backtop

Print E-mail del.icio.us 86 comment(s) - last by mindless1.. on Mar 18 at 3:36 AM
Todd Hollenshead, id Software CEO, spoke about piracy and its impact on the gaming world

Todd Hollenshead, CEO of id Software, has had to deal with PC game piracy multiple times during his tenure at id.  In fact, Hollenshead mentioned that many of the projects the id Software team worked on ended up being stolen -- Quake, Quake II, Quake III Arena, Doom 3 Alpha.  The U.S. computer and video game software industry grew to $7.4 billion in 2006, with an estimated loss of $2-to-3 billion lost from piracy -- the number does not include piracy that occurs over the Internet.

During a speech entitled "The Videogame Piracy Problem:  Fifteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest," Hollenshead described how difficult the battle against piracy has been in the past.  The effects of piracy cause much deeper issues than casual gamers seem to understand, both for gamers and developers.  Hollenshead mentioned how much time and additional resources are wasted to try and stop pirated content from being shared around the world.  

A problem the video game industry faces is how to safely stop piracy without causing problems for gamers.  Hollenshead listed several solutions to PC game piracy, but none are perfect: titles requiring an Internet connection for authentication, subscription-based games, shifting focus towards console games instead of PC games.

An impact that gamers will feel from piracy is that companies which traditionally worked on PC titles are thinking about branching towards consoles.  "We have changed our focus," Hollenshead said during the session.  Because piracy for consoles is no where near as rampant compared to the PC, companies are beginning to enter contracts for console development.

The industry has several ways they are attempting to combat piracy.  Physical protection on the disc is one of the more popular current solutions that is being used.  Another option is online "guerrilla" warfare, aimed mainly towards warez sites.  The DMCA -- notices of take down and/or or infringement lawsuits -- can also temporarily help.

U.S. government involvement, better protection for games, and attempting to educate gamers about piracy are several ways that developers hope to limit piracy in the future.  Because many people still don't see piracy as a tremendous problem, and pirates are sometimes thought of as icons, little can be done until gamers are taught that piracy is wrong. 

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Support good developers, ignore bad ones.
By Spartan Niner on 3/11/2007 8:54:00 PM , Rating: 4
Is it that hard to work (I know, inconceivable) for a few hours and earn the cash to purchase a game? Without adequate financial returns on their investments good developers will get canned or worse, put under the lash of the likes of EA...

Like a game? Good. Buy it and support the devs so they'll keep up the good work!




RE: Support good developers, ignore bad ones.
By SunAngel on 3/11/07, Rating: -1
RE: Support good developers, ignore bad ones.
By Zelvek on 3/12/2007 3:12:31 AM , Rating: 2
what the heck does Sony have to do with this? People have been pirating software, movies and music far longer than the more recent fall in popularity of Sony.


By BZDTemp on 3/12/2007 6:56:14 AM , Rating: 1
Wauw - blaming piracy on SONY. That's a new one - and a really stupid one.

You don't have to look longer than who did the Keynote which we are commenting. ID is not a SONY company and they are talking about mainly piracy hitting the PC platform which is a market where SONY is a dwarf.

The main problem is that many people see software, games and more, as not so bad since it's about making copies not stealing physical items. However those people should see paying for software as a sort of vote. When you buy software you basicly report back to the developers that they made something good and that more of the same sort may a welcome.

Also when pirating you're free loading on the rest of us - it's like not paying your taxes and in fact rather anti-social.


By FITCamaro on 3/12/2007 1:05:38 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Sony has contributed so much to the betterment of mankind.


Such as? I hardly call music(they only helped publish, didn't create), movies, video games, CD players, DVD players, TVs, etc betterments to mankind. Are they fun to play with, use, and enjoy? Sure. Have they bettered mankind? No.

And as others have said, what does Sony being an arrogant corporation who believes its products are better than everyone else's have to do with video game piracy? You think people are only pirating Sony's games because they hate Sony?


RE: Support good developers, ignore bad ones.
By someguy123 on 3/11/2007 10:33:27 PM , Rating: 2
the problem is that the choice to get pirated software is available EASILY to even the dumbest of computer users.

if something was offered to you for free with very little chance of being caught (and even then, no one would ever prosecute for 60$ or less) of course the majority of people would be greedy and go for it.

I really don't think it's possible to stop people from pirating software without violating privacy and certain other laws. the only thing developers can really do is rely on certain encryption methods they can license from data encryption companies...which are usually cracked within a month or so of release to the public, if that.


RE: Support good developers, ignore bad ones.
By Gatt on 3/11/07, Rating: -1
By someguy123 on 3/11/2007 11:32:38 PM , Rating: 3
I highly doubt anyone can convince a judge to make p2p illegal due to the fact that p2p itself is not the cause for pirating, it's just a method of file sharing. Yes it's being abused for this purpose, but the programing design behind p2p applications is not made for the purpose of such acts. It would be like banning instant messaging or closing myspace for giving predators a way in which to abuse children. the program itself is not at fault; it's the people using it.


By Hare on 3/12/2007 2:49:18 AM , Rating: 2
Ban P2P?

That would also kill services like Skype that rely on P2P or Joost etc. There's no way P2P can be or should be banned. Should hunting rifles be banned just because they can be used to shoot someone? What about cars?

No. P2P is a legitimate service/protocol and there's no way it could be banned.


By Nyu on 3/12/2007 4:43:33 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah right, ban P2P. While we are there.. ban cars too, hey, they can be used for killing people.


RE: Support good developers, ignore bad ones.
By KashGarinn on 3/12/2007 5:59:53 AM , Rating: 2
Face it, people want to try before they buy, that's all what individual piracy really is.

If people don't like your product after trying it out (and no I don't call the crappy ass demos in any way useful a measure for a game), then they won't buy.

Alot of the people who pirate games and like it will buy it because they feel that the game is worth the price, especially if there's extras with buying the game which are worth it.

Then there's the advertising factor of piracy, people are more willing to try the whole game out before they buy, then they tell their friends and family about it and if it's good, it will sell, family might take note regarding presents, friends might take note in trying it out and buying it themselves.

I've never seen a game which was really popular to pirate, but didn't do well at the sales. Piracy of normal users go hand in hand with the popularity of the game, and thus if it's popular among the pirates, it'll be popular in sales.

However, I'm against piracy for profit, but I'm for piracy as a try-before-you-buy, and encourage anyone to use it as an option with the thought in mind that if you like it, support the game developers.

The game developers should also remove all restrictions, all they do is annoy people.

The for-profit pirates are what they should focus on, because if a person has already bought the game at some value, they won't buy it again from the developers. But the only real way of killing off for-profit pirates is to lower the price so that it won't be competitive for them to sell.

K.


RE: Support good developers, ignore bad ones.
By BZDTemp on 3/12/2007 7:03:59 AM , Rating: 2
Now if only it worked like that.

Trying before buying as an excuse to pirate is a really lame one. Here is why:

- There are demo's to most games.
- There are reviews.
- Those liking a pirated piece of software likely will pass on the copy if they like it. Not tell people to buy it.

Also the pirate problem is actually not so much a problem for the big hits as they still make a good deal of money. It's a lot worse for the small titles which never brake even due to piracy meaning a lot of niche games never get's made which in turn is a major loss for all of us.

Finaly the GD's needs to keep the restrictions as they do prevent a lot of Regular Joe's from making copies. While it may be easy to find/make copies of protected games it is still a lot harder than going to the shop and buying a game so protection does help.


By TSS on 3/12/2007 8:42:33 AM , Rating: 5
protection only affects the people who legally buy it not the people who illigally download it.

i can't say how it is for the entire human race seeing as each case of piracy should be looked at differently for motives, but here is how it's like for me:

i'm not willing to spend 72 dollars (yes 72, its 55 euro's but thats the current exchange rate) on every game i'd like to play. i have downloaded games before for that reason, and the fact that i cannot afford to pay 72 dollars for every game i play. that means i'd have to choose which game to play carefully. now, i realize that it's some sort of stealing, regardless of how it feels. could i live without some of the games i play? sure i could. doesn't mean i dont want to see what those developers have put in for hard work.

there's a game comming out soon, C&C 3, which i'm planning on spending the full amount on when it's released. i downloaded the demo and i'm really excited about this game. on the other hand, there wasn't a demo released for neverwinter nights 2. so i just downloaded the whole game to try it out, i think i lasted half a day before i deleted it again. that would've been a 72 dollar waste. while it had gotten good points in the reviews. it just didnt amount to the NWN2 i'd imagined it to be.

also with pirating copy's there is a limit to what you can do with the game: more often then not online play is out of the question. with games like battlefield that's a big problem and the only way to fix it is to buy the game. so thats a very good reason to buy the game after singleplayer has been finished as i will be playing online with C&C3.

This will be a better year for games. C&C3, ET: quake wars, UT2007, i'm really looking forward and those are 3 games i will buy because from what i've seen in the reviews (and C&C3 demo) i will definatly like those 3. but im not going to spend a (for me certainly) large amount of money on something i'm not sure i will even like.

long post, here's the summary: i've bought games, i've downloaded games, if it wasn't so easy to download the games that i did, i would never have bought them in the first place. the majority of those was nice to play, but wasn't worth the amount of money they asked for it. lets just say it's my way of saying to the big compagny's "no i will not pay any amount for a load of crap so you wanna survive, make something good". it's the same reason i will not buy a crappy car, or a dishwasher that needs to be patched 3-4 times to wash my dishes properly.


By iollmann on 3/12/2007 1:58:11 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Face it, people want to try before they buy, that's all what individual piracy really is.


I don't think so.

There was a time when I pirated a small handful of software titles, back in the late '80s. I did it because I had no money. I had lots of time. I wanted to play the game. (I was invincible at that age too.) Also, this was before DCMA and before there was much of a cry against piracy. I'm not sure the word had been coined yet to apply to software. Back then it was just a copyright violation.

I don't condone piracy, and I certainly don't do it any more. However, at least in my case, to suggest this was a lost sale is silly. The reason I didn't buy it is that I didn't have $25 to spend on a game. I was 15, didn't have a job, and birthdays and Christmas's are a long time apart. Of course the real product is better than a hacked one. Alas, when your choices are limited...

There would be a lot less piracy if games cost about the same or less than a CD. (Just as CDs would be pirated a lot less if they were $5.) However, it would not then be a $7 billion industry. Piracy is in part happens because unlike the rest of the software industry, the music/game industry has not developed a tiered product matrix with different entry points for different market segments. They price at a single price mark according to a model that maximizes profits. (They choose a single price point that maximizes units sold * proft / unit.) This unfortunately leaves a number of would be buyers unable to afford the product. They must choose between doing without and illegally using a hacked version.

Game companies of course *could* develop a tiered product matrix. The better product might have better graphics, 3D sound and work with fancy controllers. (Wealthy people are more likely to have hardware to back these features up). It might also give you access to more game features like exotic classes/weapons or powerups, or a commission in the military, etc.. This would let the unwashed masses afford the game, and give the entitled elite (read: wealthy) the entitlement which they are accustomed to and happy to pay for -- The power to crush the other kids.

This would of course be "unfair", but if your choice is to either be unfair or not play the game at all (and you still have the option to buy the expensive "fair" product) then I think that customers would go along with it without too much complaint. Games don't necessarily have to be fair. OMRPGs certainly aren't fair. They are heavily biased towards those for whom free time is an infinitely expendable resource. Heck, this might even even out the score a bit.

quote:
I've never seen a game which was really popular to pirate, but didn't do well at the sales.


Perhaps that would be because the game is highly desirable. I certainly do not think that try before you buy is what is going on here. Most games have downloadable demos.


By wallijonn on 3/13/2007 2:44:50 PM , Rating: 2
"If people don't like your product after trying it out (and no I don't call the crappy ass demos in any way useful a measure for a game), then they won't buy."

Why is why I advocate game rentals from Hollywood Video and Blockbusters.

Me, I wait until a game comes down to my price. So, I've been waiting for "Painkiller" and "F.E.A.R." to come down to $19.99 before I'll bite. So far no luck. I can wait - if it takes so long before it comes down, chances are great that I'll no longer be interested in owning it. Yes, I got "Prey" for $19.99...


Truth
By Nightmare225 on 3/11/2007 8:32:32 PM , Rating: 3
He speaks the truth. Piracy is really hurting PC gaming. Only with services such as Steam is it being effectively defended against.




RE: Truth
By StevoLincolnite on 3/11/2007 8:44:19 PM , Rating: 2
Even with Steam Piracy still happens, I remember before Half Life 2's release
a copy of it leaked onto the internet, Cracked/Hacked for a single player experience only, When the game was released various cracks enabled it to play offline. And then you can get your steam hacks which fools steam into thinking it is legit etc.
Even games Like Diablo/StarCraft/WarCraft aren't immune to Hacks, The online games are literally filled with them!
Hacks ruin online gaming experiences, and just gives N00bs who has no desire to make themselves better at the game to do so, And gives them "power" above most others, which somehow makes them feel superior, Then you get those people who are on a very tight budget, can only afford Dial-Up for 5 bucks a month, But cannot afford to buy games, Yet borrow games off they're friends and usually have a rather large collection, I'm still debating with myself if its wrong if they couldn't afford the game anyway...
But people with 24Mb+ Net' connections going on downloading spree's is what gets me... To me they clearly have the money to buy the games. (So do I, And I do!).
Because of Piracy developers get less income, Which in turn the next game MIGHT have to be made on a tight budget.

I don't mind people downloading games to "try it out" for a while, (As demo's don't show you all the features) But if you play it for more than a Day buy the original!


RE: Truth
By Spivonious on 3/12/2007 8:17:14 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
Then you get those people who are on a very tight budget, can only afford Dial-Up for 5 bucks a month, But cannot afford to buy games, Yet borrow games off they're friends and usually have a rather large collection, I'm still debating with myself if its wrong if they couldn't afford the game anyway...


umm...computer games are not necessary to survival. They are a luxury. If you can't afford them, you don't play them.