EA : Pirated Sims 3 copies are nothing more than a demo

If you’ve been playing Electronic Arts‘ newest incarnation of The Sims, then you just might have been one-upped by EA.

EA states that pirated copies of The Sims 3, the latest version of the hugely-anticipated reality simulator game, are nothing more than the equivalent of a demo, or shareware.

“In the game that was pirated there’s [only] one city [out of two]… and Sims 3 has a massive amount of content, and a lot of it is downloaded once you register with EA… and join the online community,” says EA boss John Riccitiello. “So you get that content in addition to the second city [which is downloadable for people who register], and that’s a major component.”

Riccitiello says that the [leaked] pirated version was a demo version of the game generally concentrated for play test in Poland and China. The pirated version cannot be registered on the EA site, and as such, most of the downloadable content is not available, including a second city, major city overlays, and some key game features.