Electronic Arts claims it absolutely will not delete paid content like DLC from inactive Origin accounts, despite what it says in the T&C fine print.
There’s an interesting paragraph in EA’s terms and services, updated recently to reflect the launch of Origin, the publisher’s new Steam-style digital distribution platform. Under Section 5, “Content and Entitlement Availability,” it states, “We do not guarantee that any Content or Entitlement will be available at all times or at any given time or that we will continue to offer particular Content or Entitlements for any particular length of time. We reserve the right to change and update Content and Entitlements without notice to you. If you have not used your Entitlements or Account for twenty four (24) months or more and your Account has associated Entitlements, your Entitlements will expire and your Account may be cancelled for non-use.”
“Entitlements,” for the curious, “include but are not limited to paid and free downloadable content, unlockable content, digital and/or virtual assets, rights of use tied to unlock keys or codes, serial codes and/or online authentication of any kind, in-game achievements and virtual or fictional currency not otherwise governed by a Digital Services Agreement.”
Put the two of them together and you might get the idea that EA will flush all that DLC you paid for down the toilet of digital oblivion if you don’t visit Origin at least once every couple of years. It’s hardly the most restrictive conditions ever imposed on customers but hey, you paid for this stuff! And now they’re just going to take it all away if EA hits a bit of a dry spell with decent game releases?
Well, no, not really, or at least not according to an EA rep who told Platform Nation that the clause was included in the T&C for “legal protection” and that the company has no intention of actually deleting anybody’s stuff. “Rest assured 100 percent we will never delete paid content,: the rep said.
Good enough! Right?
