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PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!?

Posted By: Jeevz

PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/11/08 05:40 PM

http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=165488

At first it seems hard to believe but after some thought it's really not that hard at all to believe.
Posted By: PositiveG

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/11/08 05:43 PM

I believe it.

Eastern Canada is notorious for it, walk through any mall and hear the kids talk or even on the news groups talking about it. It's also creeping into Consoles, the kids and big kids are selling modded 360's like crazy on Kijiji.
Posted By: Archangel

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/11/08 06:03 PM

I don't believe it, at least not the North America part. Is it too high? Sure. 80%? I don't think so.

His rant is based so much on speculation and "what he heard" and "has a hard time believing" it really doesn't have much merit.

In Europe it's 90+% (again, where did these numbers come from) and in Asia it is "off the charts"

What exactly does that mean, especially since he pulled a 90+% out of his butt a moment earlier? More than 100%?

To believe this I'd want to see some real world numbers, not pie in the sky projections that sound worse than RIAA's ideas for LOST SALES on music.
Posted By: bisher

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/11/08 06:04 PM

Stupid pirating idjits. It's rather disheartening to know that the punk azz kids who are kicking your's is doing so on a pirated copy. GRrrrrrhhhhh
Posted By: VF9_Longbow

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/11/08 06:10 PM

get used to it.

it's fairly obvious that a new sales and marketing model is required thanks to the digital age. it's the old fogies out there that are kicking and screaming because they're worried about their cushy 6 figure salaries. they resist change the most.
Posted By: Speedo

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/11/08 06:58 PM

Did anyone actually read the article? He has no evidence whatsoever to support his numbers, and his numbers are entirely based on the fact that some games have sold/are selling better on console than on PC.

That's what you call a mountain of BS.

Edit: And if this person is following the typical marketing line, he's only talking about boxed copies sold in retail stores, and completely ignoring all of the online & digital purchases.
Posted By: speedbump

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/11/08 08:56 PM

I don't believe it either. How many people actually care to pirate Lomac or FSX. How many real world people even know what the hell a Lomac or FSX is anyway. The guys full of it. I think the truth of the matter is that consoles are just less trouble than PC gaming.

Then I'm not advocating piracy, but how many people have thought about it after going through some stupid hoop jumping to get their DVD burner working again. Or having to have an internet connection to call home once a week.

The death of PC gaming is because of the super eye candy on the consoles.
Posted By: Jeevz

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/11/08 09:03 PM

I don't think small market games/sims are the ones with that problem. It's the mass market games that have tens of thousands of torrent seeders on the day they are released. Even before they are released sometimes.
Posted By: PFunk

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/11/08 09:11 PM

This article contains a few grains of truth, and from that a pile of horsecrap has grown.

85%? Nobody would develop for the PC anymore. Gaming would go completely console with that kind of loss rate.

pfunk
Posted By: Razorback

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/11/08 10:15 PM

Just more creative statistics by the industry. If the real number is higher than 15%, I will eat my hat.
Posted By: AirDog

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/12/08 12:53 AM

 Originally Posted By: PFunk
This article contains a few grains of truth, and from that a pile of horsecrap has grown.

85%? Nobody would develop for the PC anymore. Gaming would go completely console with that kind of loss rate.

pfunk



Console games are just as easy to rip as PC games ..go to any Torrent site & have a look.
Posted By: Billzilla

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/12/08 03:13 AM

In Asia I'd guess less than 1% of games would be genuine copies.
Posted By: Razorback

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/14/08 04:29 AM

Asia is huge. Do you have specific countries in mind?
Posted By: ForSquirrels

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/14/08 06:03 AM

Here is my theory about why a game may be selling more copies on a console vs a PC even in its target demographic: A combination of ease of use (just pop the disc in and it plays) and the fact that a lot of shooters now seem to be developed for the consoles first (COD4 and R6: Vegas) and then ported to the PC. I will say that I have never played either of the games I used as examples, but it seems like they were promoted as console titles first and PC 2nd.
Posted By: Razorback

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/14/08 06:54 AM

Most of my friends seem to be playing console games now. We rarely get together for PC gaming. It was the complete opposite five years ago.
Posted By: Husar

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/14/08 07:27 AM

Uhm, I've seen it in school and at the university, some guy gets a cracked version and the next day he has a DVD for everyone who asked and perhaps he asks a Euro for the DVD itself...

Well, 1 Euro instead of 45 and you get a full game, one guy even called me an idiot for not using pirated games when I spoke to him about it, I wouldn't say these numbers are correct but I wouldn't be surprised if they're very close either, almost everyone knows a guy who knows how to pirate, no need to do it yourself, and the rest just ask their friend how to use file sharing programs.

Especially people who never had a computer before seem to have tons of pirated programs on their first PC because they're not willing to spend a lot of money on it and the friend/relative/guy who made the PC offered all those nice programs to come with it for free...

I've even heard of people who had no windows CD for a computer bought in a small computer shop, one wonders why that is...
Posted By: Legend

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/14/08 07:38 AM

 Originally Posted By: Billzilla
In Asia I'd guess less than 1% of games would be genuine copies.


...plus other software. When I bought a computer earlier this year, I specifically asked for a genuine Windows installation; first they tried to use a Dell-CD (semi-legal?) but that didn't work. After Windows was installed, and without asking for it, they wanted to install Office 2007, Adobe Acrobat Suite, Illustrator, Nero and a lot of other stuff. When I told them not to do that they were actually surprised.
Posted By: Para_Bellum

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/14/08 10:08 AM

I doubt the numbers in the article are actually that far off. Take a look at the software collection of your typical 16-17 year old with access to broadband internet. Most probably the only legit software you'll find will be the OEM Windows software that came with his computer. Why should a kid pay 40€ for a game when he can get it for free without any hassle?

I remember back in the mid 80s and early 90s I was one of the VERY few among my friends who actually bought computer games. Most of these I sold again via gaming mag adds after a couple of weeks for 70-80% of the original price, so it wasn't actually that expensive a hobby. And no, neither I nor my parents were 'rich'. It was merely a conscious decision on my part on what to spend my money on. For me games like Gunship or Pirates where more important than that BMX bike with the golden pedals or the soccer shoes that cost more than four computer games...

I certainly believe that mainstream blockbuster games have an extremely large ratio of pirated copies/legal copies, IMO that ratio drops significantly for niche games like simulations or hardcore strategy games. But of course those pirated copies don't necessarily all translate into a 'lost sale' as the industry is so fond of telling us...

And the situation in Asia? Well, at least in China you'll have to look very hard to find legit software at all. Even in respectable-looking computer shops the shelves where usually packed with counterfeit software, all in shiny, almost 'real' looking boxes. And don't get me started on the stuff you could buy in the streets or on various markets.
Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/14/08 12:33 PM

 Originally Posted By: Razorback
Most of my friends seem to be playing console games now. We rarely get together for PC gaming. It was the complete opposite five years ago.


Just look at how many people on SimHQ now play more console stuff than PC. Quite surprising.
Posted By: 20mm

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/14/08 12:52 PM

I long for Dart's Attack of the Pretty Pink Ninja Ponys mod
Posted By: Blade_RJ

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/14/08 09:31 PM

i can honestly say 79 or 82 per cent of pc games in brazil are pirated,and yes i took the number out of my ass,but its really close,just talk to ANY teenager,and the only ones who have a legal copy are the rich ones,or the guy has like 5 legal games out of the 25 he played.for windows thats even bigger,pratically all domestic user have a pirated version,only corporations and offices uses legal version,and a really small number of consumers who can afford it and CARE about it.
My boss has the web premium suit for adobe in our office with still xp legal,copy,ask her what version of windows and adobe she has on her laptop ?
Posted By: Dart

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/16/08 01:30 AM

 Originally Posted By: 20mm
I long for Dart's Attack of the Pretty Pink Ninja Ponys mod


"I love you, Apocalypse Pony!"

\:\)

In the "Europe" numbers one will have to remember that Europe extends from Portugal to the Ukraine.

I don't suspect many bits of software sell for retail with a nice legal copy in Rumania or Albania.
Posted By: Weird_Crapolla

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/16/08 03:22 AM

Hi,

Piracy (at great scale) is not kidd's business but maffia business (from China to Russia .. USA's include \:\) )
And be sure they make it seriously and with great benefits... (they are not paying a dollar of taxes \:\) )
The benefits are of course reinvest in more lucrative activities .. like drugs and weapons smuggling .. terrorists support ..etc.. \:\)

OFF
Posted By: Trip

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/16/08 03:29 AM

A pirate does not ask for directions. He relies only on his gut feeling, a compass, or a treasure map \:\)
Posted By: Wilko

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/16/08 04:02 AM

I have heard that here inAus the numbers are pretty high as well, not sure on it as just about every one I know all pay cause we all whinge about the over the top cost compared to the USA which I spose indirectly supports the high number theory.
Posted By: Hentzau

Re: PC Game Piracy at 70 - 85%?!? - 07/16/08 06:03 AM

DRM advocates remind me of the global warming crowd. I won't buy DRM infested software, and I won't buy carbon credits either. ;\)
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