Yay, no oppressive DRM! Rod Humble tells all. Of course, the copy protection remains, because EA aren’t THAT progressive.
What nefarious schemes will EA implement instead? Here are some ideas for them…
1) Intentionally program the game ‘broken’, and release a day-one patch while restricting its downloading as much as possible to genuine owners. Games for Windows Live, etc. Issue a statement on your official forums; don’t acknowledge what you did but apologise for the issues and then accuse people with broken games of piracy. Hilarity ensues.
2) Create an awesome bonus feature for your game that increases its replayability 500% OR makes the game so much more functional that it’s practically a necessity for all serious players. Restrict the Awesome Bonus with a one-time code packaged with new copies of the game. Gamers will complain: “It’s too Awesome! Why isn’t it in the game itself? I don’t want to download it!” Accuse the complainers of being pirates. Six months later, release the update for $10. Leave it out of the ‘game of the year’ edition just to piss off a few more people. Extra points if Awesome Bonus isn’t ready for three months.
3) Package the game with a proprietary content delivery system which is a mandatory install with the game. Make it impossible, or at least heavily frustrating, to play the game without the PCDS running in memory, chewing up system resources. Accuse anyone who complains of being pirates.