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."
As someone who runs a games company and sees the figures, I think I'm in a better position to know the answer to that than some self-justifying kid posting all day on a messgebaoard about hwo its fine to steal.
How does buying only good games hurt the industry? Because that's what I do, as I've explained over and over again. I pirate so that I can make sure I buy the best games. If a game proves worthy of my money, I buy it. If it doesn't prove worthy, I don't buy it.
What does this mean? Less shitty games get bought. More good games get bought. Publishers see good games being bought. Publishers are more inclined to fund good games. Everyone is happy.
Judging by your arguments, it's almost as if you haven't read a single thing I've posted. Just to clarify: I buy the games that prove worthy. Piracy is a means to this end and is therefore justified within this context.
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