100°

EA, We Have a Problem

Game Punch: This whole SimCity fiasco has been all over YouTube, Reddit, and Twitter, with tales of the terrible always on DRM plaguing the Internet. ‘Always-on-DRM’ is a feature that forces players to play on the online servers, provided by EA (which have been known to go down under high traffic). DRM stands for digital-rights-management, it’s essentially a way for companies to see if their software/games are falling into the hands of pirates or being misused, but also means that paying customers must connect to a server to play their game, servers that have a history of being terrible.

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2pacalypsenow4727d ago

This whole mess is a blessing in disguise , people will finally realize we're are not ready for games that require Internet and how DRM is a complete failure , we might get lucky and get a off-line patch

mistertwoturbo4727d ago

Perhaps, we're lucky if other publishers use this as an example in their business meetings of what NOT TO DO.

HarryMasonHerpderp4727d ago

They're just punishing the legit buyers with DRM.
I understand piracy is a problem but this is not the solution.

mistertwoturbo4727d ago

And once the Pirates hack an Offline version, all those legit pissed off people are going to pirate it.

sjaakiejj4727d ago

Except that hacking a game that was made to be played online is non-trivial, and unlikely to happen. A lot of the game's infrastructure is based on the availability of servers, hence why EA didn't just temporarily patch the game to solve the immediate problem.

Linsolv4727d ago (Edited 4727d ago )

@sjaakiejj - But there ARE built-in features to play on private servers, and that means there are server files, even if they're only available through select distributors.

From there, it's no less trivial than any other cracking to acquire those files, modify them to allow unsigned access, and then block license checks to EA's servers and tell people to connect to cracked servers. Similar to what has been done with CoD4 private servers, for instance.

aliengmr4727d ago

What Ubi did was make the game permanently authenticate to a server, so all that needed to be hacked was a small link, basically. What Diablo 3 and Sim City do is have servers that provide necessary content to run the game. Basically you are buying a client.

By tying content online it makes it pretty much impossible to sever the link externally.

That's how I understand it at least, folks more knowledgeable would be able to explain better.

MadMen4727d ago

EA if you are going to FORCE people to be connected, then have the capacity to back up your regulatory items.

DUMB@$$ES

50°

US Lawmakers Urge Review Of EA Sale

The Congressional Labor Caucus sent a letter to the FTC warning the debt-financed, largely PIF-owned deal could be bad news for workers

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Trilithon24d ago

lol ya think? they're sending all that work to the cheaper labor market as soon as possible. and FYI, that labor market has exploded in the last 5-10 years. They have enough people to replace every single job. But honestly, EA is over filled with useless upper management as it is. You could probably trim 25% of their staff with no real loss in production. They aren't gamers, they're business execs. Just look at how many AI related jobs they're already starting to post. Its also hilarious that PIF owns Battle field 6

lodossrage24d ago (Edited 24d ago )

Wait,

The same congress that attacked Lina Khan when she fought the Microsoft Activision purchase.
The same congress that allowed Disney to buy 90% of Fox
The same congress that allowed Liv Golf to buy the PGA
The same congress that sits back while Paramount tries a hostile takeover despite losing the bid for Warner Bros.

NOW, the suddenly cares about doing what's "right" for works? Yeah, right.

thorstein24d ago

No. There were elections and some of the scum were replaced.

TheColbertinator23d ago

Different elections. Different scum. Same results.

rlow124d ago

i know its a long shot, but i hope this gets shot down.

ZwVw23d ago

EA now owned by The Saudis and Ubisoft to inevitably be owned by China. In hindsight, once EA and Ubisoft started having their financial woes, they should have pulled a Koei Tecmo/Bandai Namco by merging their operations into one.

160°

Saudi Arabia Will Own 93 Percent Of Battlefield 6 Publisher EA

When the dust settles on the $55 billion leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts, Saudi Arabia will be its only true owner, despite a “consortium” of investors being involved in the deal. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund will control 93 percent of the company, according to filings with Brazil’s antitrust regulator.

blacktiger75d ago

Technically speaking, Saudi Arabia and TENCENT can buy the entire USA. ANf Democrat and Republican will not do crap!

Inverno75d ago

Letting foreign entities own half of American businesses is liberal and very progressive. So is bringing in all that talent from outside the States to replace the talentless and lazy American workers. And here I thought the Trump administration wanted to border is up but nope. We're supposed to worry bout them "radical Muslims" minding their own here and ignore China/Saudi/Israel taking over.

blacktiger75d ago

Another thing I hate hearing is "liberal and very progressive"
It's 2025 and that stuff is outdated. Everything and everyway is literally the same thing wheter it's progressive, conservativ. Because they all wants the same thing have, king unlimited oney buy everything including your house.

Now they making mainstream media news that it's AI Bubble justify to highjack the price of RAM.
Another excuse for inflation!

Tacoboto75d ago

"here I thought the Trump administration wanted to border is up but nope"

Lol, you actually bought what he was selling? Let's see this week alone...

Yesterday he pardoned an international drug lord, while allowing the murder of random fishermen on boats. Remember drain the swamp? He pardoned a Democratic Congressman jailed for bribery just today, nevermind that fraudulent drag queen republican that was kicked out of Congress and imprisoned for their fraud. It's so petty they're picking fights on social media with pop stars while using their music, and even using Franklin the damn Turtle to cartoonify their murders.

thorstein75d ago

You believed him!?!!

I've got some Trump $5000 bills for you, only half off.

74d ago
Inverno73d ago

People I do not use /s to point out my sarcasm. Should be obvious I don't believe anything coming out of Trump's mouth or any politicians mouth.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 73d ago
gold_drake74d ago

its quite ridiculous that they were able to do that. or even allowed to.

but saudis even have their grabby hands in nintendo stocks.

maximusprime_74d ago

Looking on the bright side, the games may be patched to remove any ideologies that are incompatible for the majority of the world.

S2Killinit74d ago

What do you mean? You want censorship in games?

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40°

EA Quells Fears and Says It Will Retain Creative Control If Saudi-Backed Buyout Proceeds

Electronic Arts says it will retain creative control if sold to a Saudi-backed group, assuring staff its values and vision stay the same.