KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
Watch Dogs 2 has landed on PC and so far, the game seems to be doing really well on Steam, with many reviews praising the game and few reports of PC-specific issues. However, there is one thing that is raising eyebrows this week- the game's anti-cheat system. For Watch Dogs 2, Ubisoft is using EasyAntiCheat, which not only prevents modding, but it is also built to take screenshots at random while the game is running, even in single-player. These screenshots are then uploaded to ‘public servers' and free for anyone to view.
On the modding side of things, EasyAntiCheat scans the game's memory, your PC system memory and the original game files to check for any modified files within the game directory. If any modified files are detected, the system will remove them automatically, which could be a real issue for anyone looking to mod Watch Dogs 2 while playing in single-player mode.
As for privacy, the main concern here is the random game capture, the TOS reads: “EasyAntiCheat will take screenshots of your game screen and upload them on public servers, viewable to everyone, if the server provider wishes so. The author of this software and EasyAntiCheat takes no responsibility of screenshots captured outside the game screen. If any personal or harmful information is captured into a screenshot, the user is fully responsible for the incident and any consequences it may result in.”
So let's say you are playing in windowed mode, there is no guarantee within the TOS that EasyAntiCheat won't capture anything outside of the game window on PC. On top of that, if any personal information is caught in a screenshot, there is nothing you can do about it- nor can you stop it being uploaded to some random server that you have no control over. Overall, the system just seems incredibly strict for a game that primarily focusses on a single-player experience.
EasyAntiCheat is primarily used in esports, which is much more understandable as tournament games like Counter-Strike need strict regulations to ensure a fair game. However, needless to say, Watch Dogs 2 is not an esport and certainly does not need to be policed as such by using tools that can quite possibly spy on users.
Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.
KitGuru Says: The fact that the possibility of capturing information outside of the game's window is even present in the TOS is a concern- especially for a game like this. It may not matter much for those who play in full-screen at all times but windowed mode users could end up exposing much more than just the game screen, in a screenshot that they may not even know is being taken. It is certainly enough to raise privacy concerns.
Well i see a lawsuit comming at some point
Yeah… I posted on the last Ubi-related article and said that they had a lot of work to do to get my money again. This just broke the camel’s back.
More completely useless “features” from the company that seems to think we all want DRM (steam, technically) on top of garbage-tier DRM (Uplay) on top of esports anti-cheat software for a game that will never be in the esports scene…
Fuck you, Ubisoft. This is shady as fuck. I don’t care how great the game supposedly is, you’ve lost me forever. I hope EA buy your sorry asses and send you the way of poor old Westwood.
just keep a picture of a dick as an overlay on your screen, and leave the game running a while, easyanticheat will have to take down their servers to remove them
Well I guess will buy the game once it is cracked which will remove any of this type of crap and just let you play the single player. It is pretty sad when you buy something like this and have to worry about the game randomly taking snap shots of your game or worse parts of your desktop if in windowed mode and then sent to servers for everyone to view. This crap just makes it so more people will either just not buy these games but instead just download them for free crack them and play them. The Game companies are doing it to themselves as in a shoot your self in the foot moment with the much higher pricing and us getting less content and buggy crap being released it is no wonder so many people have turned to pirating all of their games they play. After all who wants to pay for buggy crapfest junk that spies on you and then to top it off they will sell you a season pass so you can get DLC which should have most likely been included in the game anyway. I bought this game have not downloaded it yet so I will just wait for the cracked exe and files and not have to worry about this shit.
Was on the fence before if I should get WatchDogs2, definitely won’t be getting it now.
Ubisoft can take their silly invasive DRM’s and stick em where the sun dont shine.
Guys, don’t worry. UBISOFT will soon be acquired completely by VIVENDI, they just lost many customers due to graphical downgrades and fake gameplay videos, now with this stupid DRM they lost some more.
For customers who bought WD2 and worry about Anticheat, run the game with the parameters “-eac_launcher” both in UPLAY and Steam. This will disable this DRM, and disables online play, and good only for SP.
Encourage the developers, but not their stupid bosses who take stupid decision like this.
“take down their servers to remove them” I dont think you have worked with servers much as would be a noob move for them to completely shut down the server for a non hardware fault
Did you read this part on their website?
Only when licensed in the context of competitive Counter–Strike tournaments, we do offer the possibility for uploading in–game screenshots to the organiser’s servers. Note that those screenshots will never touch our servers. In order to participate in such tournaments you need to agree with the organiser’s EULA, EasyAntiCheat is not responsible for the data in any way. In these cases, the EULA is fundamentally different from the one typically used by EasyAntiCheat’s integrated games. Screenshot functionality is not included nor available for any game other than Counter–Strike.
The only problem is – I really disliked the single player. It completely lacks the story. Aiden was a charismatic character in the first game. Here there nobody like him here. Only a bunch of dumb hipsters. On the other hand – multiplayer will bore you after a few days of playing it. The only thing I like about this game is graphics and what they did to the open world, putting life into it. It really feels like a living town.
Thank you for the input about this game. I heard the world in the game is pretty good. I did not know the story was weak.
Then what will they call it? Battle_Dogs3, nah mate. Steam needs to buy it, not only will the put in valve’s Anti-Cheat, which by the way they don’t steal Personal Info. And also, it’ll be better graphics.
I know this is a month old comment but I had to make my own. Because LOL you think Aiden was charismatic? He was bland and his story could be copypasted from any other game with an older white dude at the helm. And no I’m not being a “SJW” or whatever, it’s just that characters like Aiden are a dime a dozen. The characters in Watch Dogs 2 actually have personality that isn’t just “I have a gruff voice and I’m super emo even though I’m like 40”
There is a way to prevent Easy Anti Cheat from launching when Watch Dogs 2 is launched.
The line ‘eac_launcher’ (without quotes) has to be added after the game address in the target field in the properties dialog of the game desktop shortcut.
hope someone more intelligent buys ubisoft
Isn’t it ironic that a game about taklng down a system that invades everyone’s privacy… invades players’ privacy?
I thought the very same thing