Riccitiello: "I personally don't like DRM"

By Robert Purchese Published 15 October, 2008

But says 99.8 per cent don't notice it.

EA boss John Riccitiello doesn't like PC DRM, but reckons 99.8 per cent of people don't even notice it.

"We're still working out the kinks," he said at a conference watched by Yahoo.

"We implemented a form of DRM and it's something that 99.8 per cent of users wouldn't notice. But for the other 0.2 per cent it became an issue, and a number of them launched a cabal online to protest against it. 

"I personally don't like DRM. It interrupts the user experience. We would like to get around that, but there is this problem called piracy out there," he added.

This "cabal" specifically targeted DRM software SecuROM, which infamously limits Spore users to just three installations of the game.

However, compromises are being made; BioWare rethought SecuROM features in Mass Effect PC, and Red Alert 3 on PC will adopt "more lenient" DRM measures.

But fan feedback has been so vehement that EA faces a lawsuit for not properly educating shoppers about the inclusion of the third-party SecuROM software that apparently "secretly" installs itself on their computers and cannot be removed.

The community has also pointed out that SecuROM does nothing to stop piracy, as Spore was cracked before public release. Instead, they argue, the real target is the pre-owned, trade-in market.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (52) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • TriggerHippie #1 3 years ago

    Well DRM did sweet FA to prevent the piracy of Spore but it did lose EA a sale from this prospective customer.

  • Fyzzu #2 3 years ago

    So 99.8% of users wouldn't notice it, but it interrupts the user experience? Hmm.

  • Xerx3s #3 3 years ago

    DRM = no pc sale for me.

  • Triggerhappytel #4 3 years ago

    I think some form of security is needed, but obviously DRM is not it. EA have a lot of kinks to iron out before they should implement something similar in the future.

    Also - I think it's a little more than 0.2% who were displeased with DRM. Just looks at the reviews on Amazon, for example!

    I think they need to balance out what is worse - piracy or lost sales & bad press. Also, isn't Spore on its way to becoming the most pirated game ever?

  • Whatsfor #5 3 years ago

    Someone should maybe read the full article, Maybe Rob mis-quoted him... again...

  • dr_faulk #6 3 years ago

    Sounds like he's complaining about DRM. Better cancel his account and make him buy Spore again.

    Cucking Funt.

  • kangarootoo #7 3 years ago

    Hmmm. He makes some good core points, but its all undermined somewhat by their choice of solution SecuROM is hardly the weapon of choice these days. Its the most intrusive for (admitedly a minority) of users, AND its hardly secure enough to stop piracy for any significant period of time.

    I sincerely hope that "ironing out the kinks" involves dropping SecuROM in favour of a better solution. One fool proof way to do this is to "design out" the value of piracy. If your product has a significant and rewarding online element to it, piracy is defeated by nothing more heavyweight than a unique identifying code per user. A minority will pirate your game and play it offline, but the majority will want the full experience including the online elements, and will thus make a legit purchase.

    Of course its not as straight forward as I make it sound, but its a direction that should be considered (and EA are almost certainly considering it, 'cos lets face it they know far more about this stuff than I do).

  • BartonFink #8 3 years ago

    Fuck here we go again with more:

    'Oh I pirated Spore because I am taking a stance against DRM bolloxology'
    or
    'DRM is causing piracy'
    or
    'Don't blame the the pirates for the piracy blame the DRM'

    Edited by 1 at 15/10/08 @ 16:34

  • iokthemonkey #9 3 years ago

    Well DRM did sweet FA to prevent the piracy of Spore but it did lose EA a sale from this prospective customer.

    ----

    Seconded.

  • DFawkes #10 3 years ago

    I didn't buy Spore because of it.

  • Darren #11 3 years ago

    I bought Spore and have absolutely no qualms about the DRM as I'm able to play and enjoy the game plus my PC runs exactly the same as it did before I installed the game.

    That said, I'm not a big fan of DRM in general, particularly when it's associated with music files (I now buy DRM-free MP3s) as I've had some annoying experiences in that department. As far as games go though I can't say DRM has ever interrupted my experience particularly although I did find the protection on Colin McRae Rally 2005 irritating in that it took too long to validate the disc and didn't always detect it! A No-DVD file sound put paid to that however! :)

  • MisterFalseName #12 3 years ago

    According to GamePolitics he goes further than that saying half of the protesters were probably pirates ([link url=http://www.gamepolitics.com/ 2008/10/15/ea-ceo-half-spore-drm-protesters-were-pirates ):
    ]http://ww w.gamepolitics.com/2008/10/15/e...[/link]

    "I personally hate DRM. I don’t like the whole concept; it can be a little bit cumbersome. But I don’t like locks on my door, and I don’t like to use keys in my car... I’d like to live in a world where there are no passports. Unfortunately, we don’t – and I think the vast majority of people voted with their wallets and went out and bought Spore...

    Everyone gets that we need some level of protection, or we’re going to be in business for free... [But it was] a minority of [anti-DRM] people that orchestrated a great PR program. They picked the highest-profile game they could find. I respect them for the success of their movement.

    I'm guessing that half of them were pirates, and the other half were people caught up in something that they didn’t understand. If I’d had a chance to have a conversation with them, they’d have gotten it... There are different ways to do DRM; the most successful is what WoW does. They just charge you by the month."

    I think it's hilarious that he thinks it's the pirates who were upset by DRM when they were pretty much completely unaffected!
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/08 @ 16:55

  • skillian #13 3 years ago

    The real story of this is that Far Cry 2 will use the same SecureROM DRM that is present in Crysis Warhead and Red Alert 2.

    Trouble is I really want Far Cry 2, but I could never buy it as it is being sold, so I will probably download a cracked version instead.

  • dsmx #14 3 years ago

    You want to put intrusive anti piracy measures on something that won't stop piracy in any way then go ahead but I will not buy any game that does. Far cry 2 and spore were both on my list of purchases and have been crossed off and switched to the pirate list because securom can only be described as a virus and I don't like viruses on my computer.

  • BartonFink #15 3 years ago

    @lavant

    No I don't but I not falling for this DRM is causing piracy bollox either. It's being used by a lot of people as an excuse to pirate plain and simple. If you don't like the DRM then it's simple don't buy it. That isn't an excuse to pirate it.

    Do I like DRM? Fuck no. Would I prefer to see it gone? Fuck yea. I hate the fact that some of my music collection is DRMed to fuck by Apple.

    Is there an easy solution to this nope.

    Sure as hell doesn't mean I am going to go off and grab the game from a torrent site.

  • Whizzo #16 3 years ago

    I wish I hadn't bought Spore because of the DRM because it's shit, Spore that is. DRM is a bit crap though.

  • paketep #17 3 years ago

    Well, that's ok, I personally don't like John Riccitiello (or any other lying suit, for that matter)

  • Ryuken #18 3 years ago

    "The real story of this is that Far Cry 2 will use the same SecureROM DRM that is present in Crysis Warhead and Red Alert 2. "

    Far Cry 2 will have a revoking tool, Spore will get one of that as well apparently. It's not good atm but it's not the end of the world either... at least for now, I don't want to know about all the incompatibilities these kind of copy protections will have with future OS's and hardware, the previous generation of DRM (Starforce, Tages) showed they weren't future-proof at all for Vista for example.

  • Xerx3s #19 3 years ago

    "'Oh I pirated Spore because I am taking a stance against DRM bolloxology'
    or
    'DRM is causing piracy'
    or
    'Don't blame the the pirates for the piracy blame the DRM' "

    Eh? I don't think anyone said that. But the point is, I pay for games, why should my experience be less than someone who doesn't? Ergo, my pov is to boycot any DRM solution. It's very simple, they have all the right in the world to use DRM and I have all the right in the world to buy another product.

  • Feanor #20 3 years ago

    I'm guessing that half of them were pirates, and the other half were people caught up in something that they didn’t understand. If I’d had a chance to have a conversation with them, they’d have gotten it... There are different ways to do DRM; the most successful is what WoW does. They just charge you by the month."

    I'd like for EA to compensate he people whose computers have been screwed up by the SecuROM shit they have on games like Spore and Sims 2 Bon Voyage.

  • Krun #21 3 years ago

    DRM is like coating your product in shit in the hope it will stop pirates "terrorists, extremists, cabalist?" stealing it, cleaning the shit off and giving it away to people who don't want shit all over their product.

    So yes they do need to rethink there "protection"

  • BartonFink #22 3 years ago

    @Xerx3s - I never said anybody said it it was more of a foretelling and for the most part it came true. As is the case with most stories like this and of late EA in particular.

    Once more then: DRM sucks!!!

  • saku_luk #23 3 years ago

    Piracy on PC? there is also a piracy on x360 and I don't see a DRM there, please fix this EA :p

  • penhalion #24 3 years ago

    99.8% of what? Zombies?

  • Freek #25 3 years ago

    So it's okay to do something wrong, so long as most people don't notice it.

  • Frosty840 #26 3 years ago

    99.8% of paying customers don't notice it, whereas for the other 0.2% of our customers, it causes faults which at best make the game unuseable and at worst can destroy certain components within those users' PCs. To put that in perspective, that's around 200 people per 100000 paying customers.

    On the other hand, 100% of pirates don't notice DRM at all, so they're obviously winning that battle...

  • Nithron #27 3 years ago

    It's worth noting that they've not noticed it yet. A few years down the line when their activation limits have been used up by successive PCs, or hardware alterations, or reinstallations, and/or the EA activation servers go down... They'll all suddenly be very angry.

  • craziii #28 3 years ago

    heh, it is absolutely correct that piracy isn't the target :p finally someone with a brain.

    edit: and I bet they will remove the drm thing like with bioshock after 1 year. I mean they should.
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/08 @ 19:43

  • Windsong #29 3 years ago

    Kind of funny seeing all the shills here harping "I have no problem with drm". I keep thinking of Kevin Bacon's character in the fraternity of Animal House: "Thank you sir may I please have another!" *Whack!*

  • Kyle #30 3 years ago

    76% of all statistics are made up. 89% of people know that.

  • m0thr4 #31 3 years ago

    "Sure as hell doesn't mean I am going to go off and grab the game from a torrent site."

    Heh... torrents are for kiddies. Real pirates use Usenet/Newzbin.

  • dudefella #32 3 years ago

    I'm liable to pirate any game that uses DRM, because fuck that. Even if I won't notice it, I think it's garbage and a slap in the face of the consumer. When pirates are getting a more hassle-free experience than legit customers, something has gone fucking awry.

  • redneon Verified Programmer, SUMO Digital #33 3 years ago

    Bring back code wheels, that's what I say!

  • [TR] #34 3 years ago

    For someone who doesn't like DRM, he sure spends money on it every chance he gets!
    The informed customer will do the opposite.

    "Heh... torrents are for kiddies. Real pirates use Usenet/Newzbin."
    Apparently real pirates "kidnap" freighters full of military equipment. I wonder if it also comes with DRM?
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/08 @ 22:36

  • FooAtari #35 3 years ago

    Farcry uses Securom huh. That was pretty much the only game I was going to buy n the run up to Christmas. Thats off the list too (and no I wont pirate it). At least there is still a huge back catalog of games out there I haven't played before that I have been discovering recently.

    Thing is with the DRM methods currently in use is it can only be killing sales. Spore proves it does bugger all the stop pirates, nothing whats so ever. And it may be a small number, but there are few people out there who refused to buy the game because of this. So DRM likely gained them NO lost sales from pirates, and lost some sales to legitimate buyers.

    Kangarootoo has the right idea, I have been saying for ages the they need to come up with better ways to stop pirating. Simply treating the people buying your games like pirates makes bad business sense.

    Good to see EA might be getting sued. Securom is underhand dirty stealth tactics.

    Also the car and door locks analogy is a bad one. I DONT HAVE to lock my doors if I choose not to. I am offered no such choices, or even made aware of the fact that additional software is being installed to my computer and my use is severely limited.

    Finally is it even legal to try and stop second hand sales. Surely I am within my rights as a consumer to sell on my copy/license of a piece of software.

  • Sevens #36 3 years ago

    "But fan feedback has been so vehement that EA faces a lawsuit for not properly educating shoppers about the inclusion of the third-party SecuROM software that apparently "secretly" installs itself on their computers and cannot be removed."

    Good.

    "The community has also pointed out that SecuROM does nothing to stop piracy, as Spore was cracked before public release. Instead, they argue, the real target is the pre-owned, trade-in market."

    Presumably even promotes piracy.



  • ruckus #37 3 years ago

    Do what you want John but I'm not buying, downloading or playing it.

  • slackarse #38 3 years ago

    Just another customer that hasn't bought (or pirated) Spore due to it's ridiculous DRM. I'd love to play the game, but it won't get my time, money or bandwidth until the DRM is removed.

    I own plenty of games and music without DRM - and a few games with not so restrictive DRM, there's always something else out there that will make me just as happy for the same amount of time, that is accessible, works in all my equipment, and doesn't interfere with my other software.

    Just my 0.2%.
    Edited by 1 at 16/10/08 @ 03:46

  • bf #39 3 years ago

    Codswallop the lot of it. People who want to buy games does and will do so regardless of DRM or not, expecially if 99.8% wont notice it...
    Blaming everything on piracy has become the gaming industry knee-jerk reaction to every possible foul up instead of admitting to poor marketing or that someone has just release a plain crap game.
    This could in the long run produce two results, no DRM or no PC games (conspiration teorists is two doors down on the right). Why? Because now all issues with these various "protection schemes" are coming into the light and my perception is that a lot more that 0.2% would object if they really knew what was in the box.
    Previously this was never talked about or (it still is to be honest) hushed away by closing threads with weak mumblings about various laws forbiding poeple to talk about is, how illigeal is it to _talk_ about drugs?? Anyways, this time the objectees wont go away and publishers must either come clean about what their intentions are before release (hello bioshock) or skip this fools game all together.

  • mkreku #40 3 years ago

    I've heard rumours that Far Cry 2 will have a similar DRM scheme. That will break me.

  • gaselite #41 3 years ago

    That lawsuit is surely doomed to failure. Standard form contract muthafuckas. Read your eula.

    add one to the 'couldn't give a toss and will buy the game if it's good regardless of DRM' party.

    I don't have the time or the energy (or the English propensity for constant whinging) to invest in getting worked up about this or getting on my moral rocking horse and make a stand not to buy spore until the drm is removed (rather, I won't buy it because it seems a bit naff - games like spore are always scored based on what they represent rather than what they actually achieve). Life is too short.

  • Darren #42 3 years ago

    @Windsong - That's a bit of a silly statement to make. If people genuinely have no issue with DRM in games like Spore then why should they say otherwise. Do you really want them to lie just to make you feel better? LOL

    As I said I've never had any issues with DRM in games only copy-protected music files but I can now purchase DRM-free MP3s from the likes of Play.com now so this isn't an issue anymore.

    If I do come across a game that has annoying DRM issues then I'll be sure to let you know... :p

  • kangarootoo #43 3 years ago

    dudefella wrote;

    "I'm liable to pirate any game that uses DRM, because fuck that. Even if I won't notice it, I think it's garbage and a slap in the face of the consumer."

    BartonFink's prediction comes true :)

  • Meho #44 3 years ago

    Chalk up another guy who didn't buy Spore due to DRM. I sure as hell downloaded the game before it was released to see if it was worth purchasing and then just leaving it on my shelf while I play DRM-free version but nope, it wasn't....

  • Bru-Man #45 3 years ago

    "99.8 per cent of people don't even notice it."

    Is that because it breaks their DVD drive before they can install the game?

  • bf #46 3 years ago

    I just read this http://ww w.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_in... and to me its appalingly obvious that the man does not know what the hell he's talking about. A fair comparison between DRM and the lock on your car would be the car maker lending you the keys to something you bought when they feel like it.

  • iokthemonkey #47 3 years ago

    The thing is, it's not so much about the right's management as it is about the way it's done. SecuROM installs stuff at kernel level that remains on your system even when the game is uninstalled. I'm hardly the most obsessive sort when it comes to keeping my PC "clean" but that's not something I want on my system.

  • hiddenranbir #48 3 years ago

    If you don't like it, don't use it. Ass face.

    Paradox, Stardock and others don't.


  • Les #49 3 years ago

    "but reckons 99.8 per cent of people don't even notice it."

    At the time of purchase often not, because the companies selling them the DRM-ed shit don't exactly advertise it. They think they can use their music or other media files just like they can use an audio cd and when after a year or two they're getting a new device they find out that all the stuff they paid for won't work on their new player...

  • Krun #50 3 years ago

    99.8% of EA executives don't care about their customers. the other 0.02% are part of a fringe Cablist Movement designed to overthrow the evils of the EA World domination Plot

    Or something else just a stupid as what she said.

  • avoozl #51 3 years ago

    This guy's analogies really suck; you'd think he would have learned that by now. Naturally like most other suits he thinks he has these finely honed skills of spin which are in reality piss poor and, oops, backfire because the whole world are not like gullible children.

  • gmjapan #52 3 years ago

    I