Forbes is reporting that Electronic Arts has changed the language of the "End User License Agreement" (EULA) users have to agree to in order to play SimCity. Players, who are already peeved that the game requires an "always-on" connection in order play even single-player, took issue with some wording in EULA for the SimCity Beta.

In a recent article in Forbes (as reported by Gamasutra) Electronic Arts executive vice president and chief talent officer Gabrielle Toledano said that blaming sexism for a lack of women in the video game industry is a copout and unreasonable.

Spicy Horse founder American McGee isn't pleased with EA's marketing team and the way it handled the sequel to one of his best games after his exit from id Software. Speaking at an "Ask Me Anything" over at Reddit recently, McGee complained about the way EA's marketing team has handled Alice: The Madness Returns.

According to a Polygon report, the video game industry executives and other interested parties that met with Vice-President Joe Biden's Gun Violence Commission walked away feeling that they were unscathed, and that Biden was looking for general input on media and violence.

The AbleGamers Foundation have given EA Sports' international soccer game FIFA 13 the AbleGamers Mainstream Accessible Game of the Year Award. The charity dedicated to advancing accessibility for gamers with disabilities chose FIFA 13 because of its wealth of accessibility options that made it easy for gamers with various physical limitations to configure the game to high levels of comfort and ease of use.

EA Sports announced plans to shut down online multiplayer services for a number of its AAA titles. Those titles include Madden NFL 11, FIFA 11, and more FIFA Soccer 11, FIFA Soccer 11 Ultimate Team, Madden NFL 11, Madden NFL 11 Ultimate Team, NBA Jam, NBA Live 10, NCAA Football 11, NHL 11, and NHL 11 Ultimate Team. These games will lose online multiplayer capabilities on January 11.

EA game The Sims 2 for PC and Mac will also lose online services on January 14.

You may remember that the development team behind the upcoming SimCity game held a Reddit AMA, and that the community there gave them a hard time for making the game use a DRM scheme that required players to be always connected to the Internet even when they are playing the single-player portion of the game.

The developers at EA Maxis decided on Friday that it would be a good idea to participate in an AMA ("ask me anything") discussion thread on Reddit. The discussion quickly turned from a discussion about the gameplay in the next SimCity game to questions about the company's planned DRM scheme. The next SimCity game will require users to be "always connected" when playing multiplayer or single-player and will also save game progress online.

Electronic Arts employee Wendell Harlow has been honored by the Make-A-Wish Foundation with a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award. The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal marks the 60th anniversary of England's Queen Elizabeth II’s "accession to the Throne" and honors the achievements and contributions of Canadians. Wendell received the distinct honor for over a decade of supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Canada.

In Episode 29 of the Super Podcast Action Committee hosts Andrew Eisen and E. Zachary Knight discuss the shaky launch of the Wii U console over the weekend, Sony perma-bans for PS3 'hackers,' and the good and bad side of Electronic Arts. It's a show to remember unless you stopped that Wii U firmware update - then it's a painful reminder that getting your brand new console 'bricked' kind of sucks! Download it now: SuperPAC Episode 29 (1 hour, 19 minutes) 73 MB.

Electronic Arts has been given a 100 percent rating by the Human Rights Campaign earning it the distinction of being named the "Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality" for 2013. To receive such an honor and distinction a businesses must demonstrate policies, benefits and practices that are fair and equitable to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

At a gathering of politicians and industry types this week in Washington D.C., Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello said that the industry needs a universal ratings system for games across all conceivable platforms and in all territories around the world. He made his comments to a gathering that included the FCC Commissioner and Chairman, according to a Polygon report.

According to this EA forum thread, some Origin users are claiming that their accounts are being hijacked. Customers claiming that their accounts are being hijacked are receiving emails from EA informing them that their email address and password have been "successfully updated" even though they themselves have not attempted to update any of their account settings.

EA Sports has put some cold hard cash behind "Movember" - the month long fight to raise money for prostate cancer. The EA Sports division is putting up $500,000 in advertising throughout the month inside its most popular franchises including FIFA, Madden NFL, and NHL. The goal of Movember is to raise awareness about prostate cancer and male mental health by asking "Mo Bros" to grow moustaches in the month of November. "Mo Sistas" are also encouraged to help raise funds and awareness.

Electronic Arts is offering its popular online multiplayer game Battlefield 1942 for free to celebrate Battlefield series' 10th anniversary this fall. The only catch is that you'll have to install its Origin client in order to play it.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says that Electronic Arts and Activision's mismanagement of big first-person shooter titles could end up contributing to another month of "terrible" software sales for the game industry in October. He is referring to Medal of Honor: Warfighter, a game that was supposed to be a major release for EA in October and Activision's 007 Legends, which fared worse than Medal of Honor.

While we occasionally give Electronic Arts a hard time, we also like to point out when they do good things. Last weekend "Team EA" took part in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in San Francisco to raise funds for the fight against breast cancer.

If you thought you could play an Electronic Arts game on Nintendo's upcoming Wii U console without having an account on its Origin network then you are so very sadly mistaken. A change in EA's privacy policy reveals that Wii U users who want to play Wii U games online will need to have an Origin account and a "Nintendo Network ID." Of course, this also means that - by signing up for an Origin account - you give EA permission to collect your email address, Mii information, friend list, country, language, and date of birth.

Research firm Cowen and Company analyst Doug Creutz says that Medal of Honor: Warfighter is "likely to be a major disappointment." Set for release in the US, Europe and Australia this week, the game is set to face a tough shooter market that includes heavyweights like Halo 4 and Call of Duty Black Ops II. With that in mind, Creutz think that Warfighter will be a disappointment in terms of its sales numbers.

Electronic Arts announced this morning that the very first crowd-funded game has landed on Origin, the company's digital distribution platform. After successfully being funded via Kickstarter, the post-apocalyptic vehicle-based action game from 2 Dawn Games and Reverb Publishing is complete and ready for purchase.

Electronic Arts announced earlier this year that it would support games funded by the community through sites like Kickstarter and would let them be sold via Origin free of charge.

In a lengthy interview with GamesIndustry International, executives from Zynga and Electronic Arts talk about how publicly opposing the Defense of Marriage Act has impacted their businesses. Earlier this year Chick-Fil-A came out publicly to say that it supported traditional marriage between a man and a woman. This set off a firestorm of protests and boycotts for the restaurant chain.

Oopsie. A recent promotion for EA's Origin digital distribution platform saw thousands of games downloaded for free by Origin users using a free code. The original purpose of the code was to give Origin users $20 off the purchase of a game in the digital store, but the coupon didn't work as expected...

Apparently users found that it allowed them to download multiples titles free of charge. Games they managed to score for free include the likes of Dead Space 2, Crysis, Command & Conquer 3 and 4, Battlefield 2 and Mirror’s Edge.

Welcome to the platinum club, Resident Evil 6 and FIFA 13. According to word from Capcom, worldwide initial shipments of Resident Evil 6 have surpassed 4.5 million. This is the highest number of shipments for a single title, according to Capcom. The game was released on multiple platforms on October 2.

EA Sports officially announced this week that its next NBA game, NBA Live 13, would not be released this fall. Commenting about it on the game's official website, EA Sports executive vice president Andrew Wilson said that the studio made the decision to cancel this fall's NBA game after several recent builds proved to be "less-than-acceptable."

Electronic Arts has acquired ESN, the small Swedish development studio best known for creating the Battlelog mobile and web apps for DICE's Battlefield series.

Characterizing EA's legal counsel as "passive aggressive," this Games Industry International report details how one of the world's largest publishers keeps former employees from sharing trade secrets with new employers. The report uses correspondence from Electronic Arts to ex-employee Ben Cousins, who served as the company's general manager for its Easy Studio.

MCV has confirmed with parent company electronic Arts that the publisher has closed its Dublin, Ireland PopCap Games office and laid off its entire staff. The news comes on the heels of 50 layoffs last month at its PopCap Seattle office and an unspecified number of employees let go from its Irish operations.

According to information gleaned from court documents obtained by ESPN, EA Sports used the real names of NCAA college athletes during the development of its now-dead college basketball video game franchise. The information came from emails that are being used as part of an antitrust lawsuit filed against the NCAA, Electronic Arts, and the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) by former NCAA college athletes.

GaymerCon, the gaming and tech convention focusing on LGBTQ culture (set to take place early next year in San Francisco), announced that the convention has gained the support of Electronic Arts. EA is the first game publisher to announce participation in the event.

"EA believes that to be truly innovative, you must be inclusive. We are proud to be a part of this event," said Ginger Maseda, Global Diversity and Inclusion for EA.

According to this Gamasutra report BioWare founders Doctors Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk have left the company. The wholly-owned Electronic Arts studio was founded by the good doctors in 1996 and is best known for creating such hit franchises as Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age.