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Electronic Arts gives up on DRM?

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On March 27, 2009, 3:53 PM

Seemingly as a response to the heavily criticized DRM in Spore last year, which restricted the number of installs allowed per user and crippled some of the game’s content if no persistent internet connection was available, Electronic Arts has announced that it is easing off on most of these limitations. Specifically, the game publisher said that the third installment in its popular life-simulation franchise, The Sims, will not include any kind of online authentication but will rely instead on a simple serial code during installation.


That means players can use their disc to install and play the game on any machine as long as they have this number. It's possible that some other method will be used for copy protection, which seems like a reasonable compromise, as long as there is no oppressive and overly restrictive system calling EA's authentication servers to keep tabs on you. After all, pirates simply find workarounds for these DRM restrictions in the end, making people who actually bought the game the ones who suffer the most.

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  1. March 27, 2009 4:14 PM
    TomSEA said:
    Surprised EA didn't do this earlier after what happened with Spore. Not to mention the off-the-charts negative publicity and lawsuits that were filed as a result of the intrusive DRM on Spore.
    Reply
  2. March 28, 2009 3:55 PM
    Badfinger said:
    DRM to me is a big loser, adds to the cost, and turns OFF customers, bad mix.Have faith in your customer base...
    Reply
  3. March 30, 2009 9:54 AM
    nazartp said:
    About time! DRM doesn't work on anybody but an honest user. Whoever wants to steal a game will do it, DRM or no DRM. So what's the point? Having said that, I sort of found my peace with Steam's way of authentication. Allows me to have any game on all of my computers, but I can upgrade those as much as I want without losing the license. Plus keeps all the games up to date.
    Reply

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