• Home
    • About
      • Contact
      • Jobs
  • Reviews
    • 3DS
    • DS
    • PC
    • PS4
    • PS3
    • PSP
    • PS Vita
    • Xbox One
    • Xbox 360
    • Wii
    • Wii U
    • Switch
    • Video Reviews
    • Review Score Policy
  • PS4
    • PS3
  • Vita
    • PSP
  • Xbox One
    • XBOX 360
  • 3DS
    • DS
  • PC
  • Switch
    • Wii U
    • Wii
  • Apps
  • Board Games
  • Guides
  • E3 2019
  • Home
    • About
      • Contact
      • Jobs
  • Reviews
    • 3DS
    • DS
    • PC
    • PS4
    • PS3
    • PSP
    • PS Vita
    • Xbox One
    • Xbox 360
    • Wii
    • Wii U
    • Switch
    • Video Reviews
    • Review Score Policy
  • PS4
    • PS3
  • Vita
    • PSP
  • Xbox One
    • XBOX 360
  • 3DS
    • DS
  • PC
  • Switch
    • Wii U
    • Wii
  • Apps
  • Board Games
  • Guides
  • E3 2019
Home
PC

Always Online DRM Worse Than Piracy Says Developer

Always Online DRM Worse Than Piracy Says Developer

simcity drm bad

Tommy Refenes (developer of Super Meat Boy) wrote on his own blog stating that the always online DRM model might have hurt EA more than piracy.

As most people will know by now, SimCity was met with overwhelming negative feedback with the always online DRM. This is because the servers were offline for a week that made legitimate purchasers of the game unable to play it.

Refenes wrote the following on his blog:

“As a forward thinking developer who exists in the present, I realize and accept that a pirated copy of a digital game does not equate to money being taken out of my pocket. Team Meat shows no loss in our year end totals due to piracy and neither should any other developer.

I bought SimCity day one, I played it and experienced the same frustrations that countless others are experiencing. For total fairness, I know the always on DRM isn’t the main issue, but I can’t help but think that the server side calculations are a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” version of DRM. I won’t claim to know the inner workings of SimCity and this isn’t a Captain Hindsight article because that is irrelevant. EA and Maxis are currently facing a bigger problem than piracy: A growing number of their customers no longer trust them and this has and will cost them money.”

He wrote a ton of other reasons why always online DRM is bad. He said 200,000 copies of Super Meat Boy were pirated, but the game still sold over 2 million copies legitimately. This is only 10% of potentially “lost” sales for the game. His analogy is similar to that of James Cameron’s Avatar film. Avatar was the most pirated movie of 2009, but this did not stop the film from earning $2.7 billion at the box office…

Since the SimCity debacle caused many people to ask for refunds, EA has now lost more money than it would have done from piracy. Also as Refenes mentioned, a lot of customers now hate EA and Maxis which will cost both of them in the long run. He went on to say that there’s no valid way for publishers to calculate actual lost revenue from digital sales from piracy. Hopefully this whole SimCity thing will teach gaming publishers that always online DRM is a bad thing.

  • Tags
  • EA
  • PC
  • SimCity
  • Super Meat Boy

Previous article Epic Mickey 2 Announced for the Vita
Next article Defiance PS3 Closed Beta Out Today Ahead of Shorter Xbox 360 Beta
Damian Antony Seeto

Damian Antony Seeto

Game reviewer from New Zealand. Been writing since 2009 and have reviewed hundreds of different games over the years.

Latest Reviews
Neptunia Virtual Stars Review

Neptunia Virtual Stars Review

Aukey PowerHub XL (PA-S24) Review

Aukey PowerHub XL (PA-S24) Review

Tohu Review

Tohu Review

Fallen Legion Revenants Review

Fallen Legion Revenants Review

1MORE ComfoBuds Review

1MORE ComfoBuds Review

Latest News
Feb 26th 8:53 PM
Switch

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl announced for Nintendo Switch

Feb 25th 8:59 PM
PS5

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade and Yuffie DLC Revealed for PS5; Mobile Games Revealed

Feb 25th 8:41 PM
PS5

Knockout City Beta in April; New Trailer and Information Revealed

Feb 25th 8:20 PM
PS5

Sifu Announced for PS4/5 and PC

Feb 25th 8:15 PM
PS5

Oddworld: Soulstorm Releases April 6; PS5 Version Confirmed as April PS Plus Game

Feb 25th 8:08 PM
PS5

Kena: Bridge of Spirits Release Date Confirmed; New Trailer Released

Feb 25th 7:56 PM
PC

Deathloop Continues to Tease in Latest Deja Vu Trailer

Feb 25th 4:31 PM
PC

System Shock remake coming to PC this summer

Feb 25th 6:50 AM
Board Games

The Isle of Cats: Late Arrivals Review

Feb 25th 5:22 AM
PS4

Rumor: Final Fantasy VII Remake and More are March’s PlayStation Plus Games; Reveal Set for During State of Play

Find Us On: