You’ve probably heard about EA’s latest RPG “Mass Effect” for Xbox360, but did you know it’s coming out for PC very soon too?

Ok, but did you also know that you’ll need to activate the game in order to play it? Oh yes, Mass Effect (PC version) is using SecuROM, which requires online activation.

But it doesn’t stop here, 10 days after the first activation, SecuROM requires that it re-check the CD-key. If the key isn’t private, the game stops working. It does this every 10 calendar days.

This is what I found on the official EA Games Mass Effect forum:

SecuROM is the copy protection and security program included in Mass Effect PC.

Mass Effect PC uses SecuROM which requires an online activation for the first time you play Mass Effect PC after installation. After the first activation, SecuROM requires that it re-check with the server within ten days in order to revalidate the CD key. If it can’t contact the server before the 10 days are up, the game still runs and it will re-check until it is successful. If the check is not successfully performed within the 10 day period, Mass Effect will not run until an online check is successful.

Each copy of Mass Effect comes with a CD Key which is used for the SecuROM activation and for registration here at the BioWare Community.
SecuROM does not require the Mass Effect DVD to be in the drive in order to play, it is only for installation.

So the good news are, you don’t need the DVD in the drive to play…

This can be understood in two ways - EA Games thinks everyone’s a pirate or… ehmm…I don’t know, you tell me.

Will the SecuROM anti-piracy protection be standard in future EA games? Will FIFA 09 need activation every 10th day?

The 95+ pages on the Mass Effect forum discussing this indicates, that most gamers aren’t happy about this.

What do you think? Are we all pirates and EA Games should use SecuROM and activation on all games?