Some might say I was calling for blood when I talked about the anti-piracy measures being implemented with Mass Effect and Spore, well now I can take back my outrage and let you all know about some good news.

EA have changed tact and the anti-piracy measures announced the other day are not going to be part of Spore and Mass Effect when they come out later this year. While both will still be using SecuROM and require an initial online activation the 10-day re-activation has been done away with.

Great news (with more infomation following) as it shows that EA have listened to the many complaints that were raised following the initial announcement and have changed tact to better cater to many users. Also this stops us feeling like we are being punished for legally buying games!

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A new EA games division has been revealed to the world and is known as EA Blueprint being led by former Electronic Arts Los Angeles general manager Neil Young and that studio’s director of artist and repertoire for Electronic Arts Alan Yu.

The two execs are leading a small team in what the company calls EA Blueprint, a new division that will ally with small-sized developers, assisting them with strategic funding and project management.

The products out of EA Blueprint will be both brand extensions of existing EA games as well as original IP. What differentiates Blueprint from any existing business model at EA is where Blueprint games are destined to end up–across various platforms, but with an emphasis on burgeoning social networks such as Facebook, for example

An interesting new area for EA to explore, much more information on GameTap.

At the beginning of the month I pondered on how EA is Changing and now it seems that I was right. In an interview with IGN EA Sports boss Peter Moore talks about a new strategy for EA titles.

Moore: There will be more announcements that will be, if you will, licensed intellectual property that will be, quite frankly, looking at the more casual consumer that we see as a bigger force in the business. We need to do better on the Nintendo platforms, and we intend to do that. It’s a different type of game mechanic that the Nintendo Wii consumer, in particular, can play. Fight Night is a great franchise, you bet we’re gonna continue to create games like Fight Night. Round 3 was a phenomenal game for us and did around $140 million in revenue on a worldwide basis, but we think there’s a different type of consumer that loves boxing games and doesn’t want the authentic simulation game that we currently offer.

Interesting little interview, catch it here.

EA have gone to the unusual effort of gathering up European Hardware Sales for the past two years, and takes a look ahead at 2008. It must be noted that the figures they have gathered for the European market can not be 100% verified. The European market tracking companies, ChartTrack and GfK keep their data closed and only reveal the information for a fee. This is unlike the US and Japanese markets which openly provide sales figures.

However, with the company basing their findings on the “limited information currently available” we can not be sure that the information has been gathered from ChartTrack or GfK sources. The information they have gathered is nevertheless interesting reading.

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I wonder, I really do wonder…is EA (slowly) taking a new direction to its games…I think they may be. In the past few weeks there have been two game announcements by EA that have caught my eye. First off we have Battlefield Heroes for the PC, and secondly there is Facebreaker for the PS3, 360 and the Wii. My thoughts on how these are signs of EA changing direction follow…

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After the recent FOX News coverage on Mass Effect (info here.) EA have responded with a letter asking for FOX to apologize for the segment on Mass Effect. The letter was shared with Kotaku and makes for a good read. I am very pleased that EA have taken action against the blatantly false FOX coverage, and that they haven’t pressed legal action, just asked for an apology is a good move. Read the letter after the break.

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The next step for the Battlefield series has been revealed to tone it down and make it free. Battlefield Heroes has been announced by EA and is being developed by DICE, the team behind the 10 million plus selling Battlefield games. Press release and more after the break.

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