Ubisoft is the latest company to attach DRM to its PC games in an effort to curb piracy -- an initiative that has had basically the opposite of its intended effect in keeping out people who bought the games. Blizzard's Frank Pearce told VideoGamer that it's not the strategy Blizzard intends to implement in StarCraft II, with the company opting instead for a compelling Battle.net that will make people want to stay online in single-player, rather than requiring it. It's still a form of DRM, requiring online authentication, but it's also meant to serve other, gameplay-enhancing purposes.

"If we've done our job right and implemented Battle.net in a great way," the StarCraft II producer said, "people will want to be connected while they're playing the single player campaign so they can stay connected to their friends on Battle.net and earn the achievements on Battle.net."

Pearce called DRM "a losing battle for us," noting that the group of people who want to crack DRM is always "larger than our development teams." Pearce said "We need our development teams focused on content and cool features, not anti-piracy technology" -- something with which those of us patiently waiting for StarCraft II will agree.