Electronic Arts: Difference between revisions
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EA holds the record for most pirated game with the title [[Spore]], which was directly because of EA's usage of [[SecuROM]], and was one of the earlier known titles to introduce always-online [[digital rights management]] (DRM).<ref name=":0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ltfyqD3lM</ref> Some releases of Mass Effect also put to use SecuROM, and would instill excessive limits, such as a 3-install limit that cannot be refunded via uninstalling, only raised via customer service calls, not to mention a recurring validation system that required that the game should have its activation code run every 10 days.<ref>http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/83689-Mass-Effect-Spore-To-Use-Recurring-Validation</ref> While their use of SecuROM died off in the mid-2010s, they merely switched to a piece of DRM that has been far worse for consumers, [[Denuvo]]. One significant EA title that has used this DRM is ''Star Wars: Jedi Survivor.'' <!-- Need to add more examples later here --> | EA holds the record for most pirated game with the title [[Spore]], which was directly because of EA's usage of [[SecuROM]], and was one of the earlier known titles to introduce always-online [[digital rights management]] (DRM).<ref name=":0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ltfyqD3lM</ref> Some releases of Mass Effect also put to use SecuROM, and would instill excessive limits, such as a 3-install limit that cannot be refunded via uninstalling, only raised via customer service calls, not to mention a recurring validation system that required that the game should have its activation code run every 10 days.<ref>http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/83689-Mass-Effect-Spore-To-Use-Recurring-Validation</ref> While their use of SecuROM died off in the mid-2010s, they merely switched to a piece of DRM that has been far worse for consumers, [[Denuvo]]. One significant EA title that has used this DRM is ''Star Wars: Jedi Survivor.'' <!-- Need to add more examples later here --> | ||
=== Spore === | ===Spore=== | ||
Further reading: [[Spore]]<!-- I believe there is far more controversy to document inside a dedicated article. I also recommend mentioning Darkspore and Spore Adventures, since both of these are directly affected by what EA does with Spore itself. --> | Further reading: [[Spore]]<!-- I believe there is far more controversy to document inside a dedicated article. I also recommend mentioning Darkspore and Spore Adventures, since both of these are directly affected by what EA does with Spore itself. --> | ||
Spore retains a historical 1.7+ million pirated copies,<ref>https://www.ncesc.com/gaming-pedia/how-many-times-was-spore-pirated/</ref><ref>https://torrentfreak.com/spore-most-pirated-game-ever-thanks-to-drm-080913/</ref> directly related to the usage of [[SecuROM]].<ref name=":0" /> In more recent years, Spore's server access was locked down to EA accounts<ref name=":1">https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=582350678</ref>, mostly thanks to a free Steam key exploit. This has led to various problems for legitimate consumers who merely wanted to play the iconic game and its sibling Darkspore, since according to guides,<ref name=":1" /> users can only have a singular install of the game on any device, they must hold an EA account that uses only alphanumeric passwords, and the CD key must be redeemed on the user's EA account.<ref>https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002333209-Spore-How-to-get-access-to-online-features?product=gog</ref> This has brought concern among the community, leading to community-run tools to circumvent these server problems.<ref>https://sporecommunity.com/</ref> | Spore retains a historical 1.7+ million pirated copies,<ref>https://www.ncesc.com/gaming-pedia/how-many-times-was-spore-pirated/</ref><ref>https://torrentfreak.com/spore-most-pirated-game-ever-thanks-to-drm-080913/</ref> directly related to the usage of [[SecuROM]].<ref name=":0" /> In more recent years, Spore's server access was locked down to EA accounts<ref name=":1">https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=582350678</ref>, mostly thanks to a free Steam key exploit. This has led to various problems for legitimate consumers who merely wanted to play the iconic game and its sibling Darkspore, since according to guides,<ref name=":1" /> users can only have a singular install of the game on any device, they must hold an EA account that uses only alphanumeric passwords, and the CD key must be redeemed on the user's EA account.<ref>https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002333209-Spore-How-to-get-access-to-online-features?product=gog</ref> This has brought concern among the community, leading to community-run tools to circumvent these server problems.<ref>https://sporecommunity.com/</ref> | ||
===License exclusivity=== | ===License exclusivity=== | ||
With various [[Intellectual property|intellectual properties]], from Star Wars<ref>https://gamerant.com/ea-no-longer-star-wars-exclusive-publisher-lucasfilm-games-ubisoft-bethesda/</ref> to the NFL, EA has forced their way into holding what is essentially an artificial monopoly over large genres of the industry. Their exclusive licenses with various football organizations, such as the AFL | With various [[Intellectual property|intellectual properties]], from Star Wars<ref>https://gamerant.com/ea-no-longer-star-wars-exclusive-publisher-lucasfilm-games-ubisoft-bethesda/</ref> to the NFL, EA has forced their way into holding what is essentially an artificial monopoly over large genres of the industry. Their exclusive licenses with various football organizations, such as the AFL and NFL, resulted in an antitrust lawsuit against EA.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20110510050257/http://www.aolcdn.com/tmz_documents/0611_nfl_ea_wm.pdf</ref> This ended in a $600K settlement, but did not resolve the primary problems caused by EA's exclusive deals.<ref>https://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080612-lawsuit-flags-ea-for-illegal-procedure-on-football-monopoly.html</ref><ref>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/06/ea-punts-gives-600k-to-former-football-star-in-madden-nfl-rights-flap/</ref> NCAA players brought additional lawsuits against EA, alleging that it was not authorized to use their likeness in their games. These suits were also settled out of court.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/27/sports/ncaafootball/ea-sports-wont-make-college-video-game-in-2014.html?_r=0</ref><ref>http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/dennis-dodd/23859858/ea-sports-settles-likeness-suits-thousands-of-current-former-players-eligible-for-money</ref><!--Diminishing quality section here?--> | ||
===Buyouts and closures=== | ===Buyouts and closures=== | ||