PSN Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 Features Always-on DRM

Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, a download-only game available on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, will require a constant internet connection on the PlayStation, despite the fact it features no online play.

In a move to seemingly curb piracy, Capcom has included a form of DRM that necessitates players being signed in to the PlayStation Network at all times. In the game’s description on the store it notes that “You must log-in to the PlayStation Network each time to play the game.” The Xbox version of the game doesn’t have the same requirements.

The reasons for Capcom’s archaic restrictions aren’t fully known, but there’s speculation that it’s to prevent multiple people from playing the game at the same time, something which spawned with Final Fight Double Impact‘s DRM last year. A Capcom admin said that “this was employed to combat the rampant ‘PSN Sharing’ that has been going on over the last year.” Of course, this means that other accounts on the same PlayStation would not be able to play the game.

Always-online DRM hasn’t fared well in the past. Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed II released with the DRM, only for the servers which verify the games to be attacked. This meant, ironically enough, that only players who pirated the game could play. Ubisoft recently canned the DRM.

This is less likely to happen in this case, but it’s not uncommon for the PSN to go down, something which would leave Capcom’s customers unable to play the games they’ve paid for.