News.blog: EA launches digital distribution system

Electronic Arts, the world's largest videogame maker, on Friday announced the launch of EA Link, a digital distribution system.

The company said EA Link is designed to deliver secure downloads of some of its leading games, such as Battlefield 2142, Need for Speed: Carbon, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07,  and dozens of others to PC owners.

Players can pay for games using several payment options, including PayPal. And EA said once players pay for the games, they can install them on as many computers as they like.

EA Link is an updated version of an older digital distribution system called EA Downloader. It is the latest downloadable games option for players who already can choose from Microsoft's Xbox Live and will soon be able to access games via similar offerings from Sony.

Update: Soon after this story was posted on CNET.co.uk's sister site News.com, a reader emailed in with a report of severe trouble using the service.

"EA Link thus far is a complete disaster," wrote the reader. "I pre-ordered Need for Speed: Carbon... The server was deader than a doornail... Since then, I have tried to download the game three times, and each time the file is corrupt."

The reader went on to complain that he had had no satisfaction from EA in the form of refunds or apology upon complaining.

For its part, EA said the service had been overwhelmed by users and that its customer service had been working "diligently" to help resolve issues. Further, the company said, the earliest problems had been fixed.