Far Cry 4 pirates accidentally out themselves by complaining about missing FOV slider
Ubisoft Entertainment is not known for taking video game piracy lightly, but with the recent release of Far Cry 4, the Montreal-based developers took a subtler approach than usual to root out pirates.
Ubisoft left Field of View (FOV), a standard graphics option, out of the base PC version of the game. The option was added to the settings menu later in a day one patch.
FOV is a simple graphics option that changes how much of the game environment can be seen on the screen. If the FOV is too low, it can be difficult to see what’s going on. If it’s too high, it can create a distortion effect similar to a fish-eye lens.
Because the pirated copies of the game did not include the day one patch, their menus are missing the FOV feature.
Not knowing why they were missing the FOV slider, angered pirates turned to the internet to rant about how Ubisoft could have left out such a standard option. Ubisoft Creative Director Alex Hutchinson called them out in a tweet:
PC players! If you’re online complaining about the lack of FOV control … You pirated the game.
— Alex Hutchinson (@BangBangClick) November 18, 2014
Subtle punishments for pirates
This is not the first time a developer has used tricky means to punish video game pirates. Pirated versions of Eidos game Batman: Arkham Asylum made Batman’s glider cape completely useless, as well turning the caped crusader into a stumbling wimp.
This sort of tactic is a change of pace for Ubisoft, which has been the target of criticism in the past for their draconian Digital Rights Management (DRM) programs. The DRM on some games was so strict it often prevented legitimate customers from playing their games due to server issues and other problems.
Uplay, Ubisoft’s answer to Valve Corporation’s Steam and Electronic Arts, Inc.’s Origin, originally required a constant internet connection to play some of its popular games like Assassin’s Creed II.
In the original PC version of Assassin’s Creed II, all progress since the previous checkpoint would be lost if the internet connection cut out. This inconvenienced many legitimate players, especially overseas soldiers with unstable internet access.
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