So, Ubisoft have announced a new Online Services Platform for their future PC games. Some of it doesn't actually sound too bad: you don't have to worry about CD checks or activation limits and you get your saves backed up online, which you can then access from any PC.

But then you see that little thing about having to be connected to the internet for the whole time that you play a game, even if it's just single player.

Oh... really? That doesn't sound very nice.

Indeed, and here's why:

1. No network is perfect, particularly not WiFi ones. From time to time you might have an issue with your local network and, therefore, not be able to talk to Ubisoft's servers.
   • The best case scenario here is that your game is simply paused while the connection sorts itself out. Not too bad I suppose but I'm sure it would annoy you after a while.
   • The worst case scenario is that you have to stop playing then and there to sort out your connection and you can't carry on playing until it's fixed.
2. No ISP is perfect and, from time to time, you may find that you have no internet connection at all. Some would argue that these are the most likely times for gamers to turn to their single player games for entertainment. Of course, that won't be possible under Ubisoft's new regime.
3. Even the ISP(s) of a large corporation like Ubisoft aren't infallible and will, from time to time, have trouble connecting to other networks. Ubisoft say that they'll have 24/7 support for this system but that doesn't really mean anything if a problem takes a few hours to fix, which is not at all unlikely.
4. Ubisoft's own IT systems will occur problems, from time to time. As mentioned above, their pledge to have round-the-clock support means very little if issues at some random server farm mean that you can't play when your own systems are perfectly fine.

The above points only address the technical problems with a system like this. I won't even bother going into all of the privacy concerns surrounding a system that continually ‘phones home’ whilst you're playing. Nor will I even delve into the effect this will have on the modding community or even your own ability to share save files online or with friends.

Of course, what this all boils down to is a transfer of control, from the user to the publisher. It will no longer be within the user's control to ensure that they can play their games, that they have paid for, whenever they want to.

Most software companies already try to assert that you are merely buying a license to use their products, not to actually own them. This may even be the case in the eyes of the law (I'm not sure if it's been fully tested) but I would be surprised if many consumers are even aware that these assertions are being made.

With this new system, Ubisoft seem to be really testing the concept of software being sold as a license and I can only hope that consumers finally realise that this is not acceptable and start demonstrating this by not paying for any product that is attached to this or similar services.