The 10 Possible Paths to Game Piracy

Piracy is a hot button issue in the industry, with various agencies suggesting the upward trend in game piracy is responsible for billions of dollars in lost revenue. Small developers have been swindled out of their hard earned pay, and it has been used as a means to justify eggregiously overzealous bills like the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Property Act.

Yet, pirates aren't all amoral scoundrels like so many would have you believe. A lot of people find their way to the high seas through relatively honest means because publishers have failed them in some capacity. Does it justify breaking the law? I'll let you decide.

Where Publishers Fail: Years of overblown marketing campaigns for shoddy games.

Barely a month goes by without some publisher releasing a fantastic looking CG trailer for their next blockbuster game, promising the moon in the process. Gamers get excited, save up their nickels and camp outside for midnight releases, only to bring the game home and find out it's a complete dud.

Consumers are becoming increasingly skeptical of game quality and aren't interested in investing in a game on marketing alone anymore. The millions of dollars publishers pump into selling the concept of their games can sometimes eclipse the production costs themselves, and folks are getting tired of it. Whether it's a genre you haven't really tried, or a sequel to a series you've never really enjoyed, without being able to be sure if you're going to like a game, it's hard to justify a purchase and piracy takes all the risk out of picking a game to play.

Where Publishers Fail: Vague system specs, and poor benchmark testing.

PC Gaming is unique in that everyone's machine is different, and publishers have a responsibility to ensure players know whether they're going to be able to enjoy the game their customers buy. Though there are plenty of services that give you a glimpse into how well a particular game will run on your computer, it's no guarantee it'll operate as advertised.

Many PC enthusiasts will opt to download a game rather than risk a purchase simply because it's the best way of knowing for certain how smooth the experience will be. There's nothing more crushing than buying a brand new title only to find out that a piece of software you regularly use, a particular variation in your hardware, or a beloved modification to your drivers will make the game unplayable. Fixing some of these problems can require expensive hardware upgrades, or entire system wipes before working, and with a no-refunds policy almost everywhere for software this can lead to a really disappointing experience for honest consumers.

Where Publishers Fail: Not every game is worth the $60 price tag almost all games launch with.

Publishers seem to think that if they lower their prices below the $60 norm, they won't make enough money to run their business. This decision comes regardless of the quality of a game, it's place within the market, and a dozen other factors that affect the actual value proposition the game provides.

Niche genres, experimental titles, and low-budget productions don't need to be so expensive and gamers are aware of this. Yet, rather than reducing prices to match what the game is actually worth, publishers continue to charge too much for certain titles and keep the prices fixed for far too long. For those who know the value of their dollar, some experiences just aren't worth ponying up so much of their hard-earned coin.

Where Publishers Fail: Greedy campaigns designed to suck as much money as possible from fans' wallets.

Whether it's day-1 DLC, online multiplayer passes, or locked content contained on the disc, players are growing increasingly frustrated with the fat cat attitudes of abusive publishers. This manifests in a lot of pirates in the form of radical anti-capitalist swayings that have them blaring Rage Against The Machine and pounding their keyboards in resentment of being treated like herded sheep.

It goes without saying that companies have a history of treating their consumers like comodoties more than people and can sometimes go too far in their quest for profits. Plenty of players will be willing to boycott products from publishers they believe treat them unfairly, but plenty more would rather not deprive themselves of the experience and would just rather download the game instead. Hey, as long as those rich jerks aren't making any money, right?

Where Publishers Fail: Ignoring digital distribution, or being exclusive to unpopular platforms.

Digital distribution is here to stay, and the period where players where worried about the intangible ownership that comes with downloads has long since melted away. Thanks to Steam, nearly all serious PC gamers are enjoying conveniences like being able to play the second a game's released, and not having to worry about scratched discs. The adoption has come by building trust with customers and offering a service that's more convenient and stable than traditional retail releases, and players have responded in kind.

Publishers that choose to ignore digital distribution, or offer their games on proprietary distribution platforms are essentially telling players that they're as trustworthy as the providers they've already bought hundreds of games from. Without the guarantees that come from using a service like Steam, players feel insecure in their purchase and it drives many to skip the paying part altogether.

Where Publishers Fail: Not offering demos for new titles that promise something new and unique.

It's one thing to tell someone a game's going to be great, and another thing entirely to let them experience it for themselves. Gamers invest a lot of money, and even more importantly, time, into the titles they decide to pick up. Demos are a fantastic way to eliminate the guesswork for players, and let them experience a slice of what your game has to offer - good and bad.

Publishers often choose not to release a demo because it costs time and money, or they don't have as much faith in the project as much as they'd like you to believe. Without a free way to try before you buy, players are forced to either accept what publishers are telling them about the products they're paid to sell, or they can turn to piracy and sample a game for free.

Where Publishers Fail: Locking certain countries out of experiencing their games.

We live in a globalized marketplace, with globalized information, and worldwide distribution methods. Still, publishers will opt to not release titles in particular areas because they make assumptions about what players from the region want, don't want to spend money localizing, or they want to control their releases to an unreasonable level. Some titles can go months before they hit underserved regions, or not come out at all. Players who want to legitimately purchase the game can't and have no option other than to resort to piracy if they want to play it.

Those who are excited enough by a game to play it in a foreign language shouldn't be stopped from experiencing a game just because a publisher put localization low on the priority list. Region locking games, and keeping them out of certain markets does nothing but block real fans of a title from getting to enjoy what they'd happily pay for.

Where Publishers Fail: Ridiculously marked up prices abroad with no real explanation.

When games from American publishers do make their way overseas, they're more often than not even more grossly overpriced. Australians have it notoriously bad with titles typically costing between 40-60% more after conversion than their American equivelants. It's not just down under that's overpaying for their games either; South America and Europe often pay inflated prices for the same products, and they're not happy about it.

Importing is the option of choice for a lot of gamers, but with many titles being region locked to help secure these increased profit margins, players will just as readily turn to illegally downloading the game instead.

Where Publishers Fail: Mandatory online DRM, excessive serial code entry, and limited installs inconvenience honest players.

In their efforts to fight piracy, publishers have implemented a near infinite series of locked doors and secret passwords required to play the game they just sold you. Whether it's requiring you to have an always-on internet connection to play, or controlling how many times it can be installed, these DRM methods frustrate and inconvenience players who legitimately purchased the game.

To make matters worse, this does nothing to prevent piracy because no security method is infallable and there are more than enough talented hackers itching to be the first to crack the codes. When it comes down to it, illegally downloading a pre-cracked DRM-heavy title can be a much more user-friendly process than buying it.

Where Publishers Fail: I guess this one's not their fault...

Well, let's not start waving our jolly roger flags just yet. There's still plenty of pirates who just like stealing games because the price is right and they can't be bothered to pay for what they consume. Not everyone is an anti-capitalist idealist, or frustrated with the way publishers handle their distriution and security. A good portion of pirates are just plain cheap and when given the option to not pay, will take it every time.

Many will justify it to themselves, assuming that enjoying the game without paying for it really doesn't hurt the publishers because they're so big, it's just a missing drop in a bucket. While this is true to some degree, it breaks my heart whenever I hear about talented indie developers having to close up shop because the passion project they'd worked on for the past 3 years had been stolen by twice as many people that had bought it.

A lot of hard work goes into making games, big or small, and developers deserve to be paid for their work. I'm not here to advocate for or against piracy because at the end of the day, it's a personal choice that each player must make. All I'm suggesting is that developers that treat their players with respect, offer them DRM-free experiences, charge fair prices, and let them experience their games before you pay shouldn't have to shut down because too many people couldn't be bothered to reward the hard work they put in.