Released yesterday for iOS Deus Ex: The Fall is all about giving the player options, unless that player is attempting to run the game on a jailbroken iPhone or iPad, in which case it removes one of the most important abilities in the game — pulling the trigger.


Encountered by Redditor KipEnyan and verified by several user reviews in the app store, jailbroken players starting up the first mobile installment of the Deus Ex series are treated to a few cutscenes and a movement tutorial before running into the message above. It comes up during the game's shooting tutorial, and while one would assume players could still stealth through the game, I'm not sure they can progress beyond that point without tranquilizing those guards.


Mind you, this isn't pirates running into this issue. While I am sure there are some shady players attempting to get The Fall to run on their jailbroken iPads and iPhones, there are plenty of honest folks who dropped $6.99 on the game, only to have it treat them like pirates.

"$7 for a game that doesn't work on jail broken devices. No warning in App Store description," reads on user review for the app. Another says "I understand protecting the app against cracking/pirating, but preventing paying customers from playing on a device they own and legally modified is ridiculous."

Jailbreaking your iPhone or iPad is a completely legal (though warranty breaking) means of bypassing Apple's restrictions, allowing the running of homebrew apps, games and utilities. There is a rich community of developers testing the limits and enhancing the functionality of Apple's products via unapproved apps, supported by users hungry for the sort of innovation that community fosters.

The tactic Eidos Montreal has employed here is not widely utilized, for the very reason the handful of folks in the iTunes reviews for The Fall are so upset. It alienates honest users who still purchase their games and apps via the App Store, while presenting an obstacle that's easily bypassed by pirates. All one needs to do is figure out how to trick the game into thinking it's running on a non-jailbroken device. It's the sort of thing you could come up with via a simple Google search.


We've reached out to Eidos parent Square Enix for comment on Deus Ex: The Fall's anti-jailbreaking countermeasures, and will update this post once we get a response.