Spore's DRM So Effective It Was The Most Downloaded Game Of The Year
from the nice-work,-EA dept
It never really made sense for EA to be so insistent on having draconian DRM on games. Before the company even launched Spore people made it quite clear the plan would backfire, but EA went forward with it anyway, creating a PR nightmare. And all for what? Turns out (not surprisingly) the DRM didn't do squat to stop unauthorized file sharing. Spore has now been declared the most downloaded video game of the year. And, even though the year's not over, no other game is going to catch up. And, it's worth noting, the game only launched in October, so this is only over a couple of months. In other words, EA's "antipiracy strategy" backfired almost completely. The company got a huge PR blackeye which probably only encouraged more people to download the game via file sharing. Can someone explain, again, why any company thinks DRM works?
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Filed Under: downloads, drm, piracy, securom, spore, video games
Companies: ea
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Spore was a hit, after all
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Some explainations
1. Almost two million people downloaded a copy, liked it and went out and brought a legal copy.
2. Almost two million people brought a legal copy, ran into problems with the DRM and went out to the internet to downloaded a copy.
Hey, are these any less reasonable than the explanation that goes "EA could have sold nearly four million copies"?
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Re: Spore was a hit, after all
After they managed to sell close to 2 million copies the first three weeks a LOT of people A) returned the game and B) went and downloaded the pirated (DRM free) version. Please note that B and A are not exclusive. Some people did both.
Also, you can't go around touting that sales number as evidence "it worked" not just because of the RETURNED games (which the retailers pay for BTW, not EA) but also because of that whole Amazon consumer review scandal.
Please note that 70-80% of the people that purchased the game on Amazon gave it a 1 or 0 stars BECAUSE OF THE DRM
.EA seems to be a bit too big of a company, the various departments don't seem to know what others are doing. For example, you get asinine events like Spore that should result in whoever suggested the DRM scheme to be fired. Then you get events such as with Warhammer Online where they absorbed Mythic, but left Mythic to their own devices to make the game.
It seems when EA just lets developers do what they want and keep their "business strategies" out of it they make better games and don't suffer from these kinds of issues.
EVERY single EA game that comes out with DRM gets pirated, and a fair number of people are actually boycotting the brand entirely now.
And lets not forget about the lawsuit. There is just no excuse for EA. Maybe they should of released it all on Steam...
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Re: Re: Spore was a hit, after all
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Re: Spore was a hit, after all
In short, the drm did nothing but put a huge dent in the legit sales figure, undoubtedly contributed to the game being pirated more than usual and turned many potential legit buyers towards piracy. And this was supposed to "prevent" piracy?
Complete backfire, as the article suggests.
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Re: Spore was a hit, after all
Keep in mind that a lot of them did what I did - bought the game not realizing how bad the DRM would be, then downloading the game afterwards to avoid it.
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Spore was pretty polarized in that people either loved it, or hated it. Personally I hated it. It was over hyped and had worse than mediocre game play.
Most people who bought it, did so on the basis of the hype. Those who tried it out first where able to avoid this hype. And while 2 mil units in 3 weeks is good it is by no means the best for the year.
Fallout 3 was and is widely available for download, and yet still churned out 4.7 mil units in like the first 10 days.
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Here's how you should write something that you have no facts on. "It is very probable that the reason most games are pirated is due to the DRM on them."
See? Now you're letting people know you have an opinion based on very good logic (there's mine right there) but not trying to force it on them without any evidence to back it up.
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However, I think that most reasonable people would also understand, ya know, read between the lines so to speak, that I was not attempting to state an absolute, nor trying to quantify a 'number' but to convey a personal opinion.
Again, I could have worded the post differently to better convey the thought. My bad :(
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First time being on the other side of the piracy fence... and in this occasion it feels gooooooooood.
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DRM Suks
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drm is junk
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Stated before the DRM is to kill resale.
The kind of DRM pretty much ensures no one will want to buy a used copy.
Now when you buy crap from EA it becomes instantly worthless for resale because of the DRM, so yet another reason not to buy it in the first place.
I am boycotting anything EA because of this.
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Re: Stated before the DRM is to kill resale.
You mean nobody will be ABLE to buy a used copy? You have to register your game on Spore's content server in order to download content. It binds the cd key on your specific game to the email address you register with. Nw you have 2 choices:
a) Coaster.
b) Give your account details to the person that's buying the game from you.
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You are completely right. DRM for stopping piracy is just an excuse. It hasn't worked before and I bet they knew for sure that it won't work with Spore either. What publishers and producers are actually trying to do is to get rid of the secondary market by any means necessary. A lot of people from major players in gaming business have been bitching and moaning about how much the secondary market hurts their sales figures. Let me give you just a couple of examples: Epic Games and Atari. You can find many more similar articles if you look hard enough.
And DRM is not their only way of attack on the second hand market. They also plan to move more towards online gaming (EA, Ubisoft) or digital distribution (Atari), thus eviscerating the second hand market. There is some talk around the water cooler that Valve has already gained more from digital distribution than through physical sales (Valve sales).
DRM will ultimately fail in face of public outrage and boycott. Nevertheless, I think that the drive towards online gaming and digital distribution, if successful, will drastically diminish and maybe even kill the second hand game sales. If nothing happens to change this trend, in 10 year's time we will probably be unable to buy an games in a real life store. One implication is that single player gaming could die off, which would be even more tragic than the death of the secondary market. Another implication is that the power of the developers, producers and publishers over the client would increase by tighter control on the way the games are experienced. That is obvious in the case of online games, but it is just as true in the case of digitally distributed content. We are already seeing this in the case of present day games which require online activation in order to work at all.
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On the plus its hassle free to install the games (literally right click the game and click install and it downloads for you) but you can play them anywhere.
Oh and if your account gets hijacked, Valve is VERY good and quick about returning your account. 2 of my friends were victims of a phishing attack this week and had their accounts back in 2 days. The longest I've heard for a stolen account was 1 week.
Another minor complaint is that you can't trade or sell games. Valve is a company like Mythic entertainment. They listen to their customers. If enough people give them that feedback they'll figure out how to add it if they can. Chances are other developers would probably be the handicap there. They would be the ones refusing to allow it as it means that other person doesn't buy one of their games.
But yea. If every game was available on Steam I'd be a happy person. The "headaches" you tend to hear about are people not knowing what they are doing, or giving you outdated information.
Most of the time.
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it has you and me talking, and definitely increases the interest in the game.
what do you think?
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Re: all publicity is good publicity
For the record, I was really looking forward to Spore, so much so that I was going to reinstall Windows just to play it. I'm one customer they lost.
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re
Seriously all DRM does is punish honest people that buy their games... It doesn't take a ridiculously over paid executive to figure that out... Or maybe they just can't.
Oh, as far as this being a publicity stunt; I haven't bought a damn thing from EA since their decision to use DRM. Maybe some of you have, but frome where I'm sitting it hasn't helped them one bit.
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Re: ze man
So, EA:
"No popcorn for you eggsucker."
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DRM will die...
Quatanum of Solice was leeched, the very next day i went out and got it legal. Spore never got a look in.
Far Cry 2 - wish i had leeched it first - DRM loaded. Not impressed. Any one wanna buy a 2nd hand copy?
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That's because half of the people who downloaded the 'pirated copy' needed to download a cracked version to simplify things.
And yeah, can see how bad it hurt sales, in any event. I didn't download or buy it, hehe. I usually buy my games anyway, can't think of one I've downloaded for quite a while, most of the time they are a big hassle - but many times, not as big of a hassle as the DRM they ship the games with.
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Drm
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Re: Drm
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Even though this was rhetorical, I will reply :) EA has taken every opportunity to show that they only care about $, not at all about the customer. I realize all business is about money, but some companies know how to strike a nice balance between profit and a successful relationship with their clients.
EA is not an example of such. EA wants your money and would kick your dog after taking it if they could get away with it. IMO, if you actually want to play one of their watered-down, buggy, released-way-too-early games... well... here's a discount code you can use on the intarweb: "thepiratebay".
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ROFL
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Monopolies are bad.
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So is it stealing?
So, if I have a legit copy of the game, is it considered stealling to unistall it, get rid on the evil that is secureRom, download a DRM free version and play that?
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Re: So is it stealing?
You already purchased a legal copy of the game and you have a right to a backup.
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I would have bought the game, only...
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What backfired exactly? As I understand it, the game has sold millions of copies. Are you saying it would it have sold MORE without DRM?
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I'd say all of that proves the people who said it would backfire right. The DRM didn't stop the game from being pirated. It didn't even slow down the number of copies of it being pirated. That was the WHOLE FUCKING POINT to the DRM.
So yes, it backfired. The DRM was a failure and is costing them a whole lot of more money after the fact than they realize.
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er of games
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Occasional
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EA's going to spin this
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It's BECAUSE of the DRM
That's not just a failure of the DRM (preventing piracy), that's a design flaw (encouraging piracy).
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What EA is accomplishing...
I've basically quit gaming. There are other ways to waste one's spare time that don't involve buying products from people I despise and who seem to hate ME.
Just f'ing give up on PC gaming altogether. Consoles are the platform for the future...which is sad, except for the much-anticipated opportunity to someday dance on EA's grave (and kick THEIR dog).
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Defective by Design needs overhaul
I find it very gratifying to see the whole MP3 saga play itself out with WalMart's server shutdown fiasco. Now Amazon and iTunes sells MP3s, and that martket hasn't exploded.
For games, and music too, I think any reasonable person can see that a company has to do its due diligence to protect the product of countless hours of development. However, implementing safeguards should not be at the cost of functionally criminalizing those customers that make up their livelihood.
We've heard it over and over again - revamp the business models. Microsoft has it half-right - tie the product/hardware together, then dole out extra goodies periodically to legitimate users. The difference is that the product shouldn't be broken before it can be used.
And give those illegitimate users a path for "going legal" without all the Machiavellian pomp and overtones.
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In response, I am boycotting ....
EA games for using SECUROM
Sony for creating it
AND ANY OTHER COMPANIES I FIND IS USING IT!
SECUROM IS A VIRUS AND DRM=DIGITAL RENTAL MEDIA!
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2 million downloaded, 2 million sold... 4 million people playing a game... Then game introduces premium online content and pvp...
think about it
yup your getting it, just think a little harder...
.
.
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ahh... yeah you see it, you really do
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DRM
The problem with DRM is that people are not downloading illegally because they are getting a free version. but because they are getting a better version of the game.
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lost sale?
Spore was so anticipated and hyped and mainstream, that if I didn't know about the DRM, I would still not be surprised that it was the most downloaded game of the year.
All that aside, I also luckily downloaded it first, after hearing about the DRM, and actually found out that I didn't enjoy the game at all.
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UserFriendly got it right
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When Will They Learn
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DRM
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Weird...
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Not inclined to shut up about it yet.
- Spore sales (possibly lumped in w/Creature Creator sales?) of 2 million were across 3 different platforms: PC, phone, and handheld apps. PC numbers were speculated to be around half a million, but that was a couple months ago.
- The Sims2 game(s?): love to know if the 2008 number is a giant leap up from previous years, since Securom and all its tech problems were included on gameplay expansions only beginning in Sept. 2007. Note from EA: Prior to this, The Sims games sold over 100 million copies with nothing but cd checks and confined to the disk anti-copy. Note from me: a metric ton of Sims players knew little of how to pirate until Securom came along and fuxx0Rd their computers.
- The Mac version of Spore does include Securom. The free demo and sold versions of Creature Creator included Securom. Anything from EA includes Securom these days, activations or not.
- Initially Spore only permitted 3 activations. Versions sold a few weeks later (after the hooraw) allowed 5. Changing out hardware on one machine uses an activation, good luck guessing when that happens since you get no notice that an activation is used up (only a notice to buy another copy of the game when they're gone). The activation revoke tool promised months ago by EA is yet to be seen.
- Fallout3's 'milder' version of Securom is nothing of the kind, it just dispenses with the activation nonsense (like the Sims2 games). Securom still installs on your computer and actively scans for blacklisted software like Daemon Tools, Process Explorer, etc. and could prevent startup if they're running or detected. It might prevent startup just for the hell of it. It might also disable your optical drives too, just for funzies.
- There are four class action lawsuits now filed against EA regarding the steath installation of Securom, the technical issues it causes, and EA's non-disclosure of its installation (there were five, but one was recently dismissed by the plaintiff to be consolidated with another). The suit specifying purchasers of Mass Effect PC also raises the issue of denying a purchaser the right to sell their game on to someone else.
- The DRM EA uses backfired because it actually gave people a CAUSE to rally around, an anti-EA cause; it showed the true arrogance and deaf ear EA has been so often accused of exhibiting toward its customer base and has to be one of the dumbest moves in the history of the gaming industry: their insistence on problematic DRM (instead of SANE DRM their customers begged for) virtually led those customers by the hand to crack and torrent sites or just plain turned them off from buying at all.
Yeah. They could've sold millions more, in other words, but they pulled the trigger with pissed off customers that blew up on them. They had to know it was coming, so many customers told them so. All EA had to do was read their own boards...
Fail.
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Even with all the fun that my friends are having with Left 4 Dead, I'm waiting it out to see if it'll still be fun two months from now. If so, I'll buy it discounted.
So, thanks, Spore, for improving my buying habits!
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lol
the drm was/is bs though, i wouldnt want to rent a game i own, the only way i could justify that is with an mmo, and honestly, there are hardly any out there that truely are worth a sub
requiring constant internet activity wouldve been a much better route at least, or just letting you install once per month (for different machine ids) and not considering driver updates as changing your machine
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