It’s official (read the EA announcement here), and it’s made the release delay worth the wait. EA Games announced they will be releasing the Sims 3 without Digital Rights Management (DRM) software, including SecuRom, a program that has not only caused a lot of controversy, but has also gotten the company tangled in several lawsuits. Instead, protection will be similar to previous Sims titles, in which you must enter a serial code included with your purchase. Additionally, you will have to play the game with the CD inserted into your computer, but you will be able to install the program on any computer as long as you have the serial code.

The recent release, Spore, caused a stir because it came packaged not only with SecuRom, but also limited the user to three activations (this was later increased to five). This meant that users were forced to purchase another copy of the game if, due to hardware upgrades or other reasons, they needed to install the product more than the allotted activations. Needless to say, this fiercely angered EA’s loyal fanbase, forcing many to boycott the game and EA in general.

Although EA fiercly defended Sony’s Securom program, it has had severe issues. Legally, it has caused problems for the company because it installs itself without notifying the user, and does not uninstall when the base program is deleted, causing many to accuse it of being a virus or other malware. Additionally, several users reported that the program disabled innocent hardware and software on their computers (after flagging them for possibly being used for piracy), like CD-R drives and CD burning programs. As a result, EA’s loyal, paying, non-pirating customers were finding themselves punished, while pirates were using the software anyway, DRM free.

For more information on DRM and Securom, visit ReclaimYourGame.com.

The Sims 3 is scheduled for US release on June 2. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to finally pre-order it!

[Source: Gamasutra.com]

Tags: DRM, EA, SecuRom, Sims 3, The Sims

This entry was posted on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 7:05 pm and is filed under Industry News, News, PC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.