Ubisoft: Piracy's basically killing PC

[medicnick83]

Ubisoft Shanghai creative director Michael de Plater has told VG247 that a PC version of EndWar would most likely be shipping alongside the console SKUs if it wasn't for rampant PC piracy, and that copyright theft is essentially destroying the PC games market. The game will be released for Xbox 360 and PS3 on November 7.

"To be honest, if PC wasn’t pirated to hell and back, there’d probably be a PC version coming out the same day as the other two," he said, talking of the voice-controlled RTS.

"But at the moment, if you release the PC version, essentially what you’re doing is letting people have a free version that they rip off instead of a purchased version. Piracy’s basically killing PC."

We asked if piracy was the main reason to keep EndWar off PC.

More here: http://www.videogaming247.com/2008/10/08/ubisoft-creative-director-piracys-basically-killing-pc/

Can't blame em...
But I want to buy ENDWAR DAMN IT!!!!

 

[killadoob]

Yea piracy is killing the pc

 

[Keeper]

i dunno hey - piracy has been there since the beginning - I don't see EA or Ubisoft struggeling to make ends meat...?

how many Windows copies are there with Microsoft charging thousands per copy? I don't see bill feeding his children dogfood...

 

[slayerza]

As consoles become more mainstream for gaming piracy will appear there too, not as if nobody is pirating console titles

 

[killadoob]

Keeper, microsoft make their money off business man and people who don't know anything about piracy, microsoft would more than likely make trillions and not billions if there was not piracy.

Keeper piracy has been around a long time your right there but in the last few years its spiraled out of control, it's not about making money, they have shareholders and they are not making enough basically.

Just like any business if something is not a viable option or making money they will target the money markets which are console's right now.

I used to think like you keeper but i now see piracy is getting so bad that pc games will be a thing of the past in the next 5 years. Games come out and millions pirate the game within hours, this is lost business as i'm sure a guy who downloads a game won't go and buy it no matter how much they love it.

I think denying the fact that piracy is killing the pc is getting a bit much now, go look how many people download a new game on the news servers, then go look at nzbmatrix and see how many do it there, then go check out how many take it off torrents man. Millions get free pc games while the game makers see poor sales yet there are millions playing the game but only 500000 copies sold world wide

 

[Keeper]

well if PC dies then every gamer will buy a console and like slayerza said, then they will be pirated.

in the next five years 90% of games will be online, and then you will need a key to play.

PC gaming won't die, even if 80% pirate it, that 20% that do buy it, is loads of R300's

lets say 1 million ppl play COD5 - but only 20% are legit. that's 200 000 x R300 = R60 000 000.....they make their money - they just moaning cause they could make more.

 

[Alan]

*yawn*

They've been claiming the death of PC gaming for a decade now. Hopefully this might scare a few pirates into buying legit copies in the hope of holding off the demise of PC gaming but I doubt it. They're making money off PC games so they'll continue making PC games. Not as much as on consoles granted but "piracy" is the excuse to focus more on consoles where they stand to make more cash.

 

[Lycanthrope]

An interesting read, I thought:

If you’re one of those people that say they never, ever have used a piece of pirated software I’d suggest you stop reading now, as this obviously doesn’t apply to you. For those of us that have, me included, keep on reading as there are a few things you ought to know. Many people, especially the generation that has grown up with the internet and never heard of dialup or bulletin boards, seem to think that downloading software, music of movies off of the internet is one of its purposes. They basically subscribe to the notion that if they can find it online it is theirs, or rather if they can right click and save it must be free of charge right? Well, it is for some things, but the majority of material found on the internet, whether it be software, images, documents, music or movies is copyrighted, thus that notion really doesn’t apply there.

Does that stop you, me or them? Usually it doesn’t; it is like stealing a candy bar from a grocery store, the chances of you being caught are low or even non existent. But lets stop right there and think about it for a minute. Because for the most part you’re not stealing the online equivalent of a candy bar, but rather software, images, documents, music or movies that cost a substantial amount more than that candy bar. If I had to compare it to something I’d say it is often equivalent to stealing a cart full of CDs, DVDs and software instead of that candy bar, from that very same store you just visited. Not many people will do that, hopefully because the majority of them think that stealing is the wrong thing to do, but also because you can’t exactly put all of that in your back pocket and walk out of the store with it and of course the risk of getting caught is pretty high.

So what we’re seeing here is the fact that the internet facilitates actions that you just wouldn’t consider in the real world. For example downloading music and movies is just a few mouse clicks away, but going to a store and steal the actual CDs and DVDs is another story. There are a few things that cause this; it is convenient, little effort is required to do it, it isn’t time consuming and last, but certainly not least, you can do it whilst remaining anonymous. And then there are lots of people that claim they don’t know that this is illegal, or reason that there’s no harm done, as it is all on the internet anyway. We’ll ascribe that to ignorance is bliss, because even a small child understands that taking a candy bar is stealing and so is downloading copyrighted material off of the internet. But if you really want to stick to that train of thought you should have no problems with just stealing that cart full of CDs, DVDs and software from the store right?

But there’s another good reason why you’d want to download your CDs, DVDs and software online and that is because you’re simply voting with your wallet, refusing to pay what the publishers are charging for their products. So is piracy hurting sales of CDs, DVDs and software? I hope it does, as that might finally motivate the publishers to adapt their business models instead of frantically trying to uphold their profit margins. In reality only an innovative few have stepped into the fray and offered what the consumer wanted, Apple’s iTunes being a good and successful example. So is piracy evil per se? I’m convinced it is not, it is the consumers looking for other ways to fulfill their demands which should mostly be considered as a public outcry for change, rather than the majority of the consumers turning into evil downloaders that have no consideration for the copyrights of others.

Isn’t is time the publishers address these underlying issues and start offering products that appeal to its consumers, rather than trying to force products down their throats that they don’t want? As always it is a balancing act between offering the right product at the right price as well as creating and fulfilling a demand. If they really are going to continue their current struggle against piracy, without giving in to these age old principles of economics, they’ve gone from being the good to the bad to the downright ugly and simply deserve to be pirated.

Source: Hardware Analysis

I agree for the most part with the last two paragraphs. As a collector, I buy games every month. I love games I want the box, the manual, the artbook if there's a collector's edition - I just love it.

But yes, I pirate. Not often, I'll admit, but when I do, I buy the games if I can because if I enjoy them, I want to keep them forever.

I want quality... I've bought at least five games in the last year that sucked. Genuinely, completely and utterly sucked. Why? Because I couldn't waste my cap downloading a demo, let alone a pirated version. Those publishers/developers received money from me for games I don't like and don't appreciate. So logically, their statistics show them that their game was "great" when in fact... yuck.

Whereas if I get to play a game that I love and enjoy before I've bought it, I'm guaranteed to buy it because I want it to be mine. Like the guy said - voting with your wallet.

What I hate, is when people pirate games, love them, but never buy them. That's really just shooting themselves in the foot.

I can't speak for everyone, but when publishers start whining about how piracy's hurting their profits, I can't help but think it's just because their games suck, so they'd rather target a market (i.e. casual console gamers) that generally can't choose between "trying" and "buying." That way they get their profits from a less picky/distinguished market.

Piracy will never kill the PC because eventually those gamers will realise they're being borked into playing low-quality games and will eventually find ways to crack/pirate the systems to do exactly the same thing - try before buying. Those publishers' little cash cow won't last long. Not in this day and age. People know what they want.

The only thing DRM, specifically does, is insult the people that are actually willing to buy their games. And after Spore, that's the kind of victimisation I don't feel like being put through any longer.

 

[Kaiser]

I pirate out of principle. I'm just an as$hole like that

 

[The_Unbeliever]

An interesting read, I thought:



Source: Hardware Analysis

I agree for the most part with the last two paragraphs. As a collector, I buy games every month. I love games I want the box, the manual, the artbook if there's a collector's edition - I just love it.

But yes, I pirate. Not often, I'll admit, but when I do, I buy the games if I can because if I enjoy them, I want to keep them forever.

I want quality... I've bought at least five games in the last year that sucked. Genuinely, completely and utterly sucked. Why? Because I couldn't waste my cap downloading a demo, let alone a pirated version. Those publishers/developers received money from me for games I don't like and don't appreciate. So logically, their statistics show them that their game was "great" when in fact... yuck.

Whereas if I get to play a game that I love and enjoy before I've bought it, I'm guaranteed to buy it because I want it to be mine. Like the guy said - voting with your wallet.

What I hate, is when people pirate games, love them, but never buy them. That's really just shooting themselves in the foot.

I can't speak for everyone, but when publishers start whining about how piracy's hurting their profits, I can't help but think it's just because their games suck, so they'd rather target a market (i.e. casual console gamers) that generally can't choose between "trying" and "buying." That way they get their profits from a less picky/distinguished market.

Piracy will never kill the PC because eventually those gamers will realise they're being borked into playing low-quality games and will eventually find ways to crack/pirate the systems to do exactly the same thing - try before buying. Those publishers' little cash cow won't last long. Not in this day and age. People know what they want.

The only thing DRM, specifically does, is insult the people that are actually willing to buy their games. And after Spore, that's the kind of victimisation I don't feel like being put through any longer.

Exactly. The market needs a new model, but the pigopolists still insists on clinging to their outdated model as they don't want to lose their income.

 

[killadoob]

Kaiser there is no problem with piracy but when a really good game comes out and its mind blowing, i don;t feel pirating it is a good thing man.

Sure some games are not worth it but then why download and finish the game is you feel its not worth it? I download a game check it out if i like it i stop playing and buy the original, i never finish and enjoy a pirated game.

 

[icyrus]

Rubbish.

Despite all the claims from arseholes like Michael de Plater and other whiny execs at the big publishing companies and despite all the money that have to throw at the problem there hasn't been one proper study backing up their ridiculous claims.

Publishers and their retarded policies have had much more of a negative impact on PC game sales than piracy ever will. But continue shafting your legit consumers EA and Ubi with crap products at inflated prices which are ridiculously encumbered with anti-consumer measures and then blame piracy for your dwindling sales.

You want a PC game to sell well? Try shipping a finished product, not a bug-ridden mess just because it easier to patch after its been shipped. Try not treating the people who actually buy the game like a criminal straight out of the gate while those who actually pirate it are completely unaffected. Try not shipping a rubbish console port whose control schemes are totally messed up for PC play. Try not attempting to deny your customers their rights under the first-sale doctrine because you are a bunch of lowlife greedy bastards.

Despite Ubi and EA's contempt for their customers and their ridiculous attempts to hamper the PC games market its still doing as well as its ever done. All these articles server to prove is that there are a lot of really stupid people working in important positions at these companies.

 

[killadoob]

Why do you need a study done on piracy icy? Surely the news server and torrent stats are study enough to see the extent of piracy

 

[icyrus]

Why do you need a study done on piracy icy? Surely the news server and torrent stats are study enough to see the extent of piracy

No because their claim is that piracy is hurting their bottom line. Claims such as that need verifiable backing and there is none. In fact if you look back through the history of software copyright infringement you can see how it benefitted companies like microsoft by making their products ubiquitous.

 

[killadoob]

Yea but with torrents and news server in the last couple of years, piracy of pc games has gone through the roof, you don't need a study done to verify this, when you have 3 million torrent downloads and millions more off new servers on a game like crysis or the upcoming farcry or any game for that matter you start to think its hurting your bottom line.

If your trying to convince me that the 10 million odd people (if not more) who pirate games would not have bought the game then your not thinking clearly man.

Of course piracy is costing them money and they are fed up because its getting worse, basically as much as we say they making enough, they see how console games are flying of the shelves while pc games are flying off the internet at a rate never seen before.

You go after money and there is no money in pc games because 9/10 people are pirating your game. while i agree with your statement about unfinished games i still believe many games are worth buying, lets be honest 300 bucks for a decent game is not really that bad.

I just get annoyed by people who say games are not worth the money yet play it for hours and get enjoyment out of it, yet they justify their downloading by saying it was not worth it.

If i owned a major game company i would make it online connection only and check the cd key everytime the game is opened, in this day and age people who pirate games have the net, sure alot of people don't have the internet but they have to do something because alot of pc gamers hate console and at the rate people are downloading games companies will focus on the console more.

 

[Necuno]

badly developed pc games are killing the pc market; lets release now - patch later, who cares...

 

[icyrus]

Yea but with torrents and news server in the last couple of years, piracy of pc games has gone through the roof, you don't need a study done to verify this, when you have 3 million torrent downloads and millions more off new servers on a game like crysis or the upcoming farcry or any game for that matter you start to think its hurting your bottom line.

There is no evidence supporting the assertion that people who downloaded the game would have bought it had they not been able to download it for free. While there is undoubtedly a few who would, I doubt its more than the number of people who would be put off from buying a game by negative reviews and DRM issues.

You mentioned crysis - I remember they complained bitterly that their poor sales were a direct result of piracy but it turns out the game was just crap with little to no replay value. Of course it easier to blame others for your failures than admit that you are not doing a good enough job.

Same with spore. Lots of hype, disappointing game play and stupid DRM systems for the people who were willing to give EA their money.

 

[stefan9]

These western developers are just idiots. Each week there's another one of these idiots blaming piracy for their poor sales on the pc. It has nothing to do with piracy its them producing poor games and the fact that the pc market is more demanding.

Strange that Cd Projekt and Stardock seems to think that piracy is a none issue. Saying that the person who pirated their game was unlikely to buy it anyway. Both companies seem to be doing very well as well with their focus being on their genuine customer instead of these western companies who treats everyone as a pirate.

Why do you need a study done on piracy icy? Surely the news server and torrent stats are study enough to see the extent of piracy

Go and check those servers and you will see many xbox 360 games being pirated and in some cases more downloads for the xbox 360 version than the pc version.

 

[w1z4rd]

Arg!

omg killa! the xbox is going next! http://thepiratebay.org/search/xbox/0/99/0 Its the end of the world! All games are ganna stop cause of pirates!

PC games are ganna die The freeken Xbox and PS3 are limited computers in fancy frocks.

Ive found that if a person pirates a game, its normally to try it out or because they cant afford it. Not much of an effect on that bottom line then...

 

[ld13]

Sure some games are not worth it but then why download and finish the game is you feel its not worth it? I download a game check it out if i like it i stop playing and buy the original, i never finish and enjoy a pirated game.

I download it and check it out. Then keep it on if I enjoy it and 99% of the time I would go out and buy that game if I can get my hands on it in SA. But I would not stop playing all of a sudden and wait for the original to arrive. Why go through all the trouble to reinstall the game and stuff? Same ISO, just burned onto a DVD... I usually just keep the 'pirated' one on - no cdkey to type in, no DRM to worry about and no inserting the DVD the whole time.

Try not treating the people who actually buy the game like a criminal straight out of the gate while those who actually pirate it are completely unaffected.

Cannot agree more. All they are doing is making life more difficult for the person that wants to go the legal route. All this 'delayed-PC-Release' and DRM affects the legit player much much more than the pirate. It is an epic joke imo.