The Sims 3 CD keys are all that will be required to play the game and install it on other computers according to publisher Electronic Arts and developer Maxis.
This is a far cry from the DRM (Digital Rights Management) debacle that EA had with the Spore DRM SecureROM situation which caused a huge uproar upon that game’s release, when it was discovered that EA would limit how many installs you could do on other machines without their authorization. A situation that has since been somewhat remedied via de-authorization tool.
To quote Rod Humble, the head of the Sims franchise:
“The Sims 3 will have disc-based copy protection — there is a Serial Code just like The Sims 2. To play the game there will not be any online authentication needed,” Humble explained in a post on The Sims 3 website. “We feel like this is a good, time-proven solution that makes it easy for you to play the game without DRM methods that feel overly invasive or leave you concerned about authorization server access in the distant future.”
The Sims 3 releases exclusively for PC on June 2nd this year in the United States and June 5th in Europe.