dalton McGuinty for essentially funding the creation of violent video games:

If using tax dollars to assist a foreign private-sector company is an iffy proposition, the thread becomes even more frayed when you look at some of the games in Ubisoft's roster.

Assassin's Creed enables players to experience the thrill of murdering people in Renaissance Italy. Red Steel allows you to feel the power and freedom of slaying your enemies with bullet and blade.

Call Of Juarez lets you use your gunslinging skills and arsenal of deadly weapons to kill anyone who stands in your way. America's Army: Rise Of A Soldier thrusts you into the role of a sniper assigned to kill enemy officers...

The McGuinty government's investment is offering concrete support and official blessings to amoral games that both glorify and trivialize violence and, arguably, contribute to anti-social behaviour -- all in the name of business.

GP: In the pic, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty (right) and Ubisoft CEO Yannis Mallat seal the $263 million deal...

The recent news that the government of Ontario would fork over $263 million to Ubisoft for a new studio in Toronto remains controversial. In today's Globe & Mail columnist Marcus Gee is beside himself over the decision:

With a budget deficit of $18.5-billion, your provincial government is strapped - but not so strapped that it can't find a quarter of a billion in the pocket lint to pay some Frenchmen to set up a new video-game studio...

 

Ubisoft executives say they are in love with Toronto... But game developers are a footloose bunch, jumping from place to place in search of talent and government handouts... Who is to say they won't jump across the pond when the [U.K.] tax picture changes. Or when currency-exchange rates make Canada less desirable...

 

That quarter-billion has to come from somewhere, much of it from good Toronto businesses that don't have the buzz factor... Their tax burden will rise, and their business will suffer, while the cool kids in the video-game industry collect government cheques.

Meanwhile, David Olive at The Star seems cautiously optimistic about the Ubisoft deal:

Corporate welfare is tough to justify at the best of times... Could there be better uses of public money than developing the next generation of Assassin's Creed... And at a cost of $329,000 for each of the up to 800 workers to be employed by the new Ubisoft Toronto?

On balance, the investment is probably wise...

In yesterday's GamePolitics coverage we took note of an editorial in Canada's National Post which slammed the Ontario government's recent announcement that it would grant Ubisoft $263 million for the publisher's new Toronto studio.

Canadian blogger Eli Green offers the opposite view, however, claiming that the deal is a good one for Ontario because it will boost the local economy. In an opinion piece for Comic Book Bin Green writes:

To begin wit... Torontonians, or anyone else from the general vicinity, looking for a position with the [Ubisoft] will no longer have to make the... six hour jaunt to Quebec... That means more talent stays within Ontario, which, naturally, is beneficial for the province as a whole.

There is something far more important happening here though... an investment of this magnitude, in this industry, from the government of Ontario was long overdue... If the government plays its cards right, the Ontario video game development community should continue to grow and thrive, giving a nice boost to the economy, and local talent will continue to be just that – local.

It's not just important news for Ubisoft, it's important news for Ontario.

GP: In the pic, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty (right) and Ubisoft CEO Yannis Mallat seal the deal...

When Ontario's Premier Dalton McGuinty (left) announced on Monday that the provincial government planned to give $263 million to Ubisoft to offset the cost of opening a new game studio in Toronto, some eyebrows were raised.

Game industry types seemed understandably pleased, but an editorial in the National Post expresses shock and dismay over the amount of money involved and the fact the that those funds are going to a highly profitable company:

Ontario gives $263 million to company that makes $111 million in profit. Smart. Weren't we supposed to have learned something from the recession? Apparently not...

It’s bad enough that companies with terrible balance sheets get cash from taxpayers, but encouraging software companies that make money to play the same game is something else again. If you're losing money, Ontario wants to support you. If you're making money, Ontario wants to support you.

Commenters to the editorial were, by and large, not receptive to the plan, either.

- Soooo, do the math: That's 80 jobs per year. At a cost to the taxpayer of........ wait for it......................... $328,750 EACH !!  WHAT A "DEAL" !!

 

- Let's call a spade a spade: Ontario liberals pissing away $300.000 per job created. You know what? I am not paying any more taxes. That's it... Why paying taxes, if everything I pay is getting just given away to the foreign businesses? I'd rather move to Honduras...

A few commenters, like the one below lauded the deal, however:

The author of this article clearly misses the point.  The $263M "invested" by the Ontario government are in the form of tax breaks over ten year as an incentive to set up shop here, so no cash outlay.  Further, the tax breaks are kind of a moot point since these taxes wouldn't have been paid anyway had UbiSoft not set up shop.  The fact that they're spending $500M to open a studio, clearly they'll be here for a while, thus creating more jobs... 

The Canadian province of Prince Edward Island is currently home to an office of Longtail Studios, a development house started by Ubisoft co-founder Gerard Guillemot.

But, as reported by CBC, the firm is apparently relocating to Nova Scotia. Last week all 23 employees were offered comparable positions in a proposed new location in Halifax. P.E.I., however, is not giving Longtail up without a fight.

Innovation Minister Allan Campbell told CBC:

I am concerned with the possible loss of these positions on P.E.I. I've asked staff in my department to put together a package that is attractive to the company and that incites them to remain here on P.E.I.

Why Nova Scotia in particular has targeted this particular company, I'm not sure about that.

A package of tax breaks and subsidies which P.E.I. previously granted to Longtail expires later this year. Campbell said that talks aimed at keeping the developer in the province have been ongoing.

Longtail, which primarily develops games for mobile platforms, is based in New York City. According to its website, the developer also has maintains an office in Quebec City.