(Update: Sega has applied a patch that will now allow you to play the PC version of Sonic Mania offline. Whew.)
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Sonic Mania came out for consoles a couple of weeks back, and it serves as an excellent reminder of the good ol’ Genesis days of the speedster. Even with slight issues with the Nintendo Switch version (not being able to take screenshots or go back to the home menu), it’s been nothing short of phenomenal.
And yet, the PC version launched today – and things haven’t gone quite so smoothly with it. The game has launched, but apparently Sega has inadvertently included some DRM in place with it, with the copy-protection Denuvo system.
So what does this mean? In a nutshell, the game will not play without any kind of online connection. Yep, you can download it and add it to your collection, but if you don’t have any kind of access to an online network, you won’t be able to play it.
This was first discovered by the team at Ars Technica earlier in the day, with editor Sam Machkovech noticing the error. That said, other users have noticed it as well, and have retaliated accordingly, by leaving negative reviews for the game on its Steam listing.
That said, Sega has taken notice of the issue and is working on a fix. It posted on the Steam community page earlier today, noting, “Like you, we’ve noticed an error in the Steam store not mentioning the DRM for Sonic Mania. We’re fixing that now. Sonic Mania is intended to be played offline and we’re investigating reports on that.”
There’s no timeline on when the fix is supposed to take place, but considering how urgent the matter is – and how much the negative reviews for the game are hurting its sales impact on Steam – you can bet that Sega is making it a top priority.
For the time being, if you want to play the game, it’s available for several other platforms, including Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Switch. The last two platforms are your best bet, as those versions of the game seem to be running very well. Jump in there and join us for some old-school bliss!
Sonic Mania is available now for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
