“Codemasters has targeted Russia as a front-line territory, key to our overall EMEA strategy” said Axel Herr, Senior VP Publishing, EMEA, Codemasters. “Localisation and tailoring of content is key to our emerging market strategy and Codemasters is keen to continue leading the charge in these fast-evolving markets.”

Targeted? Front line? Leading the charge? Is Codemasters supporting Russia or invading? Perhaps a little bit of both.

CODEMASTERS® CONFIRMS FULL SUPPORT FOR RUSSIA
Codemasters' key titles to be released with full Russian language support
Tuesday 11th November/... Further expanding its global drive, Codemasters® today announced that it will be fully supporting the Russian language localisation of all its upcoming key ‘AAA’ titles, including Rise of the Argonauts®, Damnation® and, for the first time on next-gen consoles, the eagerly anticipated war simulator due for launch in 2009, Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising™.

The announcement comes as a continuation of Codemasters’ drive for growth in emerging markets, including Russia, the Middle East, Central & Eastern Europe and India. Russia will be the first of the emerging territories to get full language for key titles from Codemasters as the company continues to push the boundaries in global development and support.

“Considering the scale and enthusiasm of the Russian market for our upcoming titles, especially Operation Flashpoint, we recognised that offering a dedicated Russian-language support was the next important step for Codemasters” said Hal Bame, Director, Distributor Territories, Codemasters. “We’re looking forward to providing an even more accessible game-play experience to future players of our key titles.”

“Codemasters has targeted Russia as a front-line territory, key to our overall EMEA strategy” said Axel Herr, Senior VP Publishing, EMEA, Codemasters. “Localisation and tailoring of content is key to our emerging market strategy and Codemasters is keen to continue leading the charge in these fast-evolving markets.”

Localisation and PC distribution within Russia will be handled by Noviy Disk company. The Xbox 360® and the PLAYSTATION®3 system versions will be distributed within Russia by Vellod. The following games will be released with Russian language support:

Rise of the Argonauts®
As the King of Iolcus, Jason had everything—a prosperous kingdom, the respect of his peers, and a beautiful fiancé. When she was killed on their wedding day, he vowed to do anything to restore her life. Now, in order to accomplish this heroic feat Jason must seek out the Golden Fleece — and with the help of Greek mythology’s greatest heroes — set sail on the most epic voyage of all.

A grand scale Action/RPG, Rise of the Argonauts immerses players in a gladiatorial adventure set in the vibrant and powerful world of Ancient Greece brought to life. Taking the role of Jason, players will battle alongside Hercules, Achilles and other Argonauts as they engage in brutal combat against formidable beasts and enemies, in a vast world alive with wondrous inhabitants and stunning panoramas. The search for the Golden Fleece is not only one of exploration but of transformation — from warrior king to exalted hero touched by the gods.

www.rise-of-the-argonauts.com

Now, if E3 is reconsidering its toned-down, library-quiet, de-sexed version of this year's convention, might I suggest hiring some of these booth representatives from the former Soviet bloc. Holy Bolshevik. Thank God they're holding controllers, otherwise one would think this was the Bada Bing. But I'm sure there were huge developments and reveals and news out of this thing, and I think we should start covering it pronto.

So, so, so not NSFW (stupid double negative), even though there is no nudity (well, there's a bodypainted Far Cry leopard girl at the link, not in our gallery. But you can't really tell.)

Also, I'm using the pro-tip for caching pages suggested by reader Tom back during the Kezins Cosplay Cleavage Debacle. Not only that, it's referencing a Google-translated page. So hopefully we won't overwhelm some poor Russkie's bandwidth and we can all enjoy these images safely. The full gallery of 24 images is on the jump.

UPDATE: There's also a link to 140 more images, courtesy of the original blogger.

Girls Igromir 2008 [Sergey Galyonkin, thanks Innes]

Sergey Galyonkin's Igromir 2008 Booth Babes [Thanks Sergey]

Casual Connect: Sony On Developing for an Open PS2 Platform [GameDaily via Edge]

"We release jewel games for the first time especially for Russian market. Owing to 1C's optimized distribution system our cooperation will become the next step in expanding EA games on regional markets of Russia and CIS", – says Murad Shapiev, Sales Director for Electronic Arts Russia.

Of course jewel cases means that the folks in Russia, along with Ukraine and Kazakhstan (careful, they're sensitive) will probably be missing out pack-ins like bulky manuals, maps, posters, and other goodies, but considering the giant piles of such items cluttering my apartment that might not be such a bad thing.

Electronic Arts and 1C Company signed a distribution agreement

Electronic Arts and 1C Company signed a distribution agreement to spread EA games over Russia and CIS countries

MOSCOW, Russia – September 18, 2008 – Electronic Arts and 1C Company announce an agreement to create new channel for distribution of EA games. According to the contract signed 1C receives the rights to distribute EA titles for PC and consoles in Russia and CIS countries. The collaboration of these two companies is firstly aimed to consolidate and advance the largest markets (after Russia) – Ukraine and Kazakhstan. 1C Company already has offices in the region and has leading market share in these countries.

Another important stage in the cooperation of Electronic Arts and 1C Company is the distribution of EA games for PC in economy jewel packs in Russia. For the first time ever part of new games released by world's leading publisher will be distributed in economy packs (CD jewel case). Electronic Arts plans to release three new jewel packed games for PC - Crysis Warhead, C&C Red Alert 3, NHL 09. These games will be released in autumn 2008.

"Choice of 1C as our strategic partner is not a random decision. Nowadays 1C is a key player on the distribution market of PC games in jewels. Due to its professionalism this company gained high business reputation and we are interested in long-term and mutually profitable relations", – comments Peter Laughton, EA Vice President and General Manager of Central and Eastern Europe.

"We release jewel games for the first time especially for Russian market. Owing to 1C's optimized distribution system our cooperation will become the next step in expanding EA games on regional markets of Russia and CIS", – says Murad Shapiev, Sales Director for Electronic Arts Russia.

"The agreement signed is an unprecedented event for Russian market. World's leading publisher will unite its strength with the largest Russian software company. We greet Electronic Arts' initiative to distribute games in economy packs", - notes Nikolay Baryshnikov, International Sales Director for 1C Company. "1С became one of the first companies to introduce that scheme in Russian industry. I am sure that the experience gained along with our distribution network which is the biggest in Russia and CIS countries will contribute to effective collaboration and further growth of Russian game market."

In Crysis Warhead the player has to fit in the Nanosuit of Sergeant "Psycho" Sykes, one of the most memorable characters of Crysis. Occurrences in the story of Psycho, who has always been more aggressive and impudent than his comrade Nomad, take place at the same time with the original game in another part of the island. They turn out to be even more dynamic and intense. Fortunately, Psycho's Nanosuit can perform a lot as it is equipped with modifiable weapons and many new techniques, helping the players to find out the right way from any complicated situation. Besides of that remarkable campaign the player can also participate in multiplayer mode.

C&C Red Alert 3 presents a thrilling journey to the future of the alternative universe that appeared as the result of unsuccessful travel in time. Developed by EA Los Angeles Red Alert 3 sets new standards in real-time strategy genre, introducing campaign for co-operate mode. The campaign keeps renowned non-complicated style and classic rich gameplay.

NHL 09 introduces the opportunity to step on ice rink on your own! New "Be a Pro" mode allows to customize the character looking anyhow you wish. And in "Hall of Fame" you can not even simply create a character to play, but also to join him in the way to glory through AHL and NHL. Improved "Skill Stick" and control system, taken from NHL94 allows the player to command with his characters clearly and easily.

Funcom just announced that they have signed an agreement with 1C to fully localize the voice and text for a Russian version of Age of Conana: Hyborian Adventures. 1C will also operate local customer service, which I believe requires a gun license, deal with the community websites and in-game support for Age of Conan in Russian. Funcom still plans to take care of the back-end tech and server infrastructure as well as handling all future development for the game.

The companies plan to build a dedicated Russian realm to allow the Russian community the chance to stick together and communicate with each other in their native language. Didn't Czar Nicholas II try to create a Russian realm once? I'm pretty sure it didn't end well.

“1C Company is a clear leader in the Russian speaking regions, and we are confident we have found the perfect partner,” said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. “We have already shipped a substantial amount of English boxes into Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, but we know that the real key to success is achieved through localized servers and services. Together with 1C Company we will do our uttermost to make Age of Conan a success for many years to come.”

“We are happy working together with Funcom on bringing Age of Conan to Russia. The game has already gained success here, reaching top places in many retail charts. With an already established fan base in Russia I’m sure it will become even bigger after the localized version appears on the market,” said Nikolay Baryshnikov, International Sales Director of 1C Company. “Age of Conan is a great mix of action, RPG elements and adventure. I believe that the game has potential to become a big hit in Russia.”

“The launch of the Russian-language version reflects our continuing commitment to make World of Warcraft even more accessible for gamers throughout the world,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. “We also hope that providing a fully localized version of the game will further enhance the gameplay experience for our enthusiastic Russian community.”

The Russian version will also feature a reduced subscription rate based of 359 rubles per month, proving once again that rubles is really fun to say. Ruuuubles. Russian persons on Euro servers will be able to convert their accounts to Russian accounts, with free character transfers available for a limited time.

Blizzard Entertainment® Announces Launch Date for Russian-Language Version of World of Warcraft®

PARIS—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that the Russian-language version of World of Warcraft®, its award-winning, subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, will be available on the 6th of August, 2008. On that date, European players will be able to purchase a version of the game and its expansion, The Burning Crusade®, fully localised for Russia, and begin playing on dedicated realms with the benefit of a Russian-language customer-support team. This will be the fifth European-language version of World of Warcraft, complementing the existing English, French, German, and Spanish versions.

“The launch of the Russian-language version reflects our continuing commitment to make World of Warcraft even more accessible for gamers throughout the world,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. “We also hope that providing a fully localised version of the game will further enhance the gameplay experience for our enthusiastic Russian community.”

The Russian version of World of Warcraft will be available for Windows® XP/Vista and Mac® OS X 10.3.9 or higher. The retail DVD boxed version will include a one-month subscription to the game, while the retail CD boxed version will be available at a lower price and will include a 14-day subscription.

Russian players will have the option to subscribe to a dedicated Russian account, which has a reduced subscription-rate structure for the Russian market priced in rubles, and which allows players to access and create characters on Russian realms only. The available subscription options are a month-to-month plan for 359 rubles per month, a three-month plan for 329 rubles per month, and a six-month plan for 299 rubles per month.

Current European World of Warcraft players will be able to download a Russian-language pack from the official Russian website at www.warcraft.ru, which will let them access and create characters on the new Russian realms. Beginning on the launch date, free character transfers to specific Russian realms will also be available for a limited period of time. Additionally, existing European accounts have the option of being converted to Russian accounts.

For more information on World of Warcraft, visit the game’s official website at www.wow-europe.com. To keep pace with the multilingual European growth of World of Warcraft and development of other games, Blizzard Entertainment is currently hiring for numerous open positions. More information on available career opportunities at Blizzard Europe, including positions on the Russian-language World of Warcraft team, can be found at http://eu.blizzard.com/en/jobs.

Hit the jump for the short press release, which is thankfully free of such tired humor.

WARHAMMER® ONLINE: AGE OF RECKONING™

TO SHIP IN RUSSIA IN EARLY 2009

EA Mythic, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced that Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™ (WAR) will be released in Russia for the PC and will be fully localized. Along with MMORPG fans all over the world Russian gamers will have a chance to enjoy the rich world and extensive possibilities of one of the most anticipated MMORPG’s of the year - Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.

Based on Games Workshop's epic tabletop fantasy war game, WAR features revolutionary Realm vs. Realm™ (RvR) game play that will immerse players in a world of perpetual conflict. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is scheduled for launch on the PC in early 2009 in Russia and Fall of 2008 in North America, Europe and Australia/New Zealand.

For more information, please visit www.warhammeronline.com.

Games Workshop, Warhammer, Warhammer Online, Age of Reckoning, and all associated marks, names, races, race insignia, characters, vehicles, locations, units, illustrations and images from the Warhammer world are either ®, ™ and/or © Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2007. All rights reserved.

1C is using cutting-edge technology, including the amazing power of modern consoles, to bring superior games to every market... Our aim is to bring our games to even more players and expand our vision with cross platform development. We are embracing any new gaming technology that will improve our products including digital downloads, consoles, handheld gaming, Epic's Unreal 3 Engine, NVIDIA PhysX and DirectX 10.

Both games will be out late 2009 and will be the first cross-platform titles "from 1C to be developed and published worldwide." Seems like multiplatform is the new, big thing.

1C Announces First 360-PS3 Titles [MCVUK]

Hit the link for the rest of Gluhov's stuff, including something that may or may not be an S&M depiction of Resident Evil's Nemesis.

Михаил Глухов [Free.Lance, thanks Sergey!]

"The Lord of the Rings Online has taken North America and Europe by storm and we are committed to bringing the game to fans around the world," said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "ITT is a major player in online gaming and we look forward to partnering with them to bring The Lord of the Rings Online to Russia."

TURBINE PARTNERS WITH IT TERRITORY TO BRING THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™ TO RUSSIA

WESTWOOD, MA — January 28, 2008 — Turbine, Inc. and IT Territory LLC (ITT) today announced a new relationship for the distribution of The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™, the PC Game of the Year 2007. Under the terms of the agreement between Turbine and IT Territory, a leading publisher of online games in Russia and Eastern Europe, will operate and manage publication of The Lord of the Rings Online in the fast-growing Russian market.

"Our vision is to lead the growth of online games in Russia," said Igor Matsanyuk, President of IT Territory. "We believe that The Lord of the Rings Online is the perfect franchise for us to deliver to our audience as part of this strategy. Our partnership with Turbine underscores the tremendous success, attention to detail, and transparency that our operations bring to the best game developers in the world as they seek to enter the massive Russian market."

"The Lord of the Rings Online has taken North America and Europe by storm and we are committed to bringing the game to fans around the world," said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "ITT is a major player in online gaming and we look forward to partnering with them to bring The Lord of the Rings Online to Russia."

The Lord of the Rings Online delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most beloved fantasy adventure of all time. From the quaint surroundings of the Shire to Angmar, the vile kingdom of the Witch-king, players will experience the world of Middle-earth as never before. The Lord of the Rings Online is currently operating in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. For more information about The Lord of the Rings Online, please visit www.lotro.com.

What's worse is this isn't the first Lineage II-related death in Russia. Back in January one player stomped another to death while he was trying to break up a fight sparked during a real life meet-up.

What's even more crazy is that members of the Coo-clocks continue to harass the dead man's family, going as far as to threaten the life of his sister. That's some pretty insane clan loyalty right there if you ask me. One isolated crazy I can understand, but once a member of your clan beats a man to death...that's generally when you want to back off on the team spirit. Hit up the link below for the full story. More fuel for the fire.

Online game rivalry ends with real life murder [Russia Today via Game Politics]

"Considering the scale and enthusiasm of the Russian community, we recognized that offering a dedicated Russian-language version of World of Warcraft was the next important step for the game in Europe," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're looking forward to providing an even more accessible gameplay experience to current and future players."

Blizzard Entertainment® Announces Russian-Language Version of World of Warcraft®

PARIS, France - Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that World of Warcraft®, its award-winning, subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, is to be fully localised in Russian for release in 2008. The Russian version will be the fifth officially supported European language, complementing the existing English, French, German and Spanish versions.

A dedicated Russian-speaking team is currently being assembled at the Blizzard Europe offices in France and Ireland to ensure Russian World of Warcraft players will benefit from the same quality of 24/7 native-language support as other European players. Roles will include in-game support, offline technical and customer support, localisation and quality assurance, community relations, and creation and maintenance of a new official Russian World of Warcraft website.

"Considering the scale and enthusiasm of the Russian community, we recognized that offering a dedicated Russian-language version of World of Warcraft was the next important step for the game in Europe," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're looking forward to providing an even more accessible gameplay experience to current and future players."

Further details on language pack downloads and migration plans for existing Russian players will be available closer to the release. To keep pace with the multi-lingual European growth of World of Warcraft and development of other games, Blizzard is currently hiring for numerous open positions. More information on available career opportunities at Blizzard Europe, including positions on the Russian team, can be found at http://www.blizzard.co.uk/jobopp.

# # #

Buka announces The Swarm

Survive in a ruinous Moscow in new 3D Action / Adventure

MOSCOW, August 10, 2007 - Buka Entertainment today announced that The Swarm, brand new 3D Action / Adventure game is in production at Targem Games.

What we saw in the movies finally happened. Science-fiction became reality and everybody could see how huge spaceships landed over the main capitals of the world. Aliens attacked at once, killing millions of humans in mere seconds. The governments of the Earth answered to the attack with nuclear weaponry, in a desperate movement for destroying the aliens, at the cost of the planet itself.

The aliens survived, the Earth became a wasteland, and the sewers, the subway and the basements became the only havens for the remains of humans, which gathered into small groups and gangs in order to survive.

The Swarm is a 3D adventure game, full of action on 3rd view where the player will face the challenge of surviving in a wasted Moscow that shows the scars of the alien attack, defending himself from the attacks of other humans looking for a piece of food, and from the dangerous aliens.

Key Game Features:

* The main character, though starting as a normal human, will be able to assimilate alien skills and characteristics, that will make him more and more powerful to defend himself, though at the cost of his humanity and mental sanity. Develop your character as you wish, choose the alien skills freely, or keep him free of them and focus on the weaponry.
* Face huge enemies and bosses, tall as a building which can kill you with a single hit.
* Real Moscow shown, under the effects of the alien catastrophe... Fight in the demolished Red Square... defend yourself at the doors of the Kremlin of a 50m-tall alien.

First of all some of the games developed and produced in Russia by our developers are based on local franchises which are not that popular to say the least outside of the ex-USSR counties. Some of them are still published outside the CIS market, but this is rather rare.

Russian games do not always find their way to American or European markets due to publishers' policy and I guess it is better to ask them why they decide to sign or not to sign a particular game.

The Wall is the first cross-platform current gen title from Russia. The PS3/Xbox 360 game combines genre elements from FPS, RTS and RPG games. Slated for a second quarter 2008 release, it's being developed by pc game maker Play Ten Interactive and will incorporate Emergent's Gamebryo dev tech, which was employed in Oblivion and Civilization IV. Says Dmitri Kruglov, CEO of Play Ten:

Only Emergent offered us a complete and flexible set of existing and upcoming tools and services to make the PC to console transition so smooth... Emergent gives us the flexibility we need as we break ground in Russia.

The Wall [Next-Gen]

Everything's bigger in Russia! An enormous country like that needs enormous consoles. And enormous consoles need enormous ads! Explains Kotaku reader MaxS:

The caption here above PLAYSTATION 3, which sais "игровые просторы России", can be roughly translated as "the gaming spaces of Russia", that is "spaces" as in "vast open spaces of land".

If the PS3 speaking Russian isn't enough to get you in the mood, check out the romantic night view below. Kotakuite Igor, who works for gaming and computer Igromania Magazine, got up close and personal with the Moscow billboard. His pics after the jump. Brian Ashcraft

Big PS3 Ad
Igor's Pics [Flickr]

Reader MadOnion points out that the Playstation 3 launched in Mother Russia on April 20. The next day there was a big PS3 party at Moscow nightclub Dyagilev. There were plenty of PS3s on hand to play and one very cool laser-etched PS3 decorated in old Russian patterns.

In Russian you don't launch the Playstation 3, the Playstation 3 launches you. Sorry, couldn't resist. Big flaming thanks to our Russian reader MO. Brian Crecente

Worst part of cell phone gaming? The controls. Face it, punching out an email is hard enough, let alone shooting up a hoarde of baddies. That tiny d-pad just doesn't cut it. A Russian company Industrial Design hopes to make cell phone game better, way better. Called the "CompactAnalog Thumbstick," it's a retractable joystick that pops up when pushed. Otherwise, it phone retains its traditional d-pad. Sadly, this is not a real product as of yet, but just a concept. A good one at that. Brian Ashcraft

Pop-Up Joystick [Boy Genius Report]

Just in time for Halloween and via GameSetWatch comes this scary PC Gamer cover. This is currently on newsstands in Russia and the Ukraine. "YOU ARE EMPTY" isn't a personal dig, but refers to a Russian-developed alternative future FPS, complete with Soviet totalitarianism and chesty zombie nurses! Still, nightmares, we will have nightmares. Brian Ashcraft

So Scary! [GameSetWatch]

This 2004 documentary highlights all the legal drama, all the intrigue and all the Commies that swirled around Alexey Pazhitnov's classic puzzler Tetris. Fascinating stuff. Brian Ashcraft

From Russia With Tetris [Infendo]

In Metal Gear, the key is stealth—sneaking where your enemy least expects you. And if I was looking for Solid Snake, the last place I would search would be a bulletin board in the Russian city of Saratov, which is exactly why he's there. Kotakuite IIia points out that the ads says:

Solid Snake, super-agent. Saved the world several times. Smokes, but seldom.

Hats off to IIia for finding today's gaming non sequitur! Brian Ashcraft

Eye topography enthusiasts, look no further. The precision ocular cartography you seek is available now, in handheld form, and in addition to medical applications it supports and estimated 600 game titles and only uses 6 AA batteries per hour and a half of playtime.

This device is a special frame grabber with data analysis software based on a SEGA Nomad 16-bit game console. The whole design fits into the standard SEGA cartridge and can be used on any 16-bit SEGA game console like SEGA Genesis or SEGA Megadrive. SEGA Nomad was used for portable applications. The cartridge has video input connector and any standard CCD video camera can be plugged into it. For eye topography measurement a high resolution monochrome CCD camera must be used. In addition the special lenses must be attached to the camera to allow making images of the eye at a 2-3 cm distance. The camera is focused on the eye cornea surface and captures the image produced by the light circle source.

This is a very specific device necessary for eye surgery clinics only.

This mod was apparently a professional deal by one Sergei Skorobogatov for an ophthalmologic centre called "Prozrenie", presumably in Moscow. Thanks for the head's-up, Seddon, and everyone keep your eyelids pinned open for more medical uses of consoles.

And send them to me. ME. That bastard Florian is always stealing my posts. Eliza gauger

Explanatory site with more photos here [cl.cam.ac.uk/]

How many different ways can you spell "Max Payne"? Well, in Russia, four apparently. Reader llia sent in this pic taken at the Gorbushkin dvor store in Moscow, infamous for selling bootleg games. Notice the different ways "Max Payne" is written (from top to bottom):

• Max Payne 2
• Max Pain 2
• Max Payene 2
• Max Paine 2

This is probably less funny Engrish and more we-fudged-the-spelling-to-avoid-lawsuits. "Max Payene 2" is pretty dern great, though. Brian Ashcraft

Real Spelling [Official Site] Thanks, llia!

With Russian violent crime up, it's time to shift to default and scapegoat gaming. Russian State Duma member Alexander Gurov pegged increased hate crimes to PC games. "Computer games have gangsters and killers, Nazis and Japanese militarists as main characters," he said.

Providing the stupdity in politics is universal, Mr. Gurov said this kind of information has led to nationalist and extremist tendencies in Russian society. Unemployment, it seems, is unrelated. "In Russia, only games where the Nazis always lose should be available, but so far the opposite is happening," he added in the non-sequiter of the week.

Eh, how about games with Orcs and Gnomes?

Story Here [MosNews] Thanks, James!

1Up has confirmed that Ubisoft dropped malware copyright company Starforce like a bad habit. While Ubi was willing to admit they dumped Starforce, again, like a bad habit, they weren't really willing to say why.

When questioned Ubisoft representatives told 1UP, "Right now, Ubisoft has decided to use an alternative copy protection system to Starforce for upcoming releases and we are investigating other possible steps at this time." But why the change now? ... "Ubisoft takes its customer concerns very seriously and is investigating the complaints about alleged problems with Starforce's software. Ubisoft's goal is to find solutions for its customers if there are problems with Ubisoft products."

Now if only everyone else on the planet would follow suit the world would be a happier place and, I suspect, the cure for cancer would be found.

Ubisoft Dumps Starforce [1Up]

In a fitting comeuppance for the nexus of evil known as Starforce, Ubisoft has wiped Heroes of Might and Magic V free of the malware and won't use it in future copy protection. The bad, bad, bad anti-piracy system is pimped by Russian gangsters, so unscrupulous that they offer nay-sayers free knuckle sandwiches in some Moscow warehouse. A $5 mil class action lawsuit was brought against Ubi for using loathsome Starforce DRM in their games back in 2004 and continued to be publicly berated for using it. The company took a hint. Do we hate Starforce? Yes, and now so does Ubisoft.

More Here [CorpNews] Thanks, David!