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Gameloft's Android DRM policy leaves a little to be desired

Lose your phone, re-buy your games

Gameloft's Android DRM policy leaves a little to be desired
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If you lose your Android handset, accidentally wipe its memory or simply upgrade to a more powerful 'droid phone, you'll lose your Gameloft games.

That's the rub you get when you sell games outside the Android's official marketplace. It's totally kosher, and a boon for Android users who can't access the store from their device or country, but it does come with its drawbacks.

Fittingly named Phandroid tipster Dave Loft emailed Gameloft, who told him that "once the game is successfully installed, we cannot resend it for any reason, unless you buy it again."

That's the extent of their DRM policy. "One purchase entitles you to one download of the game to one phone number and on one phone model only." Which means if your Gameloft game leaves your Android for any reason, it'll never get back on unless you cough up and pay again.

This doesn't affect the games available through the official Android Marketplace, which all come with the Android's system wide policy for re-downloading games.

Unfortunately, the developer's recent spate of 3D games, including N.O.V.A., aren't on the marketplace, meaning you'll have to go through Gameloft's own site, and chance their devilish DRM.

Gameloft offers ten Android games currently, including N.O.V.A. and Hero of Sparta. Just be careful if you buy them not to let them ever leave your device.

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer