Blizzard to Release New Games with Anti-Piracy Efforts

August 31, 2009

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. a popular American video game developer and publisher in Irvine, California has announced that it will undertake anti-piracy efforts along with its release of two-highly anticipated games, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and Diablo III.

Blizzard Chief Operating Officer Paul Sams has said in an interview during the Blizzard Convention that the company was waiting for adequate Internet penetration worldwide in order to take such a bold step against piracy.

"We feel that the vast majority of our players have access to the Internet," he said. "If they can get to a store to buy the game, they're probably in an environment that also has Internet," he stated. Players will indeed need an internet connection to install the game and to play with other people. Players must verify their copies of the game over the Internet by calling to Blizzard.

Blizzard however assures its players that they can still play even without an internet connection in single-player or challenge modes but of course without any Internet-enabled advantages.

Blizzard had previously launched anti-piracy efforts such as cutting the prices of its software in China (and selling over a million copies) and by selling its games for the equivalent of single-digit U.S. dollars in Russia to defend against its rampant software black market.

The method of verifying copies of games have been tried in the past by developers and publishers but even the software can be cracked and distributed online.