I know its likely to be cracked over time, but if we talk hypothetically and imagine that Ubisoft's DRM remains uncracked, what will it mean for the PC gaming industry?

Do you think other publishers will follow suit, and would developers be more willing to release more titles on the PC?

It will be real bad for pc gaming.  But we don't have to worry about that.

If every PC game has this kind of DRM and it stayed uncracked (which is unlikely on both fronts) then it could potentially kill off a lot of commertial software at least for a number of years since most people dont have a steady internet access (most people I know's internet will drop for a second or two now and then) which means they get kicked out of games so they are unlikely to buy that game. Although in the future when internet is "better" then perhaps it could work.

"  its just a matter of time. "

It's won't happen.

If this happened then GFWL will follow suit, and Microsoft will dump tons of money into GFWL and kill off Steam, and then they will port a lot more Xbox 360 games to the PC with GFWL.
 
PC games will cost $60 instead of $50 (AC2 and MW2), and will require constent Internet connection. On one hand, piracy will be dead, and on the other, PC gaming will be back as publishers will see the PC as a moneymaker again.
 
Is that bad? Probebly, but at least I won't have to play shooters on the console.

It won't. Period.

in this imaginary world where it never gets cracked, it would mean that everyone who could have and would have cracked it, didn't.

Theoretically if you know what IP addresses they are contacting, a simple local proxy could fool the system without changing the game.
 
But if it is cracked, I bet less PC games would be the result, or released way after the console versions.
 
Perhaps they should follow the steam model...

For me, it would be the end of PC gaming.  I would never pay money for such a product that I never actually own.  

What do you mean its not cracked.. I know someone playing a cracked copy of Silent Hunter V

I think this is a good thing. Come one, when aren't you connected to the inet? Of course there will be some cases when you won't have inet for a short time... but really? If there are no server problems I think this will make more devs come back to the platform and shit like 4-6 months delay for the PC version of Ubi games won't happen.
 
Starcraft 2 will require you to be connected all the time( yes even when you play the SP). I can't wait to see what reviewers have say about that when the game comes out.

It's already cracked. Don't believe in everything Ubisoft says.

Wouldn't buy those games, just the ones from smaller companies like Stardock and Paradox.

If all games required a permanent internet connection to play I'd be pissed. 

" It's already cracked. Don't believe in everything Ubisoft says. "

"

" It's already cracked. Don't believe in everything Ubisoft says. "

It's not. "

If it has / had remained uncracked: most pirates would just shrug their shoulders and not play it.  A significant % of customers would do the same thing, not because 'zomg boycott!' but just because the whole thing sounds like a massive hassle for the legit customer.  A few pirates would buy it.
 
Even if this had worked flawlessly - and not been the unmitigated failure that it has been - I still honestly believe it would have resulted in less sales.  For huge 'must have' releases it might result in more sales, but I don't think that applies to Silent Hunter or even Assassin's Creed 2 anymore - anybody who really considered it 'must have' probably would have just played it on 360 four months ago.
 
If they wanna drop game prices by ~30% to reflect the lower value of the product then I'll deal with the DRM issues, but obviously that isn't going to happen so I'll just stop spending any money on games carrying this sort of DRM.  They need my money more than I need their game.

I'm not paying for a game that I can only play if hooked up to the internet.  What if my phone or internet are down or what if times are tough and I cut off my landline and internet, you mean I really can't play a game I paid for.  This just seems silly to me but whatever.

I really hope that it does, not so I can pirate it, but because I don't want the inconvenience of this DRM to spread. I'm not going to play ACII for the PC at all, just because I don't want to deal with the DRM servers being DOSed every day. If it does end up working out, then this DRM might expand to other games. DRM shouldn't interfere with the paying people's ability to play the game, just the pirates; I hope it gets cracked so this point gets driven home to Ubisoft. I'm all for DRM being implemented, as long as it doesn't interfere with paying customers playing the game.

" @Fragstoff said:

"  its just a matter of time. "

"

" I think this is a good thing. Come one, when aren't you connected to the inet? Of course there will be some cases when you won't have inet for a short time... but really? If there are no server problems I think this will make more devs come back to the platform and shit like 4-6 months delay for the PC version of Ubi games won't happen.  Starcraft 2 will require you to be connected all the time( yes even when you play the SP). I can't wait to see what reviewers have say about that when the game comes out. "

" I think this is a good thing. Come one, when aren't you connected to the inet? Of course there will be some cases when you won't have inet for a short time... but really? If there are no server problems I think this will make more devs come back to the platform and shit like 4-6 months delay for the PC version of Ubi games won't happen.  Starcraft 2 will require you to be connected all the time( yes even when you play the SP). I can't wait to see what reviewers have say about that when the game comes out. "