Hot off taking legal action against PS3 root code hacker George Hotz aka Geohot, rumors are circulating that Sony is thinking of implementing serial keys on Playstation 3 games in an effort to address piracy on the newly cracked console. According to a report on PS3-Sense, the system would lock itself to only be played by the blu-ray drive used when the serial code was registered (with the possibility of registering on up to five different PS3s).
If this anti-piracy scheme is actually put into practice by Sony it would essentially eliminate the used and rental game markets for the PS3 altogether.
Whatever your feeling on the implementation of serial keys on PS3 games is, there is no denying that of the three major hardware manufacturers, Sony has been hardest hit by piracy over the last generation. Piracy on the PSP has been detrimental to software sales, and the recent breaking of the PS3’s root code has now made it possible to make any homebrew software look as if it is an official Sony release.
I seem to remember reports that pointed to a similar serial system prior to the PS3 launch, but with its release no plans were further detailed or used. If Sony abandoned the idea close to the system’s launch, the possibility that they may have built in additional infrastructure to allow for this DRM system (independent of the root key) to be used seems within the realm of possibility.
The unveiling of the PSP2 may lay a foundation for the truth behind these reports, as Sony will have to make it clear to developers that the Playstation platform is secure and safe to develop for. The number of different ways this could go seem incalculable, but the move could represent a step in the right direction that is little more then a slight nuisance to individuals who purchase PS3 games, and on the opposite spectrum could backfire on Sony in spectacular fashion as it ushers a mass exodus away from the console by both consumers and retailers.
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