The Metal Gear Rising Mac version has suddenly become completely unplayable. The Mac port of the game included DRM that made a constant online connection (in a singleplayer game, no less) necessary. Now that the port developer has shut down, there’s no server for the game to contact, rendering it useless.
The developer of the Mac port of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Transgaming, had apparently added DRM to the game that required it to “phone home.” This requires a constant online connection so that the game can communicate with DRM servers and confirm that it isn’t a pirated copy. Transgaming shifted from technology and gaming into real estate financing in late 2016. When they did so, a lot of things changed within the company, and these servers went offline. This means there’s nothing for the game’s DRM to contact and as such attempting to launch the game results in errors and failure.
Reddit user tryingtowakeupnow discovered this after finding out about the game’s Mac port and attempting to play it, sharing their findings a day ago. “There’s no reason why this game can’t run in its current format for the people who bought it,” they said in the post in r/Games. “There’s also no one to make a patch, and users who bought this game legally are stuck having to resort to pirating a copy if they want to play it.”
The Metal Gear Rising Mac port isn’t the only game to have suffered as a result of DRM. Darkspore, an ARPG developed by Maxis and lending from the Spore creature editing tech, is currently unplayable by owners of the game due to the same kind of “phone home” DRM. The servers were permanently shut down by EA in 2016, and like Metal Gear Rising, the always online requirement wasn’t removed.
Despite mass backlash from critics and fans alike, time and time again DRM in singleplayer experiences often leads to misery, and this is just another example of many. Let us know what you think about it all, and if there are any other games you love that have suffered the same unnecessary fate.
