Electronics Arts is going to start flogging its Spore game free of the  digital rights management restrictions that sunk the game.

EA is giving the game to Valve's Steam distribution platform without DRM.  Also included are Warhammer Online, Need for Speed Undercover, Mass Effect, and FIFA Manager 09. It will cost users about the same as the DRM-blighted version, which is credited with driving many users to downloading the pirated versions.

Originally, the company locked the game using DRM software called SecuROM to no more than three machines, which it later upped to five. There was a huge outcry among gamers, which EA ignored while piracy for the game skyrocketed.