Sims 3 leaked two weeks before release

The newest addition to Electronic Arts' mega-franchise The Sims has reportedly been leaked online two weeks before the video game's official release. It certainly didn't take long for EA's The Sims 3, one of the game publisher's flagship titles for 2009, to be shanghaied by interweb pirates. We've identified a number of …

[Anonymous Coward]

Bad idea

"2) publishing a confession of doing so in the news is a terrible idea."

Yeah, only if you work for the company that financed the film... Unless the reg is owned by EA, I think you'd be fine :o)

[Anonymous Coward]

On usenet too...

...a quick header search shows somebody posting a Reloaded release earlier today. I guess it'll be a perfect gift for all the pirates to give their girlfriends.... :)

[David Webb]

@David

Pirates playing the Sims 3 + girlfriends? I'm pretty sure they will be searching for nude patches as we speak.

Ahoy matey, argh.

[Anonymous Coward]

Downloads now don't reflect long term piracy levels

You can't assume that EA's policy of being nicer on the DRM front isn't working as there is no other way of people owning the game at the moment. You may scream well why can't they be patient but have you considered the WAF (Wife Appreciation Factor) that you receive for putting this in front of her today rather than in 2 weeks time!?!?!? Not to mention the I want it now mentality that I believe has been fostered in recent years.

Exactly the same thing happened with stardocks Demigod release. One company released it before the release date and then pulled it. Ofcourse by then its too late. People want it and there is nothing you can do to stop them.

In the end EA gets more free publicity about its new game and can hold it up and say look how great it is people couldn't wait for it to be released. Literally.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hah..

Most of those actually buying and complaing DRM annoyance then posting it on the support forums of said company sites that made those games are probably pirates as well. I've yet to encounter 1 problem with a 2+ year old pc + a new build from DRM obstruction. Only thing I would've had a complaint about was Starforce or any other type of DRM that installs silently without a users knowledge. Frankly there is an easy way to stop piracy but they keep looking at it the wrong way. Software company like Daemon has it going the best at the moment in terms of app use protection. Sadly still since this is a game, they would only need to play it for no more than 2-3 days before deleting/burning off and moving on to other things. Wired seems to possibly maybe do these things too since they're very adept at picking up such news as this :D

Not that anyone is complaining of course. They say the PC gaming industry is dying and yet we still see failed DRM and a leak like this? Obviously the devs or whomever leaked it doesn't really care or there really is no shortfall of the amount of games that can be produced and/or the amount of money they rack in.

[Adrian Esdaile]

Surely they are professionals?

I mean EA... they do have a secure in-house versioning system, with restricted access to the full build?

So it should be easy to find who leaked it.

Or maybe the lowest-bidder DVD replication fab did it, either way EA will find their leak. Won't they?

I mean, they are professionals, aren't they?

[Tim Bates]

Re: Hah..

Don't be so sure. I've had DRM and copy protection issues with various pieces of software I legitimately own licenses for.

Windows XP - WGA failure on VLK boxes covered by a massive MS agreement.

Windows Vista - Geniune copy on my laptop (complete with COA sticker) decided it wasn't.

Kuju Rail Simulator - Refused to run while Daemon Tools was installed (which I had on for use with testing self produced content, not pirated stuff)

GTA4 - had issues with connecting to validation servers on at least 2 occasions

Now this is just a list off the top of my head of what I have personally had problems with. I'm sure if I looked at my game collection I could remember more... Meanwhile most of the problems will go away when you crack the damn software. What's that say about DRM?

[Anonymous Coward]

@Adrian

EA leaked it via their download manager which had, apparently, trivial mechanisms in place to prevent installation prior to the launch date. [citation needed]

[Anonymous Coward]

Go Indigames!

EA probably leaked it themselves just so they can say, "Oh lordy lordy, look what happens when we don't slap intrusive DRM all over our games like an old washed up whore shovelling make up on her face to hide the scars of her miserable life and pouring cheap booze down her throat"

or something.

[Pascal Monett]

Re:Hah

"Most of those actually buying and complaing DRM annoyance ... are probably pirates"

Way to reveal that you are a troll.

Remember Painkiller ? A 3-disc set that had such a tight security that the discs out of the box refused to recognize that they were legitimate ?

I ought to know, I was one of the sheep that got fleeced by that particular DRM scam. Feels reel good to bring home a legitimately-bought brand-new game and, when putting the first install CD in, getting a "Please insert original disc" error.

The only thing I hate more than DRM is people accusing those who complain about DRM of being pirates.

Besides, real pirates don't complain about DRM, they snigger quietly and go on playing the gorram game.

[Jamie]

Legal and Illegal games

I have both in my collection, such as Divine Divinity the entire set in downloaded copies and Originals purchased once they hit shelves.

If I liked the game I always bought the original as I would like to keep my collection complete without holes.

This changed when Might and Magic came out with some security that required online activation and other shit which was way to annoying for me to play a damn game.

Got Oblivion home, both illegal and legal copy of the original and legal versions of every add-on, love the game and don't mind supporting the developers. But if you treat me like shit with over zealous security I will walk away from a franchise.

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's get one thing straight

The Sims is not a 'girls game', and it's not for 'casual' gamers.

Sims devotees are probably about the most hard-core userbase of gamers you will find.

[Anonymous Coward]

drm doesn't bother pirates

It's all code on an open system - easily reversed engineered and hackable.

DRM only messes with legitimate customers and back in the early 1990s casual copiers (friends doing copies for friends). Downloading via the various means provided by the Internet than to go around a friends!

Copy protection is pointless and a waste of money for the publisher. CD-keys for online play and extras is their best solution.

Or activation like microsoft windows, where you can use the phone if you don't have net access.

[David Webb]

@ Mad Dave

The Sim's isn't a game, its a life simulation engine, calling it a game is a bit like saying something else which I can't think of at this time of the morning with only one coffee in me.

[Bad Beaver]

New Sims game?!

Awesome, soon I'll be able to go to some friend's place and watch him watch his Sim watch TV. But with all new graphics.

[Skadi]

TS3

I can say that the torrents are real, and the game files appear to have Securom 7 on them, meaning that EA lied about removing it.

http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/ The top board "the horror" is about TS3

[Ian]

This story is a lie

I mean seriously, how can this story be true?

Game developers worldwide have told us that DRM is there for our own good to protect us against counterfeit products, and although DRM may not stop hardcore pirates it at least protects a game in it's first few weeks of sales until it's cracked.

What else would DRM be for? Of course this is what it's for, EA and so on have told us themselves! Do you think it's there to try and prevent us having access to software we've purchased indefinitely so that they can sell us the same product multiple times when we want to play it for nostalgic value or to prevent second hand sales so that people have to all buy it first hand or something????

Oh wait...

[Steven Griffiths]

Shurely shome mishtake

shouldn't

"The game was still pirated on a massive scale despite EA's efforts"

be

"The game was pirated on a massive scale because of EA's efforts"?

[regadpellagru]

I beg to differ

"But obviously, the reverse psychology bit doesn't work either. Fortunately for EA, if Spore and other headlining leaks like Wolverine can make tons of money despite the rampant piracy, there's a good chance The Sims 3 will be lining their pockets anyway."

Indeed, as usual, 1000 pirated copies don't equal 1000 lost sales. A lot of people download it anyway since it's possible and easy, try it, and leave it since it's not their thing.

They would have never paid 10 quids for it !

At contrary, 1000 legit users pissed off and prevented to play due to DRM = 1000 honest folks that won't purchase next game if DRMised. Spore was at least one lost sale on EA from me.

Just due to that, I'll purchase SIM 3, no matter how easily I could get it from da interweb.

Good to see EA back in sanity world !

[Anonymous Coward]

Showing my support for EA by waiting!

I used to rip of games but I haven't for over 5 years now. I found I had more stuff than I had time to play and it was all big P'ing contest to boast I had something before others, pretty sad really.

People will rip it off then complain that EA don't make good, original games anymore. Why should they, when all you do is technically get a free copy from them. I can well imagine a 1/15000 torrent ratio on TPB today.

I now have a Mac and there aren't many games for the Mac so I am showing my support for EA's decision to release a WIN/OSX split disc, by waiting for the official release.

[dracotrapnet]

DRM bad mkay..

DRM, unusable games, bad user interfaces, new release artificial shortages, and unavailability on linux are the reasons why I quit buying games entirely. I don't even pirate/download them either. I just go play them at friend's houses. If it a game doesn't work, it's not my 50 bucks down the toilet. Yea.. game developers, you have lost more than 1k/year from me.

[Dale]

Leak = Announcement

Isn't a "leak" just a modern way of getting hacks to report a product release as "news"?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice

If anyone actually plays the sims, they can now get it not only for free and without DRM, but early. EA deserve everything they get.

@ Mad Dave: 3 words: World of Warcraft. Makes ANY other gamers look balanced.

[easyk]

good work EA

I think their marketing is working very well as I am a SIMS 1 customer who was unaware of their new product. Now I am.

[mittfh]

Making money...

If TS3 turns out to be anything like its predecessors, EA will probably make far more money by releasing a never-ending stream of expansion packs for the game than the game itself...

Besides which, this may even be doing them a favour by getting some advance publicity - (a) for the game itself, and (b) that it doesn't install any nasty DRM stuff...

[David Wilkinson]

people will still buy it ...

Most people can't follow the directions to install a pirated game.

Most people can't take the necessary precautions to reduce the risk of virus infection.

A lot of the people who have the necessary skills, get paid enough that they would rather just go out and buy the game.

So basically you got a bunch of teenagers and college students with lots of time and no money pirating .... and guess what ... most of them can't afford to buy more than a couple games a year anyway.

Heavy DRM always gets hacked ... upsets paying customers.

Light DRM always gets hacked .. rewards paying customers.

Oh and I refused to watch my neighbors leaked copy of Wolverine because I want to see it in the theater. My neighbor liked it so much he want to see it a second time in the theater. He is a big X-Men fan .. he will probably want it on DVD. He also buys CDs regularly despite having lots of pirated music.

The Sky is not falling!

[Rob Welsh]

SIMS 3...

...my missus will be made up and I will be moving out.

[Jason]

So many fools.

Quote Anonymous Troll -"Most of those actually buying and complaing DRM annoyance then posting it on the support forums of said company sites that made those games are probably pirates as well."

You've earned a Master's Degree in Applied Stupidity. Pirates don't complain about DRM because THE DRM IS STRIPPED FROM THEIR VERSION OF THE GAME.