A Serious Commentary on Game Piracy
While I’ve been fairly verbal in my dislike of most DRM solutions, I still abhor video game piracy because I make video games and piracy puts companies out of business (and screws me out of jobs). There haven’t been a lot of accessible methods to show kids why piracy is bad, so I felt compelled to provide a link to a very well-made video that not only communicates the message, but does it in such a way that people can enjoy learning about it. Don’t Copy That Floppy. There’s also a sequel called Don’t Copy That 2.
I’ve never seen a clearer discussion of the issues that caused the complete collapse of the software industry in 1993. Well done, Rappy the Rapper.
Piracy: the reason games cost $50+
As someone who creates content from time to time I want to first come out and say before I ramble on that I an no way condone piracy and believe everyone should get paid for what they work so hard on.
With that said, I ask if this is even an education issue anymore? Most people that you talk to that pirate everything from music, movies, and even software know its wrong, yet continue to participate in the act. I believe, as others have said, that these are just underserviced customers. One can certainly say : Piracy: the reason games cost $50+ but is not the inverse true to some extent: $50+ games: The Reason there is piracy?
Where digital industries go wrong is that they are trying to fix the part of the equation they have no control over. You can’t talk people out of committing piracy nor can sue your customer base (as the RIAA has tried to do.) Instead you need to focus on giving customers a reason to spend their money on your product. There is so much competition out there that you need to almost assume that your customer is going to buy the most meaningful product to them, and copy the rest. Working with a digital product is a double edged sword. The good news is, after it is created once, it can be duplicated infinitely with no more resources needed to create more of the product. The Bad news is, after it is created once, it can be duplicated infinitely with no more resources needed to create more of the product. Your customers know this and trying to pretend this isn’t the case is only hurting the industry (and its employees.)
Tuhd does not disagree with inverse, as Tuhd has done fair share of pirating in the past. Truth being what it are, Tuhd only has so much cash to buy games, so many weeks of waiting for price drops are normal. Last game Tuhd bought was assassin’s creed when it finally dropped to $19.99 on steam. Tuhd was willing to wait and wait and wait.
Some games, however, are only going to be like 3 days of entertainment tops, so Tuhd just pirate those, play them till done, and walk away. Tuhd buy mostly games unde $30. Indie games get lots of consideration over “big name” publications, as Tuhd can get just as much (if not more) enjoyment out of indies as big budget productions for less.
I find that my own attitude has changed over time. When I was in school and had no money, I was ambivalent about copying works. But now that I have a real job, and can afford the game (and have less time, so 1-2 games a quarter is sufficient), I’m now adamant about purchasing others’ works, and licensing everything properly. I’ve also come to appreciate the perspective of the scraping-to-get-by creator.
That said, piracy is still just as wrong as shoplifting. Unfortunately for some, it’s also just as thrilling. “Ooh! I’m getting away with something! I’m sticking it to the man!”
“That said, piracy is still just as wrong as shoplifting.”
Yes. However, I’m frequently unable to generate any sympathy for the victim. Robbery is robbery but when the victim is a purse-snatcher how badly are you likely to feel? Murder is murder but when the recently shanked is a cannibal that kept body parts in his freezer….I shed few tears.
…are you comparing Ryan and other software developers with purse snatchers? I’ve worked with these guys. None of them are rich. Most of them work ridiculous hours to meet impossible deadlines for short money. When you pirate a game, you’re taking food off Ryan’s table. Ryan is the victim in your scenario. Ryan is a decent guy. You’re sticking it to Ryan. Are you comfortable with that?
And if you think you’re sticking it to Microsoft, you’re not. The guys and gals at the bottom gets the shaft before anyone else.
Wake up a smell the coffee. Piracy extends well beyond the world of computer games or even computers. I have 186 students in my classes this term. One textbook costs $175 and the other $205. They aren’t remotely worth that much money. I know it and, believe me, my students know it. Not only do the publishers fuck them over, so do the bookstores. My students react the way you’d expect…a group gets together, buys 1 copy and makes multiple copies [violating copyright] and sells the original back to the bookstore for the pittance that bookstores give for used textbooks. A generous estimate of the % of students with a legit copy of the text would be about 20%. Is that piracy? Yes. Is it just as wrong as shoplifting? Yes. Do I shed a tear for the publisher? No. As far as I’m concerned McGraw-Hill can eat shit and die. The authors? They get the same salaries as the rest of us for teaching and research, if they lose ill-gotten gains I won’t lose any sleep.The guys and gals at the bottom? Their doomed anyway just like other industries.
I feel sorry for some victims of piracy. Not at all for others.
doh! their==they’re
Every development job I’ve ever been part of has never said “We will only pay you if our product sells.” Sure, if you work for a company that spends too much to create a product that people don’t want to buy, you won’t be working there long. That’s business! No matter what industry you are in.
From a company’s balance sheet standpoint, there absolutely no difference between if a person doesn’t buy a copy of a game or if they pirate a copy. Did they have to supply any more resources for the copy that the pirate took? No. Will someone else not be able to buy the product because the pirate took that copy? No. In fact, on could argue that companies squander some of their resources (capital mainly) to try and stop and protect their product from people who weren’t going to buy it anyway. Its all a business model decision. For Example: Google employs thousands of people and pays them very well. Many with the same skill set a game development company would look for. A lot of Google’s products are free and they still make a ton of money. Google would love it if you pass their stuff around to your friends, as that gives them a bigger market to those that advertise with them. The same could hold true with any digital software, if a company chose to use a similar model.
Now MMO’s have a pretty good business model with their subscription set up. What they also have that they don’t openly and actively use to earn money is a community. Businesses would actively compete to sell to this community. This is evident just by the amount of effort gold spammers go through to try and get their message out to the game community. Companies like Visa would love to have the opportunity to market to Wow’s 11 million subscribers. It doesn’t even have to be in your face adds either. What about business sponsored NPC’s. Where if you get and use this special Visa card you can repair your equipment at this vendor free. In cases like this, giving your software away makes sense. The bigger you make your community, the more of a premium price you can charge sponsoring businesses. This is just one of millions of possibilities that many people that are smarter than myself in this area could come up with.
To get back on to the original topic ….
At the moment there’s some divergence in the business model used for MMOs. I think that [despite some bumps along the way] the version that makes money off the ‘item shop’ has a future. Why? Exactly because it provides greater flexibility for customers to choose what they pay for and what they freeload. Having a cheap [or free] base good coupled with a complementary profit good has worked well in the past, I think it could work well in gaming. If you give away your game piracy becomes irrelevant doesn’t it?
See, even with the publishing company, the little guy’s getting screwed. I have an editor friend who’s worked for a number of companies; gets worked to the bone and is the first to get laid off when the $205 book doesn’t sell. It’s not as easy as “The company is evil; screw the company”. I just want people to think about the little guy on the other end who’s getting porked.
I know, I know; there’s no easy solution to it, and expecting people to take the moral high ground is unrealistic. Self publishing is starting to even the playing field, both in books and software. Ala cart and pay-as-you-go models help mete out the cash so you’re not forced to choke on a huge fee up front (or go the other way and steal the IP).
“It’s not as easy as “The company is evil; screw the company”. I just want people to think about the little guy on the other end who’s getting porked.”
This has so many interesting extensions. I assume you want to support the heroin trade to protect those poor Afghani farmers that depend on growing poppies? Do you only buy goods made in your country to protect the jobs of your fellow citizens? Do you only buy goods from third-world countries to put food in the mouths of the destitute overseas? Which ‘little guys’ do you favor?
I favor the little guys who play by the rules and bust their asses. I don’t favor the thieves. If you’re violating copyright and get busted for it, you deserve it.
Well, while I agree that Piracy is the reason that games cost 50$ I would like to be the first to point out that the correct way to put it is that Piracy is the reason that games cost so little as 50$.
Please compare with PS3 or XBOX 360 titles, where Piracy is way much lower and price (at least here in sweden) is more like 100$
Even if we strung up the guys from the Pirate Bay in the rigging and put death penalty on copying games, magically bringing piracy to 0.0% games would not be cheaper, my suspicion is that price slowly would creep upwards when the distributors finally control the entire supply.
Piracy might not be right, morally and legally. But it is a relevant response to the oligopoly.