Game Entitlement Validation via Obfuscated Bundles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Unauthorized distribution, modification, or usage of games can lead to unreliable gameplay, affecting game developer revenue and hindering legitimate users, as existing protection methods may be overly intrusive or ineffective.
Innovation Solution
A validation mechanism that bundles and obfuscates user and hardware IDs with a signed receipt, sent to a validation service for robust security checks, ensuring only authorized users can play games on designated computing machines, thereby reducing unauthorized access and tampering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If robust security checks are implemented to validate user entitlement, then unauthorized distribution and tampering are reduced, but user convenience and ease of operation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs validation checks in advance before allowing game execution. The bundled information (user ID, hardware ID, receipt data) is prepared and submitted to the validation service beforehand, so that when the user launches the game, the entitlement is already confirmed and an authentication token is issued, avoiding intrusive checks during gameplay.
Solution Approach 2:
A validation service acts as an intermediary between the user's computing machine and the game execution. This service receives the bundled information, performs security checks, and issues authentication tokens, thereby isolating the complex validation logic from the user's direct interaction and maintaining convenience while ensuring security.
2Reliability
If multiple validation parameters are checked, then security against unauthorized usage is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple validation parameters (user ID, hardware ID, receipt information) are merged into a single bundled information structure. This bundle is processed together by the validation service, which performs all necessary security checks in one operation, thereby maintaining comprehensive validation while presenting a unified, manageable interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms multiple discrete validation parameters into a consolidated bundle format with a unified structure. By changing the representation from separate parameters to an integrated bundle, the system simplifies the validation process while maintaining the ability to check multiple security criteria simultaneously.
3Reliability
If obfuscate-encoding is applied to the bundle, then security against tampering is improved, but difficulty of detecting and measuring increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual or simple verification methods with automated cryptographic validation. The obfuscate-encoding and digital signatures are verified programmatically by the validation service using automated algorithms, making the process efficient and reliable despite the increased complexity of the encoding schemes involved.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments relating to validating a user's entitlement to play a game are provided. In one embodiment, a request for a user to play a game is received at a validation service. The request may include an obfuscate-encoded bundle including a signed user ID identifying the user, a signed hardware ID of a computing machine on which the game is requested to be played, and a signed receipt. The obfuscate-encoded bundle may be decoded and the request may be validated according to a plurality of security checks including determining that one or both of the signed hardware ID or the signed user ID respectively match a hardware ID and/or a user ID included in the signed receipt. If the request to play the game is valid, an authentication token may be sent to the computing machine that allows the user to play the game on the computing machine.