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."
"Hmm. Two hours + 10 cents of electricity v.s. $50. The choice seems simple to me."
It's simple for me. I buy the game, but only if I decide it's worth the risk. I'm not going to waste a week of time trying to download a 2-6 gig game off of the internet which may or may not even work, and may even harm my computer.
Plus, I really don't NEED to. I've been watching, researching, and playing games long enough to know what games are going to rock, what games are going to suck, and what games are worth risking my money on. I know what reviewers to listen to (magazine or website), I know what friends to listen to, and I know what developers can make a game that I will not only enjoy, but replay. I don't like RTS's much, but I bought Company of Heroes and loved it, and I'm playing through it again because I played the Homeworld series and Dawn of War, and knew Relic could deliver a game I could enjoy regardless of genre.
It's simple for me. I buy the game, but only if I decide it's worth the risk. I'm not going to waste a week of time trying to download a 2-6 gig game off of the internet which may or may not even work, and may even harm my computer.
Plus, I really don't NEED to. I've been watching, researching, and playing games long enough to know what games are going to rock, what games are going to suck, and what games are worth risking my money on. I know what reviewers to listen to (magazine or website), I know what friends to listen to, and I know what developers can make a game that I will not only enjoy, but replay. I don't like RTS's much, but I bought Company of Heroes and loved it, and I'm playing through it again because I played the Homeworld series and Dawn of War, and knew Relic could deliver a game I could enjoy regardless of genre.
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