The last update the game will ever get. http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2014/07/17/sims-2-ultimate-edition/1
Not that I'm complaining about free games but I think I'd much rather have free expansions to games I already own than have games given away for free that I may have already bought. I feel people are much less inclined to buy an expansion or DLC than the "root" game. I feel like this idea is much more in EA's interest.
EA has apparently decided it's too much work to verify that people have a physical copy of the game, so The Sims 2 Ultimate Edition is now completely free for everyone. Add it to your Origin basket, then use the code I-LOVE-THE-SIMS to apply a 100% discount. Not bad, EA, not bad at all.
Exactly, I was hanging on the phone, trying to get my copy registered and entered the code while waiting. They have been kind of courteous. I have had Peggle, Dead Space and Plants vs. Zombies from them as well.
They're all games they don't make money from anymore and likely never will, but if you hadn't noticed, they're all games that either have expansion packs or sequels to them. It's basically just a marketing ploy for EA to encourage people to buy the newer games. I thought it was pretty strange they gave away BF3 so quickly but I think the idea behind that was "this is an advanced and graphically amazing game, but we have something even better, for a price".
It seem EA have gone one step further. http://help.ea.com/en/article/how-to-get-the-sims-2-ultimate-collection/