How Achievements Killed the Cheat Code

Assassin’s Creed III launched yesterday on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Just as the game launched, Ubisoft began selling DLC for the game that added up to $60, the same price of the actual game. Half of that DLC grants players early access to abilities, costumes, bonuses, etc. It’s essentially allowing players to pay their way to get ahead in the single player portion of the game. It’s also the sort of thing that used to be offered for free.

DLC abuse is nothing new to write about. There’s a ton of articles out there examining the practices of companies like Ubisoft. But there hasn’t been much discussion over one of the most obvious reasons developers are able to get away with it: Achievements.