EA Non-Commital on FIFA 09 DRM

Following the storm of bad feeling that has surrounded Spore, Electronic Arts is remaining vague on exactly form the Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology used in FIFA 09 on PC will take.

Aussie website Gameplayer spoke to Andrew Wilson, VP of EA Sports and reports that, "He did confirm that DRM will be part of the PC FIFA 09 experience “in some form”, suggesting that it will be a watered down alternative to the system seen in Spore, all feedback taken into account."

Spore uses SecuROM, which, on release, would only enable the game be installed on a computer three times, prompting an outcry. The company has since softened its stance on the DRM, with gamers now able to install it on up to five machines and, most crucially for legitimate users of the game, un-install it on one machine and then re-install it on another an unlimited number of times.

Explaining, EA's president, Frank Gibeau, said, "We've received complaints from a lot of customers who we recognize and respect. We need to adapt our policy to accommodate our legitimate consumers." Does this mean that it fails to recognise and/or respect other customers? A strange business tactic.

In spite of that, EA seems set on including it in some form in upcoming PC titles.

Gibeau even seemed surprised by the outcry over Spore's DRM, stating, "We assumed that consumers understand piracy is a huge problem. We have found that 75% of our consumers install and play any particular game on only one machine, and less than 1% ever try to play on more than three different machines."

^{Sources: Gameplayer
LA Times}