Grabbing our attention today, Stardock has announced that their popular digital distribution platform, Impulse, will soon feature some new tech called Game Object Obfuscation (or "Goo" for short), which is said to address many issues both publishers and gamers have with current DRM systems. According to Stardock, Goo will allow publishers to tie their games to a user's email/account instead of their hardware with a single online activation, giving you the option to install the game on as many PC's as you like without having to mess around with DRM revoke tools and all that silly stuff. The new tech doesn't require a third-party client and can be used by any digital distribution service that supports that game. Even more interesting, Goo al 219b lows you to disable your game license and transfer it to another user, essentially opening the door to reselling your digitally downloaded games. Pretty wild stuff, eh?
Here's a little snippet from the press release:
"One of our primary goals for Impulse Reactor is to create a solution that will appeal to game developers while adhering to the Gamers Bill of Rights," said Brad Wardell, president & CEO of Stardock. "Publishers want to be able to sell their games in as many channels as possible but don't want to have to implement a half-dozen 'copy protection' schemes. Game Object Obfuscation lets the developer have a single game build that can be distributed everywhere while letting gamers potentially be able to re-download their game later from any digital service. Plus, it finally makes possible a way for gamers and publishers to transfer game licenses to players in a secure and reliable fashion."
Goo is expected to debut in the next version of Impulse on April 7th.
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Stardock news: one million users, new DRM model, and major client update
Stardock news: one million Impulse users, major client update, and new DRM model
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