What Tricks Do Developers Use To Identify Game Pirates?
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- Опубликовано: 25 мар 2018
- Piracy in gaming isn't new, but how exactly does it happen? What do developers do to combat it? Falcon dives into the wide world of piracy.
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3 Steps to combat piracy.
1: Don't be like EA
2: Make a good game
3: After half a year throw a sale or two
Works like magic
Eberything about that is antiEA lmao i approve of you humor
I never decided on buying the witcher games but here I am, buying the trilogy on steam + dlc for dirt cheap prices compared to the quality of the games.
Yup it workd
Well the first and second steps will be the biggest reason for you to fail and get pirated
All of those steps are the exact same thing.
- Launch a game.
- It gets good critics/scores.
- It gets pirated.
- Goes ahead to launch sequel.
- This time add in expensive DRM to avoid pirates.
- Double the price to cover DRM expenses.
- Gets pirated not even a week after launch and pirates to genuine customers ratio explodes because of high price.
- Get destroyed by critics and low scores because it needs a NASA super-computer to run because of DRM.
- Pirates can still run it even on a toaster with plenty headroom.
Yeah, seems like DRM is the perfect solution against piracy.
I think adding a physical mechanism to check would work. Think brail that a computer/console can read. But maybe holes instead of bumps.
my suggestion for games: just get rid of DRM. especially the "online only" kind.
DRM uses less than 3% of the PC power (300$ PC) but implementing DRM means that the devs (publisher) does not beleave the game will sell and/or is good enought to sell.
@@tdplay4135 it makes no differences as even if they locked every game down they would lose more because if game has no demo and is not cracked fast people who want to try it cant and if you look at the uk polls for gamers that play copies then buy the game after is a massive part of the sales that is why sales are done in first day and first week to find out how it sell but also info on buyers
@@tdplay4135 the ps1 had that and it didnt reqyirw and special hardware
Game Dev: *starts spongebob tune* "Are you ready kids?!"
Pirates: "Aye Aye Captain!"
Game Dev: Gotcha
Nice one brotha
Yes nice one
i used to pirate games
but then i got steam
now i just buy games and never play them
Play Quake Champions
me too
I feel you brah
i feel yeah. I have games that i bought and never played due to buying so many at once. I found buying one then playing it then buying the next that i want is a much better way to go.
Yeah i know the feeling after i start working and can actually buy games, i have like 515 games on steam at least half are the games i finished before illegal. I didnt start them once after the regular purchase but i had fun with them and i dunno i always wanted to pay the people responsible for my past time fun after i could afford it.
pirating a EA game is not a crime,its a public service
A legitimate copy of simcity 4 doesn’t even work on windows 10, you HAVE to pirate it because of the drm
K 9 Poodle
I never said it’s not piracy, i said you have to pirate it if you want a working version
K 9 Poodle iTs a jOkE ...
You have to pay to pirate an EA game
The NuggetBacon Well, atleast the money doesn't fund EA
in subnautica when you'r going to upload a feedback there is an example text that say:
"feedback: i didn't buy the game, but is great!
developer: thanks, please buy it if you like it or tell your friends about it, maybe one of them will buy it."
D.Cipher I found that funny when I saw it
at least they uderstand that people dont have money for games in forst place
Remember when one of the Assassin's Creed games launched broken except for the pirated version of the game?
Yep
They accidentally gave legit buyers the pirated security version
Unity still runs like trash all these years later
As an indie game dev, im taking this stuff into account. I have decided on a Free model. Play for free, DLC's cost money. I just hope if people love the game, they will be honest and just pay for enhanced experience addons.
If you make the games beatable with vanilla, then enhance the experience with DLC, this is a solid method.
I like what Mojang did with Minecraft. Still, keep in touch with your customers. Find out what they like or what they would want improved. A "free for 10 levels" is fine. If there's interest in the title then keep developing more levels and sell them. Not every game is a winner. Also if you do decide to kill a game, make the damn thing free and open source the code. Just because you "gave up" on it doesn't mean others won't run with it.
Also, good luck.
Yo what game are you gonna make?
@@therealjammit All hail lord Chris Sawyer.
Having more demos would be great. Half the time i don’t even think i can run the game, so i just don’t buy it.
That's when I pirate it and play it for a maximum of 2 hours and delete it after. That way I can get a feel of the performance and the gameplay. I don't do that anymore. But when I was little I did it loads. and it always resulted in a purchase for me
Netheryk yes I’ve used it before but it doesn’t always work for me
Netheryk those sites are highly inaccurate. I had shit performance on games which said that my hardware is super good for. And almost perfect performance on games that require better specs then i had
Do you realise, that on steam you can refund game if you dont own it for more than 2 weeks and didt play it for more than 2 hours?
Jura Skura you can play it for up to 4 hours and still get a refund. Ive refunded games that i have had over 7 hours in, if your in good standing with steam they are good to you.
Honestly, the best anti-piracy method i have seen is:
"It looks like you are playing an unverified (possibly pirated) version of the game. As such, we've disabled most of the campaign, but there still a few missions you can try for free, to try out the game. If you like it, we invite you to buy the full game, with over 100 additional missions.
If you're seeing this on a legitimate copy of the game, please contact us with your reciept at hand so we can help fix your issue."
Yes thats what they need to do or just add demos back
They do that in universe sandbox, and I actually bought the game because of it. makes me really happy to see some devs that think before they DRM
So why didnt they Release a Demo for everyone ?
nice
That's why people who pirate games uses crack, even with that method, if crack is applied, the game would think that it's a legit copy and let them play.
Piracy doesn't lower sales, many pirates are kids/ in a bad financial situation, so they wont buy the game regardless.
EfectoR true, since i got my new job i have bought roughly half the games I torrented plus dlc
EfectoR Same, when I was still in school I pirated all the games since my parents never had money for em. Now I just buy them since I earn money, it’s just easier. Still pirate games that charge me R1000 to play a game that isn’t even that good. Most AAA titles are not bad, just not worth the money they charge. Ex. The forest, Subnautica Great would buy again. Even bought for friends
yet you could afford the hardware *HMMMMMM????*@@stefangroenewald1217
That is correct
@@thenicksterd2334 you would be surprised how many games could run on a cranky old machine with low setting to everything and the resolution of vga
How to identify a pirate:
1. Eye patch
2. A hook for a hand.
3. A parrot on the shoulder.
4. A wooden foot
*DRM patch
Drink lots or rum and say"arrr" alot😆
One of the jokes with my friends is that Skyrim should have had pirate detection in it, and if it detected you were running a pirated copy of Skyrim, your execution at the start sequence goes un-interrupted, leading to a game-over before you even start the game.
ruclips.net/video/vjUqUVrXclE/видео.html
That’s so smart
Good idea, but there should be an indication to the player they pirated the game ex: you stole something. Just like that thief near you in the intro
Easy, they have a wooden foot and usually a parrot on the shoulder
true
And if they are lucky and lost their hand, a hook :)
more ways to identify a sneaky pirate. They commonly wear an eye patch. also, look out for excessive use of the phrases "YO-HO" and "AHOY ME BUCKO"
Also, look for a walking skeleton or a man seemingly made of rubber.
**F1reworks-inc as a pirate, I take offense for this false styerotype, bucko
"If you want to actually fight piracy, provide a better service" - Gabe Newell
It’s been proved that piracy benefits gaming. Some organization in Europe made a whole research on that (total of like 250 pages of investigation).
A perfect example is the witcher 3. It was the most pirated game when it came out, and yet the best selling of that year.
Simply said, when someone pirates a game, they werent gonna buy it in the first place, so it’s not like they lost a sale. However, most people who pirate end up buying the game either way, so they actually GAINED customers.
But the white knights of the Internet will still deny this and just spit their ignorance.
this is bullshit lol. It was the most pirated simply because it was the most in demand at the time. The second and third most pirated games and so on were likely to also be bestsellers too. It's basic math. Being the most pirated had nothing to do with the sales
Sounds a lot like Doom when it came out. I had a cracked version before I bought a copy. At its peak I think Doom had more pirated copies than originals. Not sure how anybody would prove that.
Pirates also spread word of mouth. I pirated TW3 at first too, told my friends how awesome that game is. 2 of them bought the game themselves and i bought it on steam last year.
I have pirated witcher 3 but that didn't stop me from buying boxed edition with soundtrack and map. What I hate is I can't ad it to my steam account just because steam wants me to buy it from them which is utter bs.
Most pirates end up promoting more sales because they tell their friends about how great the game was, and that leads to some of the said friends buying the game legitimately.
I've looked at many Witcher 3 comment sections and I have seen a huge amount of people say that they pirate most things but will never pirate a Witcher game. This is because the game is genuinely great and CDProjectRed clearly put a lot of love and effort into it, just like you said in the video.
Mahti true. I've never pirated a witcher game.
I pirated W3 still not gonna buy it
Mahti I payed for it on PS4 so I pirated it on pc
sM - Nr hahahahahaha yes bro
+Wicked Fair enough
Remember those cds that came with magazines with lots of demo games on them?
JAWD Or even demo discs bundled with the console itself...
or crash team racing came with a spyro 2 demo
God I used to get the Game Informer mag back when it had Demo Disc. I collected somewhere between 150-200 discs.
Manly Man I played ICO on the ps2 demo, ho the memories :')
Yes I used to buy Pc Gamer
Developers: Denuvo Protection
Codex : hold my CRACK
devs: should we try this denuvo thing
customers worldwide: ok ill wait about a week for the pirates.
*tributary joke
Wow, I got a cracked version of RimWorld since they didn't put it on sale and I was logged in as CODEX. So thats what that is.
Piracy doesn't hurt sales, bad games does.
Greed ruins games
Indeed, if someone likes the games and want to play it online and with resources, the pirated version will suck... People pirates games they aren't willing to buy anyway...
It hurts the company who may not get another chance to make a game in the same franchise
@@jsullivan2112 The EU actually did a study on it, piracy has either no or POSITIVE impact on game sales.
Piracy maybe doesn't affect sales. However it affects the company getting less money, especially if it's a new developer.
Sure the game not may not be that good, but if they develop a future game, they can use that money towards it.
Trick question. Developers aren't the problem. Publishers are
not if the developers arent talented enough to make a good game
Duff The duff
publishers are like the teachers and the developer are the students
they decide what's in the game and when is it due.
they just take in the work of what the developers made and sell and advertise it. although I do think publishers should also try to prevent the pirates
Pretty sure the thieves are the problem.
I used to love demos back in the day, would then buy the game if it was good. It's a good idea.
They have them on some games
Demos are more work for the developers and proven to give less profit. So they kinda stopped altogether.
yeah i played the demo of metal gear revengence.. i was so hooked bought the game the minute i finished the demo. and for me that says something.
@@tomasgonzalez4072 Who proved it and where can said proof be found?
I highly doubt that statement.
@@philippandremachacek2720 Hmm, I saw it in a youtube video explaining why demo's don't exist, but if I google it I can't find any articles supporting my claim. Take it with a grain of salt.
I stopped paying for games when games stopped being games and turned into paid beta test.
Like fo76?
@@logicalwren2326 fo76, rdr2, basically all releases recently have been plagued with issues and unplayable bugs for me
Aditya Saraf try outer worlds, only issue is a very small amount of bugs but you could go days without one. No in game purchases that cost money either. It’s good, at least In my opinion
Thats what Nintendo doesn't give you
@@mtkken some people would call you a blasphemous
Game dev Tycoon
*Pirated
*Failed at the game
*Went to blogs
*Laufed, bought the game
*Never played again
"Laufed"?
@@logicalwren2326 laughed or a term for "gave in". Not really sure
@@incog0956 hmmm probably gave in
I recently downloaded a paint program that actually had an official 'pirate' version released by the author. It had an eyepatch over the icon, and would have a pop up upon opening each time just to remind you of buying the original sometime to support if you enjoy it... But otherwise it had the exact same tools as the normal version with no demo limits!
Like WinRAR lol
WinRar has a really good strategy though. They don't force you to buy it and they don't take any action if you choose not to. And there's only a few features missing if you don't pay for it. It's probably what made their software so popular.
I don't understand why people still use winrar, when 7-zip is free and more powerful.
Scott deMoor , because 7zip is clunkier, and rar is already quite common.
It is different with software like WinRAR because allowing individuals to use it for free acts as advertising with the potential of becoming the go to name for a given task. Then businesses need to pay out the as for it. This model wouldn't work for games.
The demo thing couldn't be more true. Never once pirated a game that had a demo.
All the pirated games I get nowadays, I use exclusively as demos. As in, I play a bit, I buy it (or wait for a sale) if I like it, and I delete it if I don't.
I do pirate for that reason... except when I pirate a game because the version I bought doesn't work thanks to drm.
Lol i used to play a demo version, but without an internet connection, so it couldnt check for product key or steam license
I have nothing against people pirating EA games though. They screw us over so why can’t we screw them over
Are u a child?
EA destroyed my "command & conquer" 😭
@@sauliusjance6300 damn i missed command and conquer game :c good old times
Why JUST EA? Any Dev and publisher deserve that treatment when they bash at loyal fans or potential ones with shady stuff or tasteless game design. And it's not just that. You don't have the same financial situation in every small corner of the world. Not everyone is an avid, fulfilled gamer with shelves upon shelves of physical copies and steam libraries filled to the brim. Whether it'd be for collection or just bragging rights. Some games, are just inaccessible OR uninteresting for people's wallets. It's the sad truth. And yes. More demos and stuff would help with that. I come off of that age. And it's the reason I own so little game nowadays. Quality over quantity
@@tra-guyd5209 If you're referring to why we're so petty then yeah, call us a child if you want, but know this. EA only listens to sales.
Had a buddy of mine who would pirate the games and then donate directly to the developers because he thought that they would only be getting a percentage if he went through the official source.
It's true with steam, they get 30% of the price, 25% if your game sells well
I think demos are a really good idea and I wish every game would include a Demo like titanfall 2 did, just enough to get a taste of the game but not enough to want to go through the trouble of pirating it to finish it. Instead, they would want to purchase the game to support the developer because the developer showed that the experience would be good.
WaddleGod minecraft is a good exemple, ive pirated the game because i never know what is it, it was at 1.3 4 but when years later the pirated game stopped at 1.5, ive buy the game (sorry im french)
Demos are really expensive and take a lot of ressources too.
Skund not at all, most of the time it's literally the first 10 min of the game, but instead of continuing it fades to black after something happens and takes you back to the main menu. The real problem with demos is that the first 10-20 maybe even 30min to an hour of a game, just aren't enough to really get a feel for the game. The prey demo is a good example it takes a few hours before you get any cool powers to play with but the demo is maybe 20 min long if you take your time
TheDuckmeister Spyro ps1 had good demo
WaddleGod I agree, especially given that I had demo discs back in the day on PS1, which in turn notably influenced some of my game choices.
DRM has never made me not pirate a game but it has made me not buy plenty.
Same, a lot of times DRM is just annoying and unnecessary.... the games will get cracked eventually anyways, if i want to pirate a game i don't mind waiting a bit more because i wouldn't pay for it, but if i want to enjoy the game i will buy it.
Same!!, I have a couple original games in my collection, and guess what, I still need cracks so I don't have to pick t the freakin disks each time I wanna play a game!!!.
PREACH IT
I guess it would count as piracy but I just use emulators for games that aren't retail anymore "which I've typically bought in the past"
Heres my simple philosophy, if the game console and game aren't being sold by the rights owner anymore
Download it
If it's a PC game, if it's more then 4-6 years old and not sold by the owners anymore, download it
If it's a game like Morrowind or the Witcher
Download it,
Emulators are legal in most of Europe and the US
Ah same, mainly on a ds emulator. It's older games so I don't feel like I'm stealing money. Also abandonware is safe
Agreeing here. I’m a simple woman, and as someone who would never even buy these games in the first place, I used emulators to play Nier Gestalt and Drakengard 3, as well as one other game - Nier Replicant. Replicant never even sold outside of Japan and has no officially subtitled release. The game was never actually available to me, not living in Japan, and it’s ten years old, so my only option was to run it on an emulator. Worked just fine apart from the average graphics. The other game I’ve used an emulator for is a Wii game I used to love called Sim Animals Africa that I originally owned when it came out and I’m actually considering buying a preowned hard copy of just for the real experience. I loved that game.
@@asificam1 I'm web developer two years ago I give up on my dream project fearing of piracy now I'm jobless as I don't have product to sell and working online and coding to others are useless same sht happened to PC software developer most of them just quick ,
Thats why I felt how gamed developer feel when their games pirated , specially Crysis it developer said he disappointed with the games sales compare to the huge amount of illegal downloads , I live that era when GTA publishers announce their will be no PC version of GTA IV , honesty people are so selfish and don't care about developers hard work .
Hey, I've pirated games for 20 years of life. And I feel zero guilt about it. You gotta do what you gotta do to play.
Living in a middle class family in a 3rd world country means you can't buy games yourself until you get a job. And when I did get a job I started paying.
Even better when your relatively good wage (compared to your country) won't let you buy games because you make ~400€ a month, and necessities eat up 300€+.
welcome to India.
Salute from india
@@goku4393 welcome to iran
On most pirated games you can't play online, you don't have an option there
SomeRandomDude YT you were getting some bad cracks then.
Some of my cracks even have Steam support, lol.
Well there's SmartSteamEmu.
same lmao xD
Or steamfix. there is a lot of ways to play online with a cracked game
on most games the multiplayer isn't really worth it. Example: farcry 5.. haven't touched MP at all yet. PvP.. nah didn't buy farcry for it. co-op.. i'm sure it's fun but the Grace is already an in game aim bot and Boomer highlights enemies. plus I have no friends to play it with yet. x_x
Ok this is why piracy barely (if at all) harms developers:
-People who pirate games usually don't have money to buy the game anyways
-Pirated games, especially ones with multiplayer, don't have all the features
-Those who pirate games and have money usually try the game out first, then buy it, because of updates and community features, etc.
-And those who don't buy the game can increase its fame, by simply talking about it and telling their friends.
i personally pirated a game for my PC, but years before i did buy the game legally for my iPad (where it was cheaper) that no longer works but i technically still supported the developer
I'm currently saving up for a steam card and for a offer there or something
I pirated borderlands 1 because i wanted to try, then when borderlands 2 came, because i loved 1 so much, i pre purchased 😂.
MadnZz Same here for Subnautica, The Long Dark, Rocket League, Portal 2, and Outlast &Outl. Whistleblower. Have it all now, bought them on Steam
I can't even argue against the first point , most people who pirate games will never buy any games and they have a pc that will run those games at 20fps lowest settings so they will never feel like buying games.
"People who pirate games usually don't have money to buy the game anyways"
That's true. That used to be me before I started working, but it isn't really an excuse. If you go to a store, see a cool item, but don't have enough money to buy it, does that give you the right to steal it?
That's the way I look at piracy due to lack of funds now. Most of my money goes towards life's neccessities (food, bills, etc.) and despite there being a lot of games/DLC I want, I refrain from getting them until the money comes around to do so legally.
I came to see some tricks developers use to identify pirates. What I've got is some extremely well known cases with one shallow explanation and quite generic piracy discussion. The video is entertaining, but I feel cheated.
That's the anti-piracy programming in action... the rest of us bought liked the video and got to see the rest of it... ;)
Honestly I think a lot of piracy would be avoided by having a quality product and also giving out a free limited demo so the consumer can determine if it's something they like.
Most people who pirate a game are likely to buy said game if they like it, if they don't like it, it gets removed from their hard drive and that's that.
Yeah, and they won't buy the game if they can't pirate it anyway..
Mark Jens I bought borderlands the Presequel without trying to pirate it
deathsia nope. We just pirate because we don't feel like paying even if we know it's a good game.
I pirated Skyrim because I wasn't sure if I was willing to invest my time and money into it. Ended up playing a fraction of the game and forgetting about it, probably to play SWTOR. I liked Skyrim, but I wasn't hooked enough to actually pay for it. Sometimes there are just too many games to play.
@@thomasjensen5042 same here. And I did that for Witcher 3 just last week.
I pirated a lot of games just so it can show up on my xbox app profile.
Affordability and ease of access are great ways to prevent piracy. With Steam you can easily get almost all your games on 1 platform, they worth while sales, and some games are usually priced really well. I've put in more than 100 hours into a few games that have costed $20 or less.
Lol I use steam to help me find good games to then pirate.
Absolutely wrong. Main point for most pirates is Steam by itself. They don't want that shit installed only for playing some games. Not to mention the horrendous 1$/1€ conversion issues Steam has. The alternative is GOG.com and fortunately most good developers publish their games there.
Steam is awesome for Brazilians since the conversion rate makes games cheaper through Steam than through other sources.
I bought elite: dangerous on steam in a winter sale for £5, and have nearly 200 hours and counting. Steam and pc is by far the way to go.
Steam is DRM. Back 10-15 years ago I was a bit butt hurt about this. Now it doesn't bother me. The convenience of Steam outweighs the cons to me. The main convenience for me being that my purchases are always available on the cloud, and when I purchase a new computer the installation process is almost painless.
When they ask you what is your favorite letter in the alphabet is and you say "rrrrrrrrrrrrr"
And your favorite body part is the aye.
When he talks about cash grabs an EA game clip is played.😂
lol
Bring back game demos!
I would love having game demos for high priced games. That way I won't waste a precious $60, if I find I don't like a game, that could've been used for more important things.
Fortnite copied candy crush
Fingers how dare they
Fingers seriously though,those devs are another level of disgusting. They tried to trademark saga and sue a game that came before it for copying.
i think the candy crush thing is true and the game they copied was Bejeweled 3
Super Mario Kart copied Tetris
Trivikram Lokesh which dev are you on about?
I really like the techniques that don't negatively impact honest buyers.
This is a spot on analysis of pirating and what it actually takes to combat it! I agree with Falcon 110%. I'm still a gamer, but I grew up on the Atari 2600, and I remember when video games started going to discs. We would get preview demo discs with magazine subscriptions and things of that nature. Demos almost disappeared entirely about 5 to 10 years ago, and now I'm seeing them come back, much to my liking. Honestly, I am strongly convinced they got rid of demos, not because it cost more or anything of that nature, but because they knew they were selling garbage. That hurts pre-orders, and they don't want people to know better. In my opinion, preorder ONLY games you know you like or has a good history. AND, we hen they fail you (AC: Unity).....STOP buying from them.
*Publishers are ruining games
*cough cough* EA *cough cough*
EA is ruining games
Hashirama Senju do you mean EA?
Seriously, EU is European Union.
Lol exactly look at EA
Smh
Businesses usually ruin art
Weather it be censorship or piracy prevention, maybe even trying to appeal to specific demographics(pandering). It’s not very good for art or business
Are they playing Sea of Thieves?
Yes-Totally Pirate
No-Clearly not a Pirate
Man I remember when you bought a new ps1 you got a demo disc with about 10+ playable games up till a point
Manito Benson I remeber that... good times
In our imperfect world some people just don't have enough money to buy games.
Me ... Oof i feel bad for developers but i cant afford 60 bucks for a game
@@barabbaMG 62 bucks- it's my money for month, so i can't afford to buy games as well.
@@barabbaMG most of the pirates are under 18 and can't spend money on games since usually their parents wouldn't let them. And of course they don't have a job.
@@markyankovskiy28 you guys are getting paid?
After like 2-6 weeks of the game release the cdkey prices drop significantly if you don't need the physical copy. I just bought one triple A game that was released in the summer for 12€..
If you cross your eyes at 4:56, the red skull sequence is a 3d illusion.
I only noticed by coincidence because I was tired. Makes you wonder what other 3d illusions you've missed in the countless other videos you watched.
That's the background layer for Gigyas, the final boss in Earthbound and if you look closer, it's actually a sonogram of a fetus.
Checking if the check was skipped. We need to go deeper: checking if the checking of the check was skipped!
You guys are absolutely right. I want to chime in on a few of the points here. You are absolutely right about about shareware and demos. I would play and play and eventually buy when I saved enough money. Developers started releasing time sensitive demos (play the game for an hour or two), if they released any demos at all. Most of the people in high school and college I knew were pirating, were doing it on those games. And you stated it perfectly....they ended up finishing the game before they had the opportunity to buy it. You have companies and devs that don't announce flash sales, but depend on you logging in and finding it. Look at their sales compared to Steam where you can easily put things on a wishlist and you get notified when its on sale.
Your comments on shareware and paying customers was ABSOLUTELY right on the mark. As a long time gamer I would always BUY the full version of the shareware titles I really enjoyed. I was willing to spend on my entertainment because it gave me happiness.
I pirated Skyrim. Played it for a while. Thought it was a good game. Removed the pirated version. Went to a local gaming store and bought it
#WeNeedDemos
I think you encourage piracy when you don't make a single digital purchase of a multi-platform game valid on all platforms the software is available on. For example, one reason why I stopped playing consoles and switched 100% to PC is because on PC's Steam, if the game is supported for Windows, Mac, and Linux, my single purchase is valid on any computer that I have Steam installed on. In contrast to that, if I buy a console and purchase a game for it that is also available on rival consoles as well as the 3 previously mentioned PC operating systems, the game is only valid for that one console brand, and to play on another console or PC, I'd my options are to either buy the game AGAIN, or just pirate it.
People say, "Support the developers; don't pirate the game," they don't consider maybe the pirate already bought the game AND ALL THE DLC for a different platform, thus supporting the devs, but doesn't wish to drop another $100 or more for the other console, then another $100 or more for the PC version. Hell, I've double-purchased games and all DLC I truly love, such as Borderlands, Borderlands 2, Bioshock trilogy, Mass Effect trilogy, Crysis trilogy, Fable trilogy, Deus Ex series, Far Cry series, The Elder Scrolls IV and V, GTA V, and others. The game I've bought over and over again over the years is KOTOR, because it may be one of the best games ever made, and it's now like $10 or so.
Still, if you add up all those games, I paid full price for all the console versions and their DLC, and quite frankly, if Steam didn't have 75% to 85% off sales for games and DLC, I probably would be a pirate, too. Games are freaking expensive, and OS-locking software that's available on multi-platforms is a corrupt business practice, and I totally forgive pirates who refuse to enable such greedy practices. I'm all for capitalism, but when you have copyrights and prevent people from selling your game with better licensing deals, you are no longer a capitalist, but rather trying to run a tyrannical monopoly. I'm looking at you, Apple; your products are shit and could be made and sold way better by people who actually care about the customer. Fortunately, Samsung makes a better phone... the downside is I have to buy KOTOR, YET AGAIN. This'll be like the 5th or 6th time now. XD
Cross platform functionality costs money.
Honestly I pirated witcher 3 and finished it with the dlc, then bought it cause I loved it
Well, back when I was a teenager, I usually got my games from a guy selling CDs in front of our school, because where I lived, the price of an AAA title is like 35% of the average monthly income, and games were not available right away, often with huge delays. Today I own almost all of the games I had as pirated copies then, as I love playing them, and am now able to support the companies that publish them. Honestly, what is 60 USD for something that brings you hours of joy over years ar even a decade? Now with that in mind, I agree that demos or free / 1.99 Betas should be more common.
pirate over here, 60$ its about 14 full month of work (venezuela) so nope a pirate life for me
@@AzurealValenth Yeah well, you guys got other shit to care about :D
Man 60$ game in Egypt is like 1200 EGP and that's a lot
yeah 60.00 USD = 250.00 in my local currency.
for scale, minimum wage: 4.55/h
try that.
Finally someone who understands what getting paid nothing feels like!
Every game should have a demo version.
The majority of games used to have demos back when they actually cared.
Good demos may help. I remember playing a demo that was way too short, so I couldn't tell if the game would be worth spending my time on.
Demons wont work now ..:)
Every game should be complete on release.
Look an example Life is strange, new hitman
1 chapter is free, but another is paid both games sell very well
hey falcon, i want to talk about the piracy of video games, first of all im from tunisia and started playin vg since the super nes and my whole life i played pirated versions of games for only one reason, we have no gamestops or smthin like that here so we are not able to buy original hard copies from anywhere we just cant, seconde we cant buy digital versions because our country doesent allow the pay pal or any of that stuff in other words we cant buy from the internet anything, third as a developed the exchange rate is so high like a 60$ games it costs around 143 tnd (you can check on xe.com) and i work 8h a day as a waiter for only 20 tnd and that's it, i cant help it i do love video games and i respect the devlopers me myself im studying game development in college and i know all the trouble they go throw to deliver us the product. i hope you get my point :) keep it up
Bahaeddine Chouchene I understand that you enjoy video games, but if the region you are in is not technologically or economically that is no fault of the game developers. Pirating games is theft, and it's not theft to feed children or improve the world. It's theft for your personal entertainment. I have no problem with people pirating. I don't, but do what thou wilt. Just don't make excuses for you lack of moral character.
that's the point Mr angbald im not encouraging nor making excuses or trying to do thee poor guy thing but just those are the facts that we have to live everyday here but with time you start to grow some anger because everytime you have to download a full glitched version of a game that you have been waitin for because you cant get an original copy of it and i manqged to get some original games from tourist or people living abroad but as i said those opportunities dosen't come everyday, and thnx for judging me :) ''lack of moral" while i was just making a point
i totally understand you and for a guy like you i think you should enjoy any game you play without feeling like you stole them happy gaming brother :)
angbald
"I literally cannot buy a game so I use easy and accessible ways to download a somewhat reduced version of game that I would never have paid for anyway because I literally can't"
"You are a horrible person and you don't deserve to experience art that helps you learn the language and grow as a person because you happened to be born somewhere other than USA"
nice logic to fuck off with
true , I used to live in VIetnam, average salary even for adult is like 150$ / month - while official games are like 30$ when they are sale (assuming they wait till the sale to buy). And for high school students, they don't have that much money to buy. As young kid, the privated games are like 1$ , that much more affordable and reasonable for our wallet back then. Of course, I lived in US now, so can afford official games now.
I'm watching this in December 2019, where I'm of the opinion, that pirates are actually saving DRM-possessed games.
Unlike paying customers, pirates can actually circumvent DRM and continue playing after the DRM servers are discontinued.
Simple Version:
NO free trials from game companies --> Creates pirates --> Less money to developers.
Free trials and internet cafes --> Creates potential customers --> More money to Developers.
In the past, we had game demos and gaming internet cafes. For me they were a lot of fun. I admit that given the opportunity, if I had something like that again, I would be great. It would give me a chance to try out the game, at least for a small amount of time wich would incentivise me to buy the games that I like.
Without a free tial of games, there is no way for an average, internet savy gamer to try the games that come out, and they turn to piracy to get that "try out"..
And if they chance upon a full version of the game, they try it.
Only a small percentage of those gamers still buy the physical copy of that game because the rest think: Huh, I guess I don't need to buy the games anymore.. And actually, that's how you get those opportunistic people.. Some may think: Huh, If I get an external drive and save a library of any game that comes out, I may get some of my mates to owe me favours..
I first bought skyrim on ps3 and after many hours playing eventually the game got so buggy it was unplayable. when skyrim special edition came out i figured why not and bought it for my computer. I regret it after a week because the modding community was so much more alive on the old version so i simply pirated the old one and modded to my hearts content. I've bought the game twice already so I figured why pay for it again.
I stuck with the old Edition with mods... way better.
lol oldrim is so cheap why would you need to pirate it and i got SSE for free just for owning the old one i got it just for that and because i opted into the free giveaway when it droped on steam it was only free to those that owned the old game and all its dlcs which i do and the only thing better about it is the fact i can go over the 250 mod issue the old version had
@@maxrander0101 they already said why they didn't want to buy the original, they already bought it twice and didn't want to make it three times.
@@MikusDad39 he mentioned it was a pirated version which is why i said it was so cheep you tosser
@@maxrander0101 their ps3 and pc special edition were paid for, they didn't want to pay a third time for a game they already bought twice so they pirated the regular version for pc to have access to the mods they wanted. it being cheap doesn't matter when you already own two other versions of the same god damn game, it's not just about the money.
"The age of pirates will never end!"
-Marshal D. Teach
A-fucking-men
You missed that one game that would screenshot the users computer and upload it if it was pirated
Wtf
and the one that give your character an eye patch if you pirate their game
??
EA deserves to be pirated, after the..."Surprise Mechanics" BS that they spout...DLC out the ass, yeah...I'm not buying there game, not right now anyway.
But poor sales don't hurt the higher ups in the company it hurts the development groups and the budget of sequels are reduced meaning they may be forced by budget constraints to be worse
It’s not piracy it’s a surprise download
@@abigideot710 no, it's a suprise discount
@@howtogitgud it's a suprise free game
I love the editing it's so GAMERANX you can't copy this
The awkward One ikr?
The script goes so well with the visuals. You can tell that a lot of effort is put in by everyone involved.
Thanks.
The awkward One not just the editing... falcon narration make it even better!
Without even making a jab at Peter Molyneux either!
I love how Guru Larry is now famous for people copying him, showing up randomly in the comments (NOTICE ME SEMPAI!) and his dislike for Peter Molyneux. xD
Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem.
- Gabe Newell
Nowadays, it's often both service and pricing.
- Me
Dovahslayer - this
tsubonyan often pirates are people that would find a excuse,no matter what. The basic mentality is why I should pay for something,I don't need to.
Trivikram Lokesh not really, I'm gonna agree saying it's an accessibility problem in lots of cases. Before I switched to Pc gaming, all my consoles were flashed because in my country any original game was $120, literally double of what it should cost. After I switched to pc gaming I had no need to pirate anything. Why? Because steam didn't double my prices. Any new game was the price the developers put it up, $60 most of the times. When you give people a good way to access their products people will buy them, and my 400+ steam library agrees
Thomas White u could always create a console account for other regions,considering none of the three main consoles are region locked. But I agree there are exceptions like u but I don't think piracy would stop even if they fixed all service problems maybe reduce 20% at best
And DRM makes it really hard to run it on unsupported Operating systems, even if bought it.
In Game Dev Tycoon, they actually made it a mode, there’s even an achievement for beating the pirate mode.
The only game I can proudly say I pirated was skyrim. Because I bought the game on release and the dlc after that, I bought the switch version. Then when I wanted to try skyrim VR and they charges 60 dollars for it I was like I'm done paying for the same game 3 times just because it's one a different platform.
You do realize all of the extra effort that goes into making it VR? Ah well, if it lets you sleep well at night.
Steve Larry let's be honest who likes spending 60 on a game three times, that's kind of ridiculous and almost scummy
Steve Larry he's right, VR isn't another $60 worth of work, some games let you get the VR version free if you already own the game or at least discounted, games that treat VR versions of the same game as if they are a new game is stupid. Skyrim VR is not a new game, Fallout 4 VR is also not a new game, it's added content.
Jacob Mackeller Yup. Atleast give a some sort of special deal for those who already own the game.
just like minecraft... i bought the game 5 times and i pirated the pc version CAUSE I BOUGHT THIS GAME WAY TOO MANY TIMES I **SHOULD** GET A REFUND
Too bad a lot of those Game Dev Tycoon comments about "How do I DRM doh it was meeee *shrug*" were actually from the developers themselves using all sorts of shell accounts. It was one of those events that sounded so perfect, so funny, but then everybody finds out its orchestrated. I honestly see it as a clever attempt at a publicity stunt that paid off to some degree. Too bad the game wasn't really all that engaging.
avfusion wait so the comments complaining were just the devs?
Damn, guess I wasted 100 hours...
Don’t forget that The Michael Jackson Experience caused hellaciously outrageous and impossible dance moves to be required when it was pirated.
The point where you mention making demos available makes so much sense.
i am a poor gamer and i dont pirate games except once. that game was spore. i played it for free and enjoyed when i pirated it however i deleted from my computer. couple years passed, knew how much fun i had with spore, and then bought it on steam.
going off of this, if i pirate a game and like it, ill be willing to buy it at a later date or buy the next game in the franchise if i enjoyed the one i pirated.
Squirchy what was the game exactly?
derp derp Spore
spore was already long dead at the time when i did so. and a future sale does make a difference if a "trial" was needed to cause so.
Squirchy i liked spore as well for a while, it got boring after you do everything.
just like minecraft
*Read more*
wp XD noticed it in the notification but it looks believable lol
Yar har fiddle tee dee, do what you want because a pirate is free, you are a pirate.
i heard that song from camp i think
RIP Robbie
honestly mentally sung this during the video 10/10 would reccomend
Alestorm 💖
yo hoo, ahoy and avast! being a pirate is really badass! hang the black flag at the end of the mast!
you are a pirate!
I heard something that I liked once about piracy.
Pirate: "I'm not hurting the game sales, if I didn't pirate it I would never buy it."
That is literally the lamest excuse for theft. "You know, I saw that nice car the other day. I stole it because I would have never bought it anyways". It doesnt matter if the game is just data. People have spent enornous amounts of time and money developing it and you think you have a right to play their game? Use their product, without paying for it? If you would have never payed for it DONT PLAY IT then. They have made this product and they have all the say in who is allowed to play it.
And if your logic was right, I, who would like to buy that game, could also say that I never wanted it anyways and just steal the damn game. How would you categorize who really wants the game and who doesnt. I can't believe some people have such a selffish viewpoint.
@Ricardo Santos Exactly.
@@JonzzkuTv Ooohhhh, so you want to say: If you are too poor to buy games, you don't deserve to play any games? That is the worst and most inconsiderate comment I've read in a long time.
That's basically like saying: oh you don't have a certain amount of money, that's a shame: you do not deserve to have fun. Shouldn't have been born in those conditions, but since you have, no fun for you.
Oh and it's not stealing. It's copying. Imagine this: you are in a shop. You are at the cash register. You want to buy something. You can't because you lack the money, therefore you can't leave with the product. Now imagine you somehow magically created a perfect copy of the thing you wanted to buy and left with that. That is piracy basically.
@@TeenPerspektiva I've already stated your latter argument. If you do that, then the actual products on shelf aren't sold and the shop goes bankrupt. THAT is just plain selfish. You think you have a free right to take stuff to youself just because you can't otherwise ever get it. That's what I call inconsiderate...
As for the first argument, then yes, if you are too poor to buy a product designed for entertainment, then no, you cannot have it. I'd like a nice ferrari, too bad I can't get it cause it's too expensive. I'd like some nice steak but can't get that either cause it's too expensive. That's how the world works, get used to it. Products aren't free to make, so they aren't free to take.
@@JonzzkuTv Err nope. Somebody else then comes along and buys the thing. Piracy does not in any way prevent legitimate customers from purchasing the product. It's not the same as stealing a car. Oh and I own a PC and PS4 and pretty much buy everything I play these days so suck it.
Honestly, demos seem like the best way to sort it out; let people try the game before buying it so they know if they like the game or not
The Witcher 3 is the best example that piracy doesn't kill sales. SHITTY BUGGY GAMES DO!
I've pirated Witcher 3 and when I've noticed that I was already like 20, 30 hours in and the game was incredible, I felt really bad. Quit game, delete, bought on Steam and resumed playing. Paid full price and I don't regret.
I'd say it's Minecraft. Most people play the pirated version, yet the game is still capable of yielding a hell lot of income.
I must say that i pirated both of those games, bought minecraft a long time ago, and I'm also planning on buying The witche 3 before i get addicted =P
i had steam shared shogun2: total war and witcher sequel from friends(which i can play almost anytime, i even have their accounts), but i bought those 2 after 40hrs of playing anyway. btw i did pre-purchase the witcher3 for 39.99$, after my first playthrough. honestly, I even felt bad about it for the game being so cheap compare to the enormous contends of the game.
Another game that sold like mad despite being available to pirate before the game even launched. LIke, it was on pirate sites a solid WEEK before it launched.... GTA V... And yet, it's sold like 10 billion copies... Blaming piracy is just a lame finger pointing excuse. Bottom line, make good games, they will freaking sell.
I don’t support game piracy, but I could understand why people with less of an income would do it. If I were a Dev, yeah it would suck that I wasn’t getting paid, but I would be glad that more people were experiencing my art
The problem is the people that can afford it.
Jacob Melone people who pirat wouldn't buy the game anyways in the first place so no harm done and have fun
Preeeeaaachhh!!!
I hope this gets red by you dude but I want you to know that I happened to stumble upon your videos and I have been hooked ever since. They are extremely informative and definitely bring back a sense of nostalgia when you talk about old school games. Keep up the good work!
1. Game demos definitely help sell full games
2. Lowering game prices and avoiding microtransactions
3. Avoiding live services
All of these things result in greater trust from game consumers
With shortening game trial/refund periods a pirated copy of a game serves as an extended trial.
For the exclusivity deals, pirated games serve as a way to play the demo until launch on the desired platform, probably.
If a game developer doesn't bother giving me a demo and wants me to do a blind bargain, I wont bother paying for their product.
I'll pirate the game, play it for 5-10 hours (sometimes less depending on the Genre, although I mainly play RPG's) and if I like it and have the money on my hands, they'll get the reward they asked for. Unless I disagree with the pricing and it's more than double I'm willing to pay.
Just in my case, they could fix the whole problem by giving me a reasonably extensive demo. In fact, that's how it worked back on the PS One and it worked very well.
Take notes Ubisoft...
Microsoft definitely knows this all too well. DRM on the Xbox One at the beginning of the Console Generation was one of the biggest why millions of gamers flocked to the PlayStation 4. Now some of them are jumping back on the Xbox bandwagon since Microsoft removed ONLINE DRM and KILLED the kinect.
until shareware/demos become more common, I can agree with people using piracy for the purpose of demoing software.
It would have been cool if earthbound just said in the praying seen, “nobody heard it.”
I feel like alot of piracy comes from lack of trying before buying. I dont really wanna spend 60$ on a game i might hate.
There are no demos because they don't want to show you how shitty the game is.
All of the games I bought in the 90's, especially PC games, were the result of playing demo discs. WarCraft, Descent, Star Trek Armada, Klingon Academy, Descent: FreeSpace, etc. were all purchases I made (or had my parents get me...) because I loved the heck out of their respective demos.
These days, I don't buy or play many games unless the reviews are stellar, and even then I wait at least a year for it to go down to $20-30 or for the "includes all DLC" special edition to come out. After all of that, I still get burned and feel like I wasted my money on some games, a feeling that a decent demo would have prevented.
I sometimes watch gameplay videos to see if they were worth playing...also used to pirate to see if my pc would run the game... now that I have an above recomended spec I no longer pirate :D
in the cod1, Medal of honor 1 days, kid me had a choice to make:
-spend 50$ on a game or
-spend it on 128MB RAM
I still kind of remember the load time difference between 256mb and 384mb in one of those games.
So worth it :)
*edit*
in reply to Smokeykiller51
I remember going from a HD radeon 3850 to a 7870 lol... the difference was striking.
i pirated every game i had when young... except for a few that were given for free with a certain gaming magazine i used to buy at that time. Heroes Of Might And Magic 2 being one of them.
I didn't pirate because i wanted to demo the game first, or to see if my specs were good, i pirated them because it was pretty much the only way to get them, at the time and place, considering era, geopolitical placement, and financial ability (being a kid i had none).
Growing up i did realise that people work on these games and they need to get paid as everyone else and am hesitant to pirate now. If I want to play a game and find it too expansive for what i think it's worth, i usually just wait for sales.
Also i bought all the HoMM games, that i played pirated when young. Same for AoE / AoM / Stronghold / Red Alert and all other games that i consider gems from my younger years.
In a way, if i did not pirate all those games as a kid, i might have not gotten into gaming at all, and most certainly i wouldn't have bought them "now", and i can go even deeper and say i would be a totally different person, as some games really did change me... The most obvious example i can think of right now would be Kotor 2, which now i do own in my steam library as well ^_^.
As a sidenote, i wish i could buy Metal Fatigue from somewhere... sadly it is nowhere to be found :( (except torrents)
i never pirated a game until i was about 10 i have been gaming since i was 3 im now 30 and proud that i will test games before i buy
2:28 It rarely happens that a game isn't eventually cracked even if it takes a year or so.
I've bought every Sid Meier'd Civilization game since Civ 3 (the first one that came out after I got my first job) - but I downloaded a pirated version first each time in order to assess whether it's worth it or not (all have been worth it). However, when I bought the Civ 4 Complete Edition (with all the expansions), the original game was missing a whole lot of .dll files that had to be downloaded and copy/pasted separately; so I just kept the DVD on a shelf, and continued playing the pirated version - since at least the pirates were kind enough to look up those same .dll files and stick them in their "fixed" version of the game...
Also, back when I was in high school there used to be so many video game magazines that came with a free CD full of demos of the games reviewed in the issue; I admit I haven't checked my newsstand for those lately - are they still around?
No, I don't think newsstands are still around...
I think Piracy would go down if the game developers brought demos for people to try
I agree, the new Doom game had a demo, I played it and rushed down to GameStop after the demo was over to pick up a copy, I usually wait until sales before I buy new $60 games because usually they aren't worth the money full-price. But with refunds available on most platforms now I suppose that could help too.
The exception is indie games from small studios and one-man teams, I usually buy them regardless.
Or we get rid of f2p elements from a $60 or more game....
But so many devs really don't want people to play their shit games before coughing up $60. One would think a demo would serve as great advertisement for a solid game... Like the new Doom.
I've been rrally impressed with the number of Nintendo Switch demos available on their eShop. Makes decisions about games for kiddo a lot easier. If she gets glued to the demo, then maybe we purchase the full game.
Mr. W. maybe it will, but Demos aren't as good as people try to make it out to be, not because you'll do something means the majority would, it's actually well known that Demos has a higher chance to reduce game sales, than increase it.
hehe, i wrote that on the official sea of thieves forum, if they would had a demo out i sure as hell was not going to buy that pile of dog poop! peep reply'd hey they had many beta's.... yea i know i was buzy making money and doing real life work! always funny people assuming everyone can do beta's or have time for them.
THANK GOD "make demo availables" yes Yes YES!!!
*i had an argument with a person that said i dont need to pirate anymore because steam has a return feature* GUYS returns are not a try before u buy *You will get your return privilege denied if u abuse it*
Fa Mulan is "not using it as a demo" a feature?... And I've gotten many at 2.5 many games are glitch as shit and I try to get it running before I give up, not all games work on all rigs
Actually it is... Steam accepts the use of refund for returning games you don't like.
I miss the age of demos.
I refunded quite a lot of games and I got the same warning. It tells you it's not to be used to try games and if I keep doing it I will not have access to that feature. Anyone doesn't believe it should try refunding a large amount of games within a short amount of time
No point of demo version cus back in days internet werent as good as now and geting copy was harder...
i've heard someone sum it up something like this: pirate it to try it out, if you like it enough to at least finish it then you buy it, if it's not worth finishing then it shouldn't have been sold in the first place
Showing my age, I remember format shifting 8-bit games, once loaded you'd need to turn off the storage device
I’m fine with people pirating any EA game.
pirating isnt illegal
Matt Poogerman its not because its bad its because they're ruining gaming and purposely not giving people a full game so they can get even more money
Matt Poogerman I've never pirated a game though I'm just saying. I couldnt care less if someone is pirating a game from a company thats run by a group of greedy pieces of shit
Hey try to not forget that not all games released by EA are A:bad B: developed in house so pirating the game could hurt a smaller developer team more than it hurts EA itself
except youre not taking anything away from anyone, therefore its not theft.
I won't lie, I used to pirate a lot. I didn't have the money, yet still wanted to play games. As Mark Gun, one of the many viewers of this video, said, Steam did a lot to fix this, along with a whole host of game sales sites that offered the games I wanted at a lot lower prices. This combined with the fact that Steam helped me keep access to my older games I'd bought, I just don't find myself wanting more as often.
Joseph Grutt falcons name is mark?
Mark Gun, another person who commented on this video.
Steam is probably my favorite thing to happen with pc games. I dont have to worry about losing my games.... logging in to a bunch of different sites to reinstall a game... or running out after I have installed and unistalled 3 times...
The Game Dev Tycoon trick can also be looked at in another way, too. It's not just them communicating to the pirates (a prank), but also getting data, a form of market testing and research. An experiment that shows THEM how prevalent piracy is. So they can firsthand see how much of a problem it is.
Of course, as shown here, piracy is a very complex issue and not exactly a zero-sum game (a pirated game does not necessarially equal a lost sale), making it very tricky to actually measure how much damage was done by piracy even if you were to get a flawless report stating how many sales were made and how many copies of the game were pirated. Still, the EU commission study saying that it had no visible effect on sales...? Wow, I imagined the effect of piracy on sales was vastly overstated by the companies, but that it doesn't have ANY net negative effect overall? I guess there's even more people who think like me that I thought there were.
So put yourself in my shoes. A number of years ago I was unemployed for a while and didn't have a good source of disposable income, so all I could afford was free stuff, or used game discs (which don't support the developers either, and you could make a case that the resale of used games is actually more harmful than digital piracy). In my position, you could see how appealing piracy would be -- so many games I want to play but my pocketbook was empty. I couldn't buy any of them, so I'd have two choices: Either go without, or obtain games illegally. Either way, the company isn't getting my money.
After getting a job, well... my Steam Library is 242 games strong. I don't have to pinch pennies anymore.
Now, the only reason I would have to grab games illicitly would be reasons like the following: It's not practical for me to obtain them, they exist only on platforms I don't have access to (like the PS1 or PS2 -- and even so, at least with PS1 you can just buy the game and emulate it off the disc using your PC and an emulator, providing you have the appropriate software), they're not available where I live (such as Japan-exclusive games), or they're not being sold anymore (e.g. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World).
In the case of emulated games, the ability to use things like savestates and built-in game enhancer functionality is also extremely convenient, because I LOVE breaking games through hacking. And not needing to accumulate physical media and other consoles is good too -- I can afford to buy all the current consoles but I can't afford the clutter in my living space, folks. Though digital downloads and virtual consoles certainly open up a legit option for getting most of the benefits of emulation. We just have to ask why Nintendo has chosen to take a step backwards with Switch Online. -_-
Of course, with what companies like EA are doing nowadays, it's very tempting to do it. Just to give these giant companies the middle finger. How poetic it would be if their games became such exploitative garbage that 99% of players refused to pay, because it's not worth the full asking price.
Maybe this is why they're trying to say single player games are dead. Because multiplayer, online only is the most effective form of DRM. Yeah, it's only dead to you, because YOUR single player experiences are hot garbage.
I'd keep ranting, but I've got to stop now. Sorry, my face is tired.
Youre admitting how great EA is at the same time you say youd love to give them the finger
The Game Dev Tycoon one was mind blowing and hell of a creative method
I used to pirate games when I wanted to see if I would enjoy the game, kind of use it as a demo if there wasn't one available. If I liked it enough after playing an hour or so I'd usually end up buying it that day but I don't have any reason to anymore since most digital sale platforms (i.e steam, origin, uplay) all offer their own refund policy. Now I pay full price or at least sale price for the game that interests me and if I end up playing longer than their requirements to refund then obviously it was worth it enough. I think if they don't offer demos then at least offering refunds is one of the better ways to convert former pirates.
CosmicFlower This.
@CosmicFlower I have had a refund from Steam for a Digital Game, but NEVER the others I am sorry to say... Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd, There is a caveatte to that which you have not mentioned.
They WON'T just give you a refund because 'I didn't like it!' - You have to have more of a reason than that!
I bought the Gauntlet Remake - And I WAS REALLY DISAPPOINTED by it... But that was not enough for a refund... I had to rely on the fact that despite my PC being at the very minimum specs to play the game - It ran like a bag of total ass!
If every game developer / Publisher / Digital Platform said you can get a refund simply because you bought something you then did not like... The industry would be F**KED!
And to be fair - We do have the Internet - We can research BEFORE we buy... So yeah, Why should Steam, Origin, Uplay etc Offer refunds just because you didn't like a game... We have the tools at our disposal to make an informed choice... Its our problem!!!
Steam - They are in my view the fairest - They ensure you have to play for a set time BEFORE you can ask for a refund so that they can be sure you have gave it a real collage try... I do have Origin too, but so far the only games I have ever bought on there are games I KNOW from the past - Sorry but Origin is EA... And Their new products.. NOPE!!! (And, Yeah - even with the older stuff that I know I like anyway - Only ever had ONE refund because a Product was NOT APPROPRIATE for my PC despite EA saying they had updated it to work on Windows 7... THEY WILL NOT GIVE YOU A REFUND IF YOU DID NOT LIKE A GAME!!! SIMPLE!!! YOU PAID YOUR MONEY - THAT'S YOUR TOUGH SH*T!)...
This is partially why I stopped playing on console, I couldn't afford to pay for all the games that I played for 10 minutes and hated, but whoops no return policy
Steam is a great way to look at this. If it's easily available to the consumer at a reasonable price, they won't pirate it
Polar-Star
lol you do know that pirating nowadays is mostly on PC and Android right?
Knight And SpaceShip Yeah and?
That might be right, Steam sales are great and you can even refund games, but paying 59,99$ for a virtual copy is ludicrous. 10$ worth of discount compared to the physical version is pure nonsense. In my opinion, a virtual copy of a standard videogame (69,99$) should cost 39,99$ max.
You're paying for the game not the box and shit
Oh I know, but let me give you an example. Let's say I bought a smartphone 2 years ago and now I want to upgrade. I've got every right to sell it to a private individual, If I want, thus re-inserting the object in the "market" and not letting it go to waste. A virtual copy cannot be sold? I'm okay with that, but since a physical copy would cost way more to the publisher, I want a decent discount. Software houses work hard to create games and I work hard to earn money.
Piracy never really affects game sales. Pirates fall into a few groups:
1. No money. (Never going to buy the game anyway, no sale lost)
2. Hate the game. (Never going to buy it anyway, no sale lost)
3. Love the game. (Plenty of these pirates end up buying the game as DLC and patches are added to the game, but not to the pirated version, in many cases.)
4. Neutral to the game. (Mostly using the game as a demo. Mix of people who would and wouldn't buy anyway.)
5. Game not avaliable in their country. (Obviously not losing a sale, they can't buy it. Some devs even encourage this. Eg. Hotline Miami devs encouraging australians to pirate the game because it didn't get released there as it was refused classification.)
6. Deliberately avoiding DRM. (Technically lost a sale, but that's from developer action to implement it, so they could have not bothered and not lost that sale.)
Thats what hooked me on Terraria was the trial and immediately reaching the end of the trial i bought it right after havent stopped playing since