Ubisoft officially dumps Starforce

Following several days of rumors, Ubisoft has officially confirmed that it will no longer use the controversial digital-rights software from Starforce. "Ubisoft has decided to use an alternative copy-protection system to Starforce for upcoming releases," said a rep for the company. The announcement means that Starforce software will not be included in Heroes of Might and Magic V, the publisher's much-anticipated forthcoming PC role-playing game.

Ubisoft's decision caps weeks of controversy surrounding Starforce. In mid-March, an employee of the Russian-German-Chinese-Cypriot company was accused of posting a link to a site where users could illegally download Stardock's space sim Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords. Shortly, thereafter, Aspyr Media decided to sever its relationship with Starforce and remove its software from its forthcoming game, Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars.

Ubisoft's motivation for ending its agreement with Starforce was more personal. At the end of March, the company was slapped with a $5 million lawsuit by gamers who claimed that Starforce's DRM system compromised the security of their PCs. "We are currently investigating complaints about alleged problems with Starforce's software," said the Ubisoft rep.