Valve's Newell attacks 'aggressive DRM'

Valve boss Gabe Newell has once again hit out at "aggressive" DRM measure which require players to remain connected to the internet in order to play.Newell last year said that the practice resulted in games that are "worth less" - to a cheering crowd at GDC.This week, in an interview with Kotaku, he went a step further. "We're a broken record on this," said the exec. "This belief that you increase your monetisation by making your game worth less through aggressive digital rights management is totally backwards." Newell added that piracy was "not an issue" for Valve as it is "a service issue, not a technology issue".He cited Russia as an example, which is now Steam's largest European market outside the UK and Germany. Valve had invested in making sure games were properly localised for the region in order to combat piracy."When we entered Russia everyone said, 'You can't make money in there. Everyone pirates,'" he said, going on to explain that, at the time, pirates were localising games better than official publishers."When people decide where to buy their games they look and they say, 'Jesus, the pirates provide a better service for us,'" he commented."The best way to fight piracy is to create a service that people need. I think (publishers with strict DRM) will sell less of their products and create more problems."Customers want to know everything is going to be there for them no matter what: Their saved games and configurations will be there. They don't want any uncertainty." CVG Staff