Ubisoft nixed its always-on DRM with the release of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, yet decided to bring it back with the upcoming Driver: San Francisco on PC. By all accounts, the DRM received a hefty amount of backlash from consumers, mainly due to its requirement of having a persistent online connection to Ubisoft’s auth servers. So why is it making a return?

Taking past performance into account, Ubisoft says the inclusion of its DRM actually translated to a lower piracy rate.

“[We’ve seen] a clear reduction in piracy of our titles which required a persistent online connection, and from that point of view the requirement is a success,” the publisher told PC Gamer.

It’s interesting that the DRM’s inclusion made enough of a impact for Ubisoft to stick with it, despite the vocal resistance from gamers. It’s unfortunate, but can’t argue with statistics, we suppose.

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