EA: No DRM for Sims 3

Best-selling franchise won't phone home

By Austin Modine in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 27th March 2009 17:27 GMT

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After taking one on the chin for Spore's overbearing DRM protection schemes, Electronic Art's is going back to tried-and-true disc-based authentication for the next installment of the The Sims.

In a post to the official Sims 3 website, Rod Humble, the man in charge of EA's best-selling PC franchise of all time, says the game won't include online authentication:

The game will have disc-based copy protection — there is a Serial Code just like The Sims 2. To play the game there will not be any online authentication needed.
We feel like this is a good, time-proven solution that makes it easy for you to play the game without DRM methods that feel overly invasive or leave you concerned about authorization server access in the distant future.

Humble added that Sims 3 for PC and Mac is expected to hit stores starting June 2, 2009.

EA's heavy-handed implementation of DRM in Spore caused massive outrage amongst gamers that, in many ways, overshadowed the game itself. Spore's anti-piracy methods included requiring online registration, installing SecuROM copy protection under the table, and granting a limited number of installs. The resulting consumer ire even prompted a class-action lawsuit against EA.

While the announcement doesn't necessarily mean EA is giving up DRM for good, taking the most disputed copy-protection shackles off its biggest money-making franchise is a major step. ®

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