SquareEnix's Chaos Rings does not boot on Rooted Devices

[Kyanbu The Legend]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/1...ooted-android/

A few days old but it seemed like an interesting bit of news.

For hacker-minded Android users, being able to root a device with new firmware is a way to get more capability out of their hardware. But for users planning to buy Chaos Rings, a rooted device is actually less useful than an unrooted device. That's because, as the game's Google Play page puts it, "this game cannot be played on rooted devices."

Chaos Rings drew accolades when it was released in 2010 for bringing a console-style 3D RPG experience to iOS, and merited a prequel and a sequel on the platform since then. The Android version was launched on Google Play on October 10, though the notice about incompatibility with rooted phones apparently didn't go up until shortly after the game was first made available. Google Play statistics show that between 500 and 1,000 people have downloaded the $13 game since it was released.

The warning about rooted devices appears to be a first for games on the Google Play store, through the restriction does bring back memories of Google blocking rooted devices from accessing Android's movies rental service last year, citing copy protection issues. Google restored rooted access to the service a few months later, however.

We presumed that Square Enix's restrictions on Chaos Rings were motivated by similarly misguided DRM concerns (though Android game piracy is rampant, pirating a game is just as easy on an unrooted Android device). But when we reached out to the company for comment, its response mainly left us with more questions:


We are aware of the issue affecting Android users who attempt to download Chaos Rings with rooted devices. We are currently working towards applying an update that will grant those players access to the game and we expect this update to go live sometime next week. We thank the Android community for its patience and continued support as we continue to bring great mobile games to the Android platform.

Referring to the rooted device block as an "issue" to be fixed (rather than as a decision to be reversed) suggests this is a technical compatibility error with rooted phones, and not a deliberate attempt to block rooted Android users from buying the game. But according to a post on the XDA developers forums, the game performs a launch-time check for a folder containing the SuperUser root app, and force quits if it's found. This suggests that the developers were intentionally trying to block rooted Android users from being able to play the game.

Square Enix wasn't immediately able to clarify its position on this score, so we can't be sure if next week's patch was already planned before angry consumers started loading the game's Google Play page with one-star reviews. "This is incredibly short-sighted and small-minded of this developer [who] has the audacity to SPIT IN THE FACE OF THEIR CUSTOMERS," reviewer Rauel wrote. "That has to be the most ridiculous anti-piracy measure ever," added reviewer cgrayson. "Now you've cut out 20 percent of your target market, people like me who would have gladly paid $13 for the game, and now if I want to play Chaos Rings, I have no choice but to download a pirated version. Way to go, refund for me."

Cgrayson isn't quite right about having no choice but to download a pirated version, apparently, since rooted users can currently bypass Chaos Rings' check simply by changing the name of their root file. But if this was an effort to block potential pirates, it seems it wasn't only misguided, but also incredibly ineffective (not to mention moot, once the patch hits next week).

We're still looking into what this somewhat baffling decision means for the Android app environment from both a consumer and a developer standpoint, but suffice it to say that it seems incompatible with a platform that is sold on openness and accessibility.

With additional reporting from Florence Ion.