The Witcher 2 goes DRM-free

Update 1.1 for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings finally goes live today following a delay earlier this week, and removes all DRM measures from the game, developer CD Projekt has announced.

Available for download now from the game's official site, the patch lets new users install and play the game on any number of computers without an activation code.

"Our goal is to make our fans and customers happy and to reward them for buying our game and DRM schemes does not support our philosophy as they might create obstacles for users of legally bought copies," explained development director Adam Badowski.

"Our approach to countering piracy is to incorporate superior value in the legal version. This means it has to be superior in every respect: less troublesome to use and install, with full support, and with access to additional content and services. So, we felt keeping the DRM would mainly hurt our legitimate users.

"This is completely in line with what we said before the release of The Witcher 2. We felt DRM was necessary to prevent the game being pirated and leaked before release. This purpose has been served, so we are pleased to let our users enjoy the full freedom of game usage they deserve."

Other tweaks included in the update, as detailed fully earlier this week, include frame rate increases of up to 30 per cent, greater stability, mouse inversion and the option to re-map directional control on the keyboard.

The update also includes the game's first free DLC update, which is a new quest called Troll Trouble.

"Patch 1.1 is also very important because it overcomes the major technical obstacles some of our customers encountered with installation and activation," said Badowski. "We believe that after installing the patch, practically all users will be able to enjoy the game without flaws.

"At the same time, I would like to assure everyone that we will continue working on post-release support. Therefore, if there are things that still bother users with certain system configurations, they can expect them to be resolved soon as well.

"What is equally important, we are constantly reviewing feedback from our fans and looking through their requests and we will be adding new functionality and enhancements to the game to make sure gamers can enjoy the most out of the Witcher 2."

CD Projekt's RPG sequel launched on PC last week, winning a 9/10 from Eurogamer.