In case PC gamers weren't feeling neglected enough by Ubisoft by the recent PC-only delays of Call of Juarez: The Cartel and From Dust, the official Twitter channel for the Driver franchise has today confirmed that the PC version of the upcoming Driver: San Francisco will require a "permanent internet connection" to play.

This means that not only do players need an active Internet connection to launch even the singleplayer component of the PC game, but that connection has to remain active for the entirety of play, as the game periodically "phones home" to authenticate the user, pausing the game if unsuccessful.

The conversational method is clearly an attempt to curb piracy, but remains very unpopular among gamers as it inconveniences legitimate owners while the games are almost always eventually cracked by pirate distributors anyway.

Other Ubisoft games such as Assassin's Creed 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction utilised this technology, but patches were released to remove the persistent check several months after launch.