Love of DRM Could Hurt an Otherwise Solid Holiday Lineup for EA

Okay EA, we gamers have been criticizing you for years about re-packaging games year after year and charging full price for what, inevitably, ends up being little more than an upgrade to a game we already own. So you finally addressed that issue and lined up some really sweet, original games for this holiday season like Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge, and Left 4 Dead. So it’s funny that a lot of hardcore gamers won’t be experiencing these gems thanks to your self-imposed PR nightmare: SecuROM.

If you haven’t been paying attention to the snafu that is EA’s DRM policy, here’s a quick synopsis. SecuROM is anti-piracy software that was made infamous earlier this year after EA adopted it as their primary anti-piracy tool for their PC port of Mass Effect and, later, Spore. In a recent interview with Gamasutra, EA CEO John Riccitiello paints DRM as a necessary evil and, in doing so, makes it clear that EA’s DRM standards aren’t going to change too much in the near future.

SecuROM has a lot of basic anti-piracy features like copy protection but it also includes a couple of controversial features such as limiting the number of times a program/game can be installed from one CD and being nearly undetectable during and after install. The most nasty issue, though, is the fact that companies like EA don’t have to publicly announce which programs are using SecuROM. This fun fact has actually brought class-action lawsuits against the company stating that EA’s attempt to limit piracy actually compromises the user’s computers by implanting a malware-like program without the user’s consent.

Despite the DRM debacle and an active pirate community, Spore still sold over a million units in the first month. In the Gamasutra interview, Riccitiello stated, “… I think the vast majority of people voted with their wallets and went out and bought Spore.” A lot of outspoken gamers on forums and comment threads all over the internet have pointed out that they understand the notion of ‘voting with [their] wallets’ and have started a boycott of EA products until their DRM policy is made more reasonable.

It’s a travesty that so many devout gamers — who have been waiting so long for EA to finally roll out quality titles — will miss out on what could be a historic holiday for the company. At least it’s for a good cause, though.