GDC 13: EA: DRM had nothing to do with SimCity

EA Labels boss says concept was led by devs, but admits it could have been communicated better

EA Labels president Frank Gibeau has insisted that DRM had absolutely nothing to do with the game design of SimCity, which has been mired by served troubles and a player backlash since it launched.
SimCity’s ill-fated release quickly turned into a headache for the publisher, as users flocked to forums and social media to complain that they were unable to connect and play the always-online game. And attempts by the developer, Maxis, to explain the situation only fuelled more outcry.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz at GDC this week, Gibeau said: “That's not the reality; I was involved in all the meetings. DRM was never even brought up once. You don’t build an MMO because you’re thinking of DRM - you’re building a massively multiplayer experience, that's what you're building.”
The label boss said DRM was not a topic of internal discussion at EA, and he went on the emphasise that he believes DRM is no longer an option for the games business.
“DRM is a failed dead-end strategy; it’s not a viable strategy for the gaming business. So what we tried to do creatively is build an online service in the SimCity universe and that’s what we sought to achieve. For the folks who have conspiracy theories about evil suits at EA forcing DRM down the throats of Maxis, that’s not the case at all.”

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...o-with-SimCity