14 DAY TRIAL // The PC community was up in arms after Spore was released, because of the way Electronic Arts decided to use DRM, in the form of SecuROM, to restrict the possibility of piracy. The main problem that a lot of people deal with is that the game can only be installed a limited number of times before Electronic Arts must be contacted to get the right to more installs.
A quick online search will show anyone who has the eyes to see that this restrictive DRM has done little to limit the piracy of Spore, as pirated versions were available even before the official launch of the game. It might just be that the inability of pirated copies to have access to Sporecasts and other persons’ creations has done more to convince people to get the game than the DRM Electronic Arts implemented.
One of the more palpable issues with the limited number of installs is that the second hand market will be hit hard if a majority of publishers adopt this scheme. Another concern is related to what will happen when Electronic Arts cuts support for the game and gamers need to contact the company to get the right to install the game again.
It seems that the backlash, which included very unfavorable reviews on Amazon and other sites that encourage user input, has convinced Electronic Arts to adopt another scheme for the upcoming Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3. Apparently, you will only need to authenticate the game once after it is installed and it will run without a disk in the drive. The issue is that SecuROM will still be used in the installation kit and that the number of installs will still be limited by default.
The issue here is that Electronic Arts actually restricts ownership by limiting the number of installs for a game. They are no longer selling us a game but the right to install one for a few times. How long before we begin to pay for the right to play a game for one hour?
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 is set to be launched sometime in October.