PC Game Piracy Examined

[Cranky]

Well, people, here's a great article to read, an article to make you think before you pirate.


TweakGuides.com - PC Game Piracy Examined

[SKYMTL]

Amazing article IMO.

Two points from the conclusion which it the nail straight on the head in the message to consumers:

Drop the DRM hysteria.

Don't blindly support Steam.

'Nuf said.

[enaberif]

Whats wrong with Steam?

Or did I take your comment the wrong way? I think Steam has done a great job in what it does.

[Squeetard]

I pirated that article.

[SKYMTL]

Originally Posted by enaberif

Whats wrong with Steam?

Or did I take your comment the wrong way? I think Steam has done a great job in what it does.

Their point was not that Steam was bad but due to the fact it is pretty much a monopoly right now, the prices they charge are too high. Digital distribution means less costs for developers and publishers which in turn should lead to lower prices for digitally distributed material. Unfortunately, due to the lack of competition, Steam has been able to keep their prices in line with brick and mortar retailers. This means customers are not benefiting from the cost savings they should be which in turn will drive up piracy.

[Squeetard]

I hate Steam. You are never able to play a game on the release date as there are always problems downloading the rest of the game you supposedly pre loaded.

[bojangles]

That does kinda make sense. They don't have to pay third-party companies, such as EA, to distribute their software. However, is it really that much of a difference when a CD costs 25 cents and a paper box costs 40? Is most of the cost going towards the operation of the third-party company?

[SKYMTL]

Originally Posted by bojangles

That does kinda make sense. They don't have to pay third-party companies, such as EA, to distribute their software. However, is it really that much of a difference when a CD costs 25 cents and a paper box costs 40? Is most of the cost going towards the operation of the third-party company?

CD Production
Labeling
Boxing
Box art licensing
In-store marketing
Transport

I could go on and on regarding the places they can save.

Many publishers say that only 35% of the price of a game goes towards production costs.

[probationer]

Great article, nice to see something balanced rather than a rant either for or against.

As for the Steam issue, yes the prices they charge are ridiculous especially for non-US. Take for example Australia, when CoD4 launched on Steam it was $50 US at the time this equated to $65 AUD which resulted in a $30 saving over the RRP $95 AUD (yes we get ripped off on every game). This lasted for about a week until somebody pointed this out to Valve (see retail *cough* eb) and they promptly raised the price to match retail!

Yes it is a great service in terms of ease and functionality however its pricing as a result I believe is a major factor in increasing piracy. If the games were offered at 20-25% less than retail (which is fair imo) this would have a significant impact on piracy rates specifically with single player games which obviously suffer the worst at the moment.

[DK2]

I should probably be embarrassed for not knowing what bitTorrent really is,
so I learned something today, makes up for the lost productivity.
The shear numbers of PC game piracy took me by surprise, and now I know
why I see so many people reporting bugs in FC2 that I have never seen in playing
the game 2 times through now.

I walked through my local ebgames recently and they reorganized the whole store,
PC games now have one little shelf in the rear corner, and I though WTH.
But after reading this though, it’s a little sad because after playing a PC version
of a game I’ve never wanted to go back and play the console version again.
The game developers comments in the PC vs Console section was quite depressing.

I’d hate to get stuck playing consoles again.