Final Fantasy VII PC re-release goes on sale by mistake, taken down because of broken DRM

By Anthony John Agnello Published August 6, 2012

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Square-Enix made some fans happy and others deeply frustrated when it confirmed earlier this summer that it would re-release the PC edition of Final Fantasy VII. Achievements are a nice bonus and cloud-saving is helpful as well as thematically appropriate but those perks are hardly replacements for a full high-definition overhaul for the 15-year-old game.

PC players anxious to hop into the game got a treat over the weekend when Square-Enix started selling the game for just $12.70 after tax. There was a problem though: The game wasn’t supposed to be on sale yet.

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Posters over at Square-Enix’s official forums noted that the game was up for purchase but those that put down their hard earned cash found that they couldn’t run the game yet. The SecuROM digital rights management license attached to the game failed when the game was started up, and entering each copy’s serial number didn’t alleviate the matter.

Square promptly took the game down and while they haven’t offered those early accidental purchasers an update on when they can legally play the game, it should be soon. The upcoming Gamecom convention in Germany is a likely arena for that news since Square will be showing off the game there.

Anthony John Agnello

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…

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