The Sims 2
EA has been doing this a lot lately, giving away slightly out of date games to Origin users for free. They appear to be continuing to do this in order to promote their Origin service and to get people acquainted with it better. This time around, they’re giving away The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection, absolutely and totally for free. All you have to do is install Origin on your PC and then create an account and once you’ve logged into your account you can use the following code “I-LOVE-THE-SIMS” and then the game will magically pop up in your game library.
Do keep in mind, however, that this game uses a highly intrusive version of DRM known as SecuROM. SecuROM is so intrusive that there are multiple guides on the internet on how to remove it once you’ve uninstalled a game, because it persistently remains on your system even if the game has been completely removed. If this SecuROM DRM doesn’t bother you, then this game is perfect for anyone that’s never played The Sims before and wants to try it out for free. The graphical requirements on this game are also so low that virtually anyone can play it on any PC or Mac without any issues.
Of course, such intrusive DRM is going to turn a lot of people off and drive them towards piracy, but these companies will always try to fight piracy, no matter how little it actually affects their bottom line. In the end, you can get a pretty popular game, The Sims 2, for free and not worry about whether it was worth the money. If you’re worried about SecuROM then I would suggest possibly installing this on a less-important system where you don’t think SecuROM could be too damaging or intrusive. Until then, enjoy your free game (if you want it) and eagerly await the next free game from EA. Hopefully it won’t also use SecuROM.
