Blizzard Adds Online DRM to Warcraft III: Reforged Following Forsaken Kingdom Campaign Release

Blizzard Entertainment has expanded Warcraft III: Reforged, but one of the new additions is drawing criticism from players.

In September, Blizzard Entertainment returned to Warcraft III: Reforged. The real-time strategy game received a premium DLC campaign called Forsaken Kingdom alongside an update featuring improvements.

One line in the patch notes drew particular attention from players, as the developers decided to implement online DRM protection in Warcraft III: Reforged:

The Reforged client now requires players to be online at all times (offline mode is still available via the classic client).

It was also reported that LAN mode was removed, though players can still play via LAN using the classic client.

Фото 1 — Image source: Blizzard Entertainment

Players were very unhappy with this developer decision. For example, Aranoor commented:

[Blizzard] doesn’t care about us. I honestly cannot understand why they decided to make such a change right now. Maybe so that no one can access the new campaign without paying for it? I am grasping at any straw that could explain the logic behind this change […].

thedentist64 stated: “one step forward and three steps back.”

DostWhenNoWood wrote: “you have got to be ******* kidding me.”

It is assumed that this DRM update is linked to Blizzard Entertainment’s desire to protect Warcraft III: Reforged and the Forsaken Kingdom campaign from pirates.

HalLundy believes that hackers will still find a way around the system, stating: “As is often the case, hackers will find a way to run the new campaign offline and ensure higher performance by removing resource-intensive DRM mechanisms.”

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