Game Sales Numbers, Piracy and DRM

[Almercenary]

Before you leave some snarky comment and leave this page, hear me out for a bit.

I usually never condone piracy (if you've ever heard me before, you'd know that, let alone take part in it, but I felt it was my civic duty to in the case of Watch Dogs. 

 

It's the second time I have pirated something in the last year (last time it was mafia 2 so I could mod it, due to the legit game taking away this functionality). Pirating watch dogs (and Mafia 2) was quite easy. I used the Skidrow site, and a few clicks later, it was downloading, whether through my browser or bit-torrent. 12hrs later, it was sitting there ready to be unzipped and played. Once downloaded I didn't have to once:

  - Log in to anything

  - Download a lengthy patch for a DRM site

  - Connect ingame to the internet

  - Hassle around with some sort of launcher

  - Wait for a server to respond

  - Have an internet connection at all

After I had extracted it, it was ready. I could place the folder anywhere on my machine, and it would simply run with the executable.

 

I distinctly remember having this same experience, yet supporting the developer. Where? GOG. That's where.

I bought S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Sky. Same thing applied, except I didn't feel guilty. Not only that, but the game worked great. Clear Sky is known not to be a good port but I got 60FPS+ 150% of the time. So why would I pay money for something that gives less of an experience. Something that doesn't work.  Something I have to tackle to the ground, grab by its throat and shove it in line, just to play. Then have it attack me repeatedly as I try to play. I would happily buy Watch Dogs off GOG because I'm guaranteed it will:

  - Be paying the same amount as everyone else

  - Have a world wide version of the game, not region locked

  - Work

  - Work well

  - Be a good port

  - Have great customer support if something does go wrong

 

So what is the point of this???

Well, I think GabeN and GOG actually have the right idea. If you offer a service that is guaranteed to work, equal, cheap, DRM free and easily accessible with a small amount of quality control, you will sell more copies, have less pirates and have a bigger fanbase. Unfortunately GabeN's store doesn't offer all this.

Then Ubisoft is wondering why people are pirating there games, and then bring out this shit??? Your game is going to get cracked one way or another, simple as that. So why have 10 layers of DRM to prevent the inevitable??? WHY???  Game devs constantly ridicule DRM free service, but it would actually, I think, reduce the amount of pirates and provide a GAIN in sales, rather than a drop.

 

If I can get a game that is just as easily accessibly as a pirated copy, 100% will work no coin miners attached, morally right, I think 90% of people will choose said option.

Anyway, enough of my thoughts, does anyone else think this would actually work, or am I slowly going insane and they should actually just layer up the DRM?

 

 

[Tech_Dreamer]

Sometimes the bad guys arent that bad..as we hear in "the news".

[jscho]

I couldn't agree with you more. I remember seeing an article that had an interview with one of Rockstar's lead producers for Grand Theft Auto V, and it said (paraphrasing) that one of the main reasons GTA V hasn't dropped to PC is that they (he in particular) is petrified of pirating.

My head nearly exploded I facepalmed so hard. Game devs are apparently so sick and tired of pirating, I don't understand why they try so hard to stop it. I'm sure there would be statistics somewhere showing that a non-account bound, DRM-free game would be pirated less than if it had those security features. Tenfold.

You know the game Game Dev Tycoon? The developers purposefully released a cracked version to The Pirate Bay that had a hidden function that would cause your game to be constantly pirated, causing you to lose money. They're doing it right.

[Snickerzz]

I couldn't agree with you more. I remember seeing an article that had an interview with one of Rockstar's lead producers for Grand Theft Auto V, and it said (paraphrasing) that one of the main reasons GTA V hasn't dropped to PC is that they (he in particular) is petrified of pirating.

My head nearly exploded I facepalmed so hard. Game devs are apparently so sick and tired of pirating, I don't understand why they try so hard to stop it. I'm sure there would be statistics somewhere showing that a non-account bound, DRM-free game would be pirated less than if it had those security features. Tenfold.

You know the game Game Dev Tycoon? The developers purposefully released a cracked version to The Pirate Bay that had a hidden function that would cause your game to be constantly pirated, causing you to lose money. They're doing it right.

devs trying to stop piracy is causing more piracy XDDDDDD

[jezza39]

I couldn't agree with you more. I remember seeing an article that had an interview with one of Rockstar's lead producers for Grand Theft Auto V, and it said (paraphrasing) that one of the main reasons GTA V hasn't dropped to PC is that they (he in particular) is petrified of pirating.

My head nearly exploded I facepalmed so hard. Game devs are apparently so sick and tired of pirating, I don't understand why they try so hard to stop it. I'm sure there would be statistics somewhere showing that a non-account bound, DRM-free game would be pirated less than if it had those security features. Tenfold.

 

Huh? Why should they waste the effort and money if people are going to steal it? If it weren't for all the piracy we wouldn't have such excessive DRM in the first place. DRM exists for the same reason banks have security guards, maybe someone will succeed in stealing the money, but in the long run it's cheaper. If there was none, no one would pay. I guarantee it. Devs don't want people to steal their hard work so they try to protect it. Simple. 

[Almercenary]

Huh? Why should they waste the effort and money if people are going to steal it? If it weren't for all the piracy we wouldn't have such excessive DRM in the first place. DRM exists for the same reason banks have security guards, maybe someone will succeed in stealing the money, but in the long run it's cheaper. If there was none, no one would pay. I guarantee it. Devs don't want people to steal their hard work so they try to protect it. Simple. 

Why should they waste money on DRM that clearly doesn't work? Security works, DRM doesn't, which is why you can pirate basically every game under the sun...

[MagnetSh0CK]

I think when prices for physical and digital copies differ, and games are transferable from platform to platform we will see less pirating. Until then, it's just easier...

[Dmon]

 If there was none, no one would pay. I guarantee it. Devs don't want people to steal their hard work so they try to protect it. Simple. 

Yeah... 

 

But 99% of games are cracked on day 1 and are available for download extremely easily and safely. Yet most choose to pay still.

 

DRM doesn't affect pirates because they just bypass it anyway. Only those who actually pay are forced to deal with it.