Which PC game was the first to ship with baked-in DRM?

Microsoft Adventure (1979)

The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)

"Colossal Cave Adventure," besides known arsenic "ADVENT" aliases simply "Adventure," was a groundbreaking text-based crippled released successful 1976. Widely regarded arsenic nan first activity of interactive fabrication and nan precursor to modern escapade games, it group a modular for narrative-driven gameplay.

In 1979, Microsoft released an updated type of this game, aptly titled Microsoft Adventure, ported to tally connected nan celebrated Radio Shack TRS-80. This type was notable for respective firsts: it was nan first afloat adjustment of Adventure for individual computers, and it was among nan earliest games released exclusively connected 5.25" floppy disks – a important displacement from nan cassettes commonly utilized astatine nan time.

Moreover, Microsoft Adventure is wide accepted arsenic 1 of nan first, if not nan very first, PC games to vessel pinch built-in DRM (digital authorities management), to forestall unauthorized copying. This early transcript protection worked by distributing nan game's information crossed unusually numbered disk tracks. The TRS-80's operating strategy required circumstantial instructions to publication these tracks, efficaciously preventing nan disk from being copied utilizing modular methods.

DRM successful gaming began arsenic a measurement for companies to protect their intelligence spot and forestall piracy, moreover successful nan early days of nan industry. By nan 1990s, transcript protection mechanisms evolved significantly, pinch games for illustration The Secret of Monkey Island utilizing "code wheels" aliases manuals containing accusation required to advancement successful nan game.

Over time, integer DRM became much sophisticated, often requiring online verification aliases accounts for access, arsenic seen successful titles for illustration Half-Life (1998), which pioneered internet-based DRM done nan Steam platform.