The Sims 4 Punishes Pirates

Longtime players of The Sims will be familiar with the pixelization which occurs when your Sims remove clothing. Well, those who have been downloading via torrents for the past few days will become intimately aware of it.

Posted by someone on Reddit (not named to avoid besmirching their name, in case they obtained this NOT via piracy), this screenshot illustrates what happens if you play the non-Origin version:

Obviously, this is nothing new to those of us who remember Little Computer People from 1985. However it does create some difficulty in playing.

The Sims 4 is hardly the first game to make it impossible to play if obtained illegally. Serious Sam 3 pitted you against an invincible scorpion as the first enemy you meet. Batman Arkham Asylum made Batman's cape unable to glide. Mirror's Edge slowed you down before big jumps.

It is funny, mind.

No doubt people are already creating workarounds, as is the way of internet pirates, but if you purchased a copy and this is happening, you just need to download the latest patch from Origin.