While we're here, why would anyone buy a windows-on-arm device? Windows RT should have taught them this lesson that nobody fucking wants windows outside of the begrudging desktop

I think you’re taking the wrong message from this. I don't think the author intended you to read the article and think that EA is targeting low compute ARM netbooks, I think the author intended you to come away thinking that major AAA devs are actively preparing for a landscape in which x86 is no longer the dominate desktop processor architecture/instruction set.

Regardless of how you feel about the company, Macs running Apple processors using the ARM instruction set are proof positive that ARM based cpus can replace x86 in compute scenarios higher than netbooks.

Unless you’re specifically referring to the Windows bit of it, in which case I agree.

What you don't understand is that the average consumer just does not give a fuck. The ethics of their purchasing decisions are invisible to them and they can't understand how their decisions leave an impact. This is true everywhere, but it is especially true of gamers. They will buy your slop year after year after year with no qualms.

I suspect they know something we don't about a future XBox ARM handheld.

You can't sell an online, multiplayer, competitive game experience, with the golden goose of in-game-purchases, if the game is dominated by cheaters. The players will find something else to play.

Cheaters in multiplayer games make the whole experience miserable for everyone else. It’s sociopathic asshole behaviour at its purest.

Cheat in single player all you like, but people who cheat in multiplayer are bad people and should feel bad about their choices.

Its more about verifying you're paying them and they have control over you and the software you run.