Monday, September 22, 2008

EA to stick with SecuROM for Red Alert 3

EA has announced an intention to continue using the controversial SecurROM copy protection software with the upcoming Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, despite the massively negative reaction the DRM software has met with in previous products.

Companies such as Take-Two and Electronic Arts have received backlash from users after including the draconian copy protection system SecuROM. The system has been used in games such as BioShock and Mass Effect, with Spore currently taking a customer-review bashing on Amazon for its inclusion of the software.

EA has now confirmed that it won't be dropping the system however and will include it in Red Alert 3, though the SecuROM system will be tweaked. Players will now be allowed five active installs of the game at any one time, the software only authenticate on first-run and you will not need the disc in the drive to play according to a discussion on the EA forums.

"Red Alert 3 is shaping up to be a world-class RTS game that will give you many hours of enjoyment," said an EA spokesperson.

"I think it would be a shame if people decided to not play a great game simply because it came with DRM, but I understand that this is a very personal decision for many of you and I respect that. As you might imagine, I’m a lot less respectful of those people who take the position that they will illegally download a game simply because it has DRM,"

In other words: not good news and this is something that some people will obviously use as a flimsy excuse for piracy.

Are you one of those people, or will you be showing displeasure through sales figures? Let us know what you think in the forums, or check out our hands on impressions of the game in our Red Alert 3 preview.

  • Red Alert 3 Hands-on Preview
  • Agents at play
  • Mass Effect and Spore DRM detailed
  • Spore DRM allows only one account
  • EA signs Gemma Atkinson for Red Alert 3
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