Piracy versus PC Gaming [Mar 09, 2007, 8:23 pm ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Next Generation recaps a GDC talk titled "The Videogame Piracy Problem:
Fifteen Men on a Dead Man’s Chest" by id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead about the
impact of piracy on the game industry. They outline how Mr. Hollenshead says the
estimated $3 billion economic loss caused by piracy in 2004 does not include
piracy that takes place on the Internet. There is also an article about this
talk on
Joystiq that focuses on the statement that piracy is a factor in id's
embrace of consoles, quoting Todd as saying "Piracy has pushed id as being
multiplatform." On a related note,
Can PC
Gaming Survive in a Console World (thanks
Digg) recaps a panel discussion on the topic that brought up a similar
point:
Part of the problem is piracy. Big titles get stolen by cyber thieves, and it hurts revenue. "The market," said Capps, "that would buy a $600 video card knows how Bittorrent works."
Does that mean casual games, which exponentially outsell what PC gaming traditionalists think of as A-list titles, will one day rule? Hilleman made a point: casual is a poor choice of words. The average player on EA's Pogo "casual" game network plays "for 24 hours a week. There's nothing casual about that."
There is some light in the PC gaming world. World of Warcraft, for instance, is a massive hit, and the upcoming Spore looks not only creative and different, but promising. The MMO and other social networking games could become the norm for PC gaming, with big-ticket titles growing rarer with each passing year. Johnson added that MMOs are "successful because you can't pirate WoW. You cannot pirate an MMO. Period." Therefore, he said, "game design on the PC is going to bend toward persistence."
I don't use DRM.
My EULA is practically non existant.
I allow format shifting between mac and PC.
I have demos for all my games.
I price my games below most PC games
I provide good technical support.
I allow re-downlaods of digitlly bought copies even years after initial purchase.
Yet still people pirate my games. I would *love * to think that only games made by evil corporate bastards who try and squeeze money from their customers at every turn, who fill games with adverts and DRM, and provide zero tech support, are the ones getting pirated, but my experience is that pirates take *every* game. They don't bother tos ee who the developer is, or even try the demo first. They just see it, and they take it.
As for the house thing, we are avoiding the minor issue of the hosue costing 10,000 times as much aren't we?
Do you get a full demo of an apple before you buy it? do you get to digest it first? What about a meal? I've ordered pizzas that cost more than a downloadable PC game. I did this without a demo. Millions of people do this every single day. If there were no staff at restuarants, I'm sure many would leave without paying.
My EULA is practically non existant.
I allow format shifting between mac and PC.
I have demos for all my games.
I price my games below most PC games
I provide good technical support.
I allow re-downlaods of digitlly bought copies even years after initial purchase.
Yet still people pirate my games. I would *love * to think that only games made by evil corporate bastards who try and squeeze money from their customers at every turn, who fill games with adverts and DRM, and provide zero tech support, are the ones getting pirated, but my experience is that pirates take *every* game. They don't bother tos ee who the developer is, or even try the demo first. They just see it, and they take it.
As for the house thing, we are avoiding the minor issue of the hosue costing 10,000 times as much aren't we?
Do you get a full demo of an apple before you buy it? do you get to digest it first? What about a meal? I've ordered pizzas that cost more than a downloadable PC game. I did this without a demo. Millions of people do this every single day. If there were no staff at restuarants, I'm sure many would leave without paying.
Date
Subject
Author
Copyright © 1996-2024 Stephen Heaslip. All rights reserved.
All trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
Privacy Policy. Manage Cookie Settings.
News CGI copyright © 1999-2024 James "furn" Furness & Blue's News. All rights reserved.
Chatbear v1.5.0/blue++: Page generated 3 October 2024, 22:59.