A new hacking tool available on a Russian gaming forum allows users to circumvent security measures in place on Ubisoft's uPlay game distribution platform. Specifically, the hack tricks the platform's authorization tool into thinking the user has access to Ubisoft's entire online catalog - even games that haven't been released yet.
Members of the forum claim the hack has been known about for weeks, allowing users to download as many games as they want free of charge and without DRM. One such example is Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, a title that was teased last week as an April Fool's joke but turned out to be real. The game isn't scheduled to be released until May 1 but there are already numerous walkthroughs on YouTube. Furthermore, the title can easily be found via BitTorrent if you know where to look.
The exploit doesn't appear to meddle with member accounts which is of course good news if you happen to have a uPlay account. The hack comes at a time when a number of publishers are flirting with the idea of always-on DRM or have already gone that way. Needless to say, vulnerabilities like this aren't helping much to sway companies away from such methods.
We suspect Ubisoft is currently working on a patch although we haven't heard anything official from them just yet. A word of warning: Ubisoft will likely ban any accounts that are caught using the hack so think twice if you are considering checking it out for yourself.