Epic Fail: DRM expiry date makes Gears of War unplayable

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Yesterday, anyone attempting to play the PC version of Gears of War will have run into problems. The digital signature on the DRM that certifies the game as ‘legal’ expired on the 28th January, meaning that anyone trying to play runs into a message saying:

“You cannot run the game with modified executable code. Please reinstall the game.”

Currently, the only fix is to turn your system clock back. An administrator has posted a message on Epic’s forum to the effect of “We have been notified of the issue and are working with Microsoft to get it resolved”, but in the meantime, it’s another example of DRM only punishing legitimate customers. Anyone who pirated the game won’t have run up against this problem.

Forum thread (via Ars Technica)

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