Sports Interactive have announced the Activation and copy protection of Football Manager 2012 – or in other words, as we know it and we’re scared to hear it – DRM. If the previous version came with no such protection, this year Sports Interactive has decided to go for a ONE TIME ONLY Steam activation of the game. And this, as strange as it might seem, enraged players.

In a world where everybody can easily have access to an internet connection, hardcore fans of the series are complaining about the DRM measures which are probably some of the softest in recent times: you really have to do just one thing, one activation through Steam in order to be able to play Football Manager 2012 as you please and manage tens of seasons, for one year. Is that really something that impossible? I certainly think not and I see absolutely no reason to be upset.

And if this measure manages to combat piracy even by 10%, this means more money in the pockets of Sports Interactive, which in return means more money to be invested in future development of Football Manager games. So try to act like a sane person and understand that this Football Manager 2012 DRM is nothing!

In summary, here is what you will need to do:

• You need to connect to the internet to activate Football Manager 2012 on PC and Mac before you start playing it
• To activate you will need to sign up to, and install the Steam client
• Once you have activated Football Manager 2012 you can then play it in Steam’s “offline mode” – meaning you do not have to be connected to the internet to play
• Saved games are stored locally on your machine, but you can play Football Manager on any machine by signing into Steam and selecting it from your purchased games
• Staying connected to Steam will mean Football Manager 2012 is automatically updated with any patches or data updates released

Any thoughts?