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News - From the Starforce site
StarForce copy protection to support the x64 bit user community

StarForce, the international provider of intellectual property protection solutions, utilized by leading PC video game publishers and developers, releases an update supporting Windows x64 platform, allowing users to enjoy the advantages of any game ran on cutting-edge x64 bit systems.

With Microsoft having recently released the official version of its Windows XP Professional x64, the global trend of switching to 64bit platforms has gained a new momentum, allowing everyone to finally join the revolution. The video game community is left confused though: with the wide spread of outdated copy protection technologies, who will guarantee the game can actually run on a x64 system?

The concerns are not unfounded. Many copy protection packages require a set of special protection drivers to operate. Due to huge differences in the architecture between x32 bit and x64 bit platforms, the x32 bit protection drivers won’t work on x64 bit systems, ensuring that the game won’t launch.

Like other systems, StarForce protection utilizes a unique driver allowing it to thoroughly secure the game data, and to prevent the analysis of the application’s code. Using that driver, StarForce provides increased defense capabilities, blocking the hacker’s attempts to tamper with the game core by running it under a debugger. To ensure the x64 support, the publisher should deliver his games with a x64 version of the StarForce protection.

StarForce x64 support is automatically included in the version 3.5 of StarForce. For the previously released games the publisher should add the x64 bit support by producing a special patch and making it available for his customers. The procedure is semi-automatic and takes just a few minutes to complete using StarForce Protection Studio, the universal protection platform for software developers and publishers. Protection Studio was first shown at the E3 exhibition to the wide acclaim of international media, publishers and developers.

According to Oleg Salyakhov, StarForce CTO, it will take some time for publishers to entirely switch to StarForce x64. They are still focusing mainly on x32 systems, and even though various gaming companies have started to include x64 support, with the big names of the industry the process takes a bit longer. Although once the decision on adding Windows x64 support is made, StarForce immediately provides the publisher with the tools to implement it, quickly and efficiently. “We believe that Windows XP Professional x64 arrival opens tremendous opportunities for the gaming world, and we in StarForce do our best to allow video game players to move to the x64 bit platform with its increased performance and security”, says Mr. Salyakhov.
10.06.2005