The Sims 3 DRM & in-game advertising update

The Sims 3 is undoubtedly going to be one of the biggest titles of 2009, and it probably wouldn't be out of line to make even broader statements about it. So it's a big deal when Digital Rights Management (DRM) choices about such a game are made, as not only are they going to affect millions of gamers, but other publishers' decisions too.

Previously we revealed the game apparently is host to SecuROM and online activation, probably the two most loathed common DRM implementations. More, the rumoured in-game advertising disclaimer was nowhere to be seen. Following that, executive producer for the Sims division at EA Rod Humble stated only a serial code and disk copy protection would be used (pretty acceptable), which confused the heck out of us.

Well, according to a newly updated end-user license agreement (EULA) and product page for the game in addition to some forum posts by a community manager, the original notice about SecuROM and online activation were for the digital version of the game. The retail version, meanwhile, will have neither, however both will require the EA Download Manager for "SimPoints and downloads" (including patches/updates, we assume), an application many gamers are not fond of, partly because it's DRM in a different form, and it's possible to include SecuROM in a future update (though we're assuming EA, having said the retail version will not have SecuROM, would not do such a thing in the future, especially with all the flak they've gotten before).

The manager has also caused performance problems with at least one game in the past, and can be used to collect and indirectly monetize data on its users:

4. Consent to Collection and Use of Data. To facilitate the provision of software updates; dynamically served content including advertising; product support; and online services to you, you agree that EA and its affiliates may collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer (such as Internet Protocol Address and hardware identification), operating system, and application software and peripheral hardware, and non‐personally identifiable game play and software usage statistics, without further notice to you. EA and its affiliates may also use this information in the aggregate, in a form which does not personally identify you, to improve our products and services and we may share anonymous aggregate data with our third party service providers.

The second thing is in-game advertising, which, assuming the EULA doesn't change before June (it could), will be implemented, courtesy of IGA Worldwide Technology, with which they signed a deal last summer:

[This game] enables advertising to be temporarily uploaded into the game on your PC or console, and replaced while you are online. IGA Technology only logs information that is needed to measure presentation of advertising, and to serve advertising to the appropriate geographic region and to the right location within the game. Logged data may include Internet Protocol Address (“IP Address”), in game location, length of time an advertisement was visible, size of the advertisements, and angle of view. The IP Address is deleted when the online game session ends. Your game may be assigned an id number, which is stored on your PC or console, and used by IGA Technology to calculate the number of unique and repeat views of dynamic in game advertising. The id number is not associated with any personal data. No logged information is used to personally identify you.

Note disabling your Internet while playing the game will disable the ads in turn (they say this in the agreement), though this is not desirable for many.

Update (07/07/09): a message sent to EA support yielded this response: "At the moment, we do not have in-game advertising. The wording in the EULA covers the possibility in the future that the Sims 3 may have advertising, but this is unknown at present time."