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[Update] Square Will Enable Guns For Deus Ex: The Fall On Jailbroken Devices
Update: Square Enix has released a statement stating that an upcoming update to Deus Ex: The Fall will consumers with jailbroken devices to use guns in the game.
The statement comes via a story on Joystiq and reads as follows:
"We have not been clear in our communication earlier this week when we launched Deus Ex: The Fall. We did not state clearly that the game would not support jailbroken devices and so we will be switching this off via an update, so that all the supported iOS devices will be able to play the game in the near future. We feel it's the right thing to do in this situation and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. No customer should be out of pocket when we were not clear from the start, so we'll get the game updated as soon as possible so that everyone who wants to play Deus Ex: The Fall can do regardless of whether their device is jailbroken or not. As soon as this update is live we will communicate this via the Eidos Montreal Community channels"
If you are one of the many people who have decided against getting your cell phone through a contract with a carrier and are using a “jailbroken” phone, you might want to think twice about buying Square Enix’s new mobile title Deus Ex: The Fall.
A Reddit poster, KipEnyan, posted a screen grab (which you can see above) that clearly shows a dialogue box informing him that the game’s guns have been disabled on jailbroken devices. Unfortunately, this also occurs during a tutorial segment early in the game when the player is forced to shoot a weapon to advance the tutorial – thus essentially locking owners of jailbroken devices out of the entire game.
It’s assumed this was done as an anti-piracy move on Square Enix’s part, but Enyan and others on the Reddit thread said they purchased the game for $7 in the iTunes store. They claim that there was no warning of this on the iTunes store page, although now the game’s description reads: “Please be aware, the Deus Ex: The Fall play experience is currently restricted on jail broken devices. Do not purchase if you have voided your warranty and have Jail broken your device.” It’s likely that this was added after customer complaints.
In any case, if you have jailbroken iPhone or iPad, this is one to avoid.
[Source: Reddit via Eurogamer]
Our Take
When will they learn? You'd think that game companies would see the consumer pushback that's happened on issues like SimCity's always-on DRM or Microsoft's proposed used game lockout and learn that – despite the fact that piracy is a very real issue – the PR damage incurred by tactics like this usually far outweigh any possible benefit. Worse, you're also punishing honest gamers who actually bought your game and just happen to have a jailbroken phone.
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