This post used to be a review for Metal Gear Rising. In it, we insisted on how great it was to get a Metal Gear game for the first time on MacOS.

We were also pleasantly surprised by the game’s performance, which was quite good for a game that used a cider wrapper. Too bad things ended this way…

Transgaming, the studio in charge of the Mac version, did quite a few things right with this game. But now that the game is completely useless on MacOS, I couldn’t leave the game’s review as it was.

Metal Gear Rising on Mac is no more

In perhaps the worst case of poor DRM, the game is no longer playable on Mac because Transgaming shut down.

The issue was first spotted on Reddit, and as Cult of Mac explains, an otherwise perfectly functioning game does not work anymore because of poor DRM:

Transgaming made the decision to protect the game with DRM that required a constant connection to one of its own servers to confirm a copy of the game was genuine. This prevented the title from being played offline — but at least it could be played most of the time.

Not anymore. Now that Transgaming has ceased its operations, there are no servers for the game to communicate with, and it no longer runs on macOS.

If you purchased the game to play it on MacOS, you’re out of luck. And things won’t get better any time soon. Steam was quick to remove MacOS compatibility from the game’s page and Konami seems to have no intention of doing anything about it.

Another example of the dark side of DRM

Created to protect content from piracy, Digital Rights Management (or DRM) is a layer of software of code on top of your games, music, video, or books.

As explained by GOG’s FCK DRM initiative, DRM will send your information to an online server, it could run checks to see if you touched any files, or outright refuse access unless you’re logged in somewhere.

But while the philosophy behind DRM is reasonable, it usually ends up hurting consumers, such as Metal Gear Rising Mac port’s case. And according to GOG, this is why you should care about it:

Because there is a killswitch built into your games. Sure, DRM might not affect you right now, but corporations hold the key and they’ll only let you in as long as you can repeatedly prove ownership. As long as you’re connected to the internet. As long as their DRM works without fault. As long they’re still around.

If you want to learn more about DRM and what you can do to protect yourself from it, check GOG’s FCK DRM initiative.

Metal Gear Rising Mac alternatives

If you’re upset because you lost access to a game you paid for, there’s, unfortunately, nothing you can do. Metal Gear Rising for Mac is lost forever, but you can still find a better action game coming from companies you can trust. 

The first to come to mind are Mafia 3 and Hitman. Mafia 3’s Mac version comes from Aspyr, one of the top Mac porting companies, and features some of the best graphics you can see on MacOS. The game looks great but it comes with high system requirements and demands a powerful Mac to run.

Hitman’s Mac version comes from Feral Interactive, also a famous porting company, and features lots of free content and excellent performance.

It would be better to get a fix from Konami, but with Metal Gear Rising for Mac gone, it’s time to move on.

The post Metal Gear Rising for Mac no longer works because of poor DRM appeared first on Mac Gamer HQ.