EA might have learnt its DRM lesson

Bioware and Electronic Arts to tempt gamers away from pirated copies of Dragon Age with free DLC and exclusive items.

EA became bit of a four-letter word amongst gamers following some rather poor decisions about DRM controls on Spore and Red Alert 3. We were pretty vocally against install limits as DRM ourselves, though we do get that game publishers need to protech their property somehow, especially in the easy-to-pirate PC space. Thankfully, it looks like EA's come up with a good alternative.

The Escapist is reporting that Bioware and EA will be taking a different tack with the upcoming Dragon Age: Origins. To entice people into the buying the game new, and not pirating or picking it up second hand, fresh retail copies will come with exclusive DLC and content worth an 'extra' $15. The actual value is debatable, but the extra content angle is pretty compelling.

Pick up Dragon Age new and the goodies will include a few hours of extra quests, an exclusive party member, and an armour set token that will also be usable in the upcoming Mass Effect 2. As PC gamers hate missing out extra stuff, this is a smooth move, especially tying the content into another big game like Mass Effect.

This is a move we hope really works. Game piracy is definitely hurting the PC games industry in all kinds of ways, and the decision to reward legitimate purchasers rather than using some kind of collective punishment (which is what most DRM is) is refreshing.

Now, hopefully my review copies will count toward that extra gear as well...

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9 Comments

Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.

Mademan Aug 14, 2009 12:20 PM	Wow, using DLC updates to reward legitimate users. Who woulda thunk it? They must have tied the DLC itself to the user key or registration account, otherwise this is hardly news worthy. I never did get the idea of install limits. So once you've reached your install limit, you're then compelled to pirate the game to continue using something you already paid for? The person who came up with that idea should be shot. What I really like though is the incentive to not purchase games second hand. Perhaps the games should be more compelling to play and keep? Laughably, this is not an anti-piracy measure, it's an anti-console measure, or anti-EB Games measure, whichever way you look at it.
moofactory Aug 14, 2009 1:20 PM	About bloody time they pulled their heads out of the sand and use their brains.
thesorehead Aug 14, 2009 2:38 PM	Agreed, this is more an anti-2nd-hand measure than anything else. Blaming piracy for job and profit losses just doesn't gel with the facts, unfortunately.
Mademan Aug 14, 2009 3:10 PM	Like the retail predictions for compelling, must have titles such as Modern Warfare 2?
Blue Fire Aug 14, 2009 7:33 PM	I'm still not convinced.
MagnumXY Aug 16, 2009 7:19 PM	DLCs should be free in the first place... They want to stop me pirating games theyre gonna have to give me free updates and no copy protection crap.
somemadcaaant Aug 17, 2009 12:10 PM	Bah, they will just up the price to counter the $15 freebie, instead of the game costing a ridiculous $89 to $99, it will cost an insane $120… oh wait some new games already cost that much! Lol Reason why I force myself to wait for games /second hand/ebay. Anti-EB Games / Ebay measure for sure. In a few yrs private distributors will go under since all games and content will be via DLC (PSP Go) – second hand games themselves will be but a myth. Soon after the games market will dwindle as ppl have less and less time to bother with all the extra attention and time required to simply play a game for 30 mins. I don’t look forward to the next console war (Hugs Atari 2600 tightly).
qwakqwak Aug 17, 2009 2:45 PM	not a terrible idea...
fliptopia Aug 17, 2009 7:45 PM	I still think a big chunky manual full of useful information and back stories/history etc, quick reference guides are more enticing... and cloth maps are nice too. All things that make the gaming experience more than just what is on the screen.

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Issue: 111 | April, 2010

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