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Heroes of Might and Magic VI seems to have installed a program called "Uplay", which it uses to launch (in addition to Steam, mind!)

What exactly is Uplay supposed to be? I notice that when I stop playing, it captchalogs the highlights of my past session (achievements earned, etc.) - which is kinda cool, but also kinda creepy and big-brotherish. Given that I value my privacy, is there anyway to play Uplay games without using Uplay?

Is this just Ubisoft's infamous "always-on" DRM?

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  • I would advise you to play without it, if possible. I lost connection to the Uplay server near the end of a siege battle and had the game reset to the main menu, forcing me to restore from my last save and replay the entire siege a second time. Ugh.
    – au revoir
    Commented Oct 14, 2011 at 20:13
  • UPlay also has at least security flaw that allows arbitrary code execution.
    – dlanod
    Commented Aug 3, 2012 at 7:36

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Uplay is Ubisoft's (very lightweight) social network service for Ubisoft games. At the moment, it only tracks achievements and offers special unlocks & rewards for certain games. This is the closest I could find to a FAQ for the service. If a game uses Uplay, it is often built into the game, so there is no separating the two. However, you don't have to use it if you don't want to.

As for DRM, that is usually a separate module in the game itself. As I recall, several titles have had the always-on DRM patched out after a few months. As for the data collection, the little bit you are talking about is less than a drop in the bucket compared to what some other personal computer games will send off to the developers.

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  • Aside: I've updated the wiki for uplay.
    – CyberSkull
    Commented Oct 14, 2011 at 12:22
  • @RavenDreamer Ooh, I didn't know that. I only play the console versions of their games.
    – CyberSkull
    Commented Oct 15, 2011 at 9:24
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    The "Always on" DRM has only halfway been patched out, and at least one of their more recent games explicitly cripples you if you dare to play offline by making some big enhancements completely unavailable. (Anno 2070, "Arks".)
    – Shadur-don't-feed-the-AI
    Commented Feb 25, 2012 at 9:38

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