UK developers consider DRM irrelevant
TIGA, a trade association representing the UK games industry, has released the results of a survey undertaken by its members revealing how game developers feel about piracy.
The survey was designed to provide TIGA, the development community and the UK government with information on how UK video game developers view piracy and its effects on their business.
The majority of TIGA members are either independent games developers or in-house publisher owned developers. Below is a summary of the principle findings observed from the analysis of the survey data.
60% of video game developers see piracy as a problem for their business, 30% don’t view it as a problem, and 10% don’t know if it is a problem at all. 80% see piracy as a constant problem for their business going forward, while 10% view it as an increasing threat.
However, 60% of developers view the actual threat of peer-to-peer (P2P) piracy to their business survival as low. 20% rank the threat as medium, and only 10% consider the threat to be high. 10% of respondents had no view on the matter.
When asked on practical steps that can be undertaken by game developers as a business to lessen the impact of P2P, 40% didn’t respond. Of those who did respond, 83% indicated they would change their business model. Of the respondents, 17% considered the proposed UK government plans to tackle piracy through slowing down, or cutting off the broadband connection of pirates to be viable.
Currently, 50% of the sample is considering new business models as a consequence of piracy. Digital distribution, subscription based services and ad supported games ranked highly as alternative choices.
On the issue of Digital Rights Management (DRM), 50% regarded it as irrelevant to piracy levels, 30% regarded it as the solution, and 20% regarded it as a problem. This may indicate that game developers generally understand that pirates will find a way to circumvent DRM measures, but regard it as a deterring factor regardless.
Overall, the results seem to show that developers are keen work around piracy issues through the implementation of new business models. For the most part, UK developers seem pragmatic enough to combat the issue on their own, and do not wish to rely on governmentally implemented solutions.
Game developers and DRM – discussion
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