Removing Anti-Piracy DRM Programs Reduces Piracy, The Witcher 3 Dev Says


The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt developer CD Projekt Red has confirmed that, when it removed the anti-piracy DRM (Digital Rights Management) software it included in The Witcher 2, people who used to pirate games embraced the RPG.

The Witcher 2 impressed millions of PC owners and last year it also came out for the Xbox 360. While the original version was sold with the SecuROM DRM, the developer quickly offered a special DRM-free edition through retailer GOG.

At that time, users who pirated games via torrent website began urging others to buy The Witcher 2 instead of pirating it.

"When we removed DRM, people on those torrents were actually asking people not to download our game, because we [weren't using DRM]," CD Projekt Red boss Adam Badowski told Kotaku.

A similar strategy will be employed with the upcoming The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which is set to appear on the PC and next-gen consoles in 2014.

Via: Removing Anti-Piracy DRM Programs Reduces Piracy, The Witcher 3 Dev Says