Piracy, Not Consoles, Killed the PC Exclusive

[OmegaFenix]

The lead designer of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning says it's piracy, not the dominance of consoles, that makes big-budget PC exclusives impossible today.

Big-budget PC exclusives are pretty much unheard of in this day and age. They do happen but they tend to be either indie affairs, low-budget niche products or Ukrainian. The reason, obviously, is the rise of the console, which drove gaming from the computer desk to the far more consumer-friendly confines of the living room. PCs are expensive and complicated, consoles are cheap and easy - it's not exactly brain surgery.

But according to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Lead Designer Ian Frazier, nailing the lucrative console market isn't necessarily the biggest impediment to major PC exclusives. "No, probably not. A game this big is very expensive, to be blunt about it," he told IncGamers when asked whether a game like Kingdoms of Amalur could make it on the PC alone. "The PC, with piracy being as rampant as it is, is really hard to make money from. My first game was Titan Quest, a hack 'n' slash RPG, which was PC only, but the amount that it was pirated was the difference between us staying in business and going out of business."

Frazier was a designer on Titan Quest, a Diablo-esque action-RPG created in 2006 by the now-defunct Iron Lore Entertainment. It's an excellent game and still boasts a surprisingly active community, but its launch was marred by pre-release piracy, specifically an undocumented security check that dumped players out of illegal copies of the game. That led to some very negative word-of-mouth about its buggy, unfinished state prior to launch, which turned out to be inaccurate but still hampered sales and contributed to the studio's demise.

It's not impossible to do well by focusing on the PC but the bottom line is that the open nature of the system makes the risk of failure, even with a really good game, much higher. "It's really, really hard to be profitable by concentrating only on PC," he said. "Unless you're an MMO."

Source: The Escapist

 

[DCWarhound]

I wasn't planning on buying or playing this game in the first place.

/goes to check out videos of the game since i never heard of it

 

[Necuno]

Yet first available iso on torrents is the xbox rip....

 

[MOnk]

I can understand why he feels that way especially coming from Iron Lore who made a damn solid game in Titan's Quest and by all rights should have stayed in business. Unfortunately things worked out as they did but I really don't think piracy is THE reason for lack of PC exclusives. Exclusivity itself is becoming obsolete, it just no longer makes sense to limit your customer base especially with the rising development costs of today's AAA titles.

So even if there was zero piracy on PC it would still be silly NOT to develop your game for consoles considering they make up 60-80% of the market.

 

[Stefan9]

They went out of business due to poor manegement not piracy. Sure piracy did play a role but blaming their failure on piracy is very weak imho.

I don't think exclusives exist anymore to be honest, games are too expensive to restrict to one platform. Makes more sense to have an xbox 360,ps3 and pc version to cover all bases.

 

[hideinlight]

Looks like bad implementation of DRM killed Titan Quest, if you gonna skrew the pirates make it funny and obvious (don't disguise it as a bug, something people hate). The real money is in the sequel when it comes to an unknown IP. If you can keep the word of mouth positive, the sequel would do twice as better.

 

[Graal]

Title should read

Publishers' Irrational Approach and Obsession with Piracy, Not Consoles, Killed the PC Exclusive

In reality, piracy really should be a non-issue. Despite what publishers claim, it doesn't affect sales at all. The point of piracy is that the pirate isn't planning on buying the game anyway. That's the case with 90% of pirates. Every year publishers come out with 'projected losses' based on piracy, and it's bullshit. How can you consider piracy lost money? It's money you never had, and there's no indication that you ever would have had that money, so how is it lost money?

The gaming industry is the only industry stupid enough to take the stance they're taking on piracy. Other industries would attempt to coax pirates into seeing their product as more appealing than the alternative of pirating it. The gaming industry actively makes their product less appealing in an attempt to stop piracy.

Where's the logic in that?

 

[Kharrak]

Title should read



In reality, piracy really should be a non-issue. Despite what publishers claim, it doesn't affect sales at all. The point of piracy is that the pirate isn't planning on buying the game anyway. That's the case with 90% of pirates. Every year publishers come out with 'projected losses' based on piracy, and it's bullshit. How can you consider piracy lost money? It's money you never had, and there's no indication that you ever would have had that money, so how is it lost money?

The gaming industry is the only industry stupid enough to take the stance they're taking on piracy. Other industries would attempt to coax pirates into seeing their product as more appealing than the alternative of pirating it. The gaming industry actively makes their product less appealing in an attempt to stop piracy.

Where's the logic in that?

Pretty much.

Not to mention that piracy aids Word of Mouth, arguably the best method of spreading awareness and general advertising. We've seen again and again how triple A games with heavy, heavy DRM sell less than double or even single A games with no DRM. Hell, I remember being at a lan just after Crisis had been released. ONE guy at the lan spoke up that he had the Crisis ISO's, but no one really bothered, because "oh, not interested, my pc can't handle that". And the studio blamed Piracy for low sales...

Overall, it's very, very much a case of convenience, which links into what Gabe from Valve has been saying for several years - pirates are unserved customers, publishers and developers should find ways to make buying legally more convenient than outright piracy. Steam does this to a larger degree, I hardly ever see pirated versions of games strongly intertwined into steam, and if I do, 9 times out of 10 the game has a slew of bugs and missing features.

And I wholeheartedly agree in regards to pirates pirating due to inability to purchase in the first place.

Interestingly though, the article does have some merit, in that Piracy is relatively very, very low in the console world. It certainly exists, but it's nowhere nearly as prolific as piracy is on the PC platform. At the end of the day, though, consoles do tend to make much, much more money than PC's...

 

[Graal]

With regards to piracy as a form of marketing, I wholeheartedly agree. I often go to sites such as rlslog with the intent on seeing what quirky games people upload. This is especially useful for indie games, because their marketing is usually non-existent or very minimal, and it's not like there are a lot of sites reporting on every single indie game to come out. Seeing as just about every game gets uploaded for piracy, it's a convenient way of keeping tabs on the industry.

Just Thursday I discovered both 3079 and Towns through rlslog and promptly bought them at Gamersgate. As for piracy on consoles, I think one of the main curbing factors there is the fact that you often need to install software that voids any warranties you might have. As far as I know, if you've got custom firmware loaded on your PSP, Sony will refuse to repair it even if you're willing to pay for the repairs.

 

[MOnk]

Citing piracy as a non-issue or even a boon to the industry is just as inaccurate as publisher's exaggerations.

Sure it may have a few small benefits but saying it's all peaches and cream is just rubbish. Piracy IS an issue, just how big, it's hard to say. I know lots of people who pirate games and often it's not 'truly' a money issue, sure they couldn't buy the majority of games they pirate but at the same time instead of pirating 100's of games a year they would probably just buy 5-10, like regular people. So you can't just convert pirated copies to lost sales but at the same time you can't just say none of those copies would have been sales.

As for cost and warranty being a factor in console piracy I don't see that as big a factor as you would think. Often getting someone to 'chip' your console costs less than a full priced game, even being able to buy second hand pre-flashed console cheaper than a new unflashed console.

 

[tpex]

Standard excuse for not releasing a PC version/PC exclusive these days...

 

[Kuga]

@ OP.

Quite funny how a few weeks ago you said you weren't getting into the whole debate around piracy and yet you post drivel like this?

Let me summarize it for you :

PIRACY IS NOT THEFT. IT'S COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT. PIRATES SAILS SHIPS ON THE HIGH SEAS AND HIJACKS OTHER SHIPS AND GETS THEIR LOOT!

Or they are Somalian.

 

[Necuno]

< screaming man >

/popcorn ?

 

[Kharrak]

Citing piracy as a non-issue or even a boon to the industry is just as inaccurate as publisher's exaggerations.

Woah, hold on there. None of us were saying piracy is a non-issue, nor that it's exactly a "boon" to the industry. Just because we mention some positive effects of piracy, in addition to talking through and debunking the perception of the negative effects, doesn't mean we're suddenly jumping in and saying "It's the Answer!".

In the past, I've pirated when (a) I can't afford to get the game, (b) game doesn't interest me enough to warrant purchase, (c) never heard of the game before, and I want to try it out.

In all the cases, if it turns out the game is fantastic, I will always end up purchasing the sequels, and often purchase the game itself.

 

[Graal]

Yeah, I didn't say that piracy is a non-issue, just that it should be a non-issue. It does affect the industry, yes, but the effect is entirely negligible. Piracy isn't going to stop, especially not due to fancy DRM measures.

People pirate because they cannot or do not want to buy the games. Back in the day if multiple games caught my attention and I could only afford one, I'd buy one and pirate the rest, and studies actually indicate that this is the case with a lot of pirates. Those who buy the most software also pirate the most software.

I mean, in the end we're still waiting for the music industry to crash due to piracy, and I'd hazard a guess that piracy of music is 100 times worse than software piracy, at the very least.

 

[OmegaFenix]

@ OP.

Quite funny how a few weeks ago you said you weren't getting into the whole debate around piracy and yet you post drivel like this?

Let me summarize it for you :

PIRACY IS NOT THEFT. IT'S COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT. PIRATES SAILS SHIPS ON THE HIGH SEAS AND HIJACKS OTHER SHIPS AND GETS THEIR LOOT!

Or they are Somalian.

Correction I said the following:

If you design the next best uber fuel saving motor, and I break into your place and 3D scan and print it for myself, is it considered theft?

I'm sorry but I am unable (or more accurately unwilling) to debate this topic, or any other topic, with anyone stupid enough to pose an as utterly moronic a question as the one above to me & expect anything but the most sarcastic reply my not inconsiderable mind can compile.

And In case you didn't notice I re-posted this article here from another news site and since then hasn't commented on the topic, it is not something written by my nor do I agree with the gentleman who was interviewed for it. It is however a piece of gaming related new & this is a gaming related forum. Now while your tiny little brain goes into overdrive to comprehend this fact I will take time to comment on the actual topic, something you are clearly unable to do. So I will bring it down to retarded howler monkey level for you: The article is how someone who makes game feels about the piracy issue in game and just like all of us here, yes even you with our moronic comments and complete detachment from reality, is entitled to his/her opinion; right, wrong, or in your case just plain stupid.

Now as for the commenting on the actual article:

I think blaming the lack of PC exclusives on Piracy alone is unfair, there are alot of contributing factors (easier to develop for consoles, lower barrier for entry, etc). However for smaller, non-tripple A studios who may not have the capital to develop on all platform a single release on PC which then sells poorly (for whatever reason be it piracy, a crappy product) could easily mean curtains.

The gaming industry is the only industry stupid enough to take the stance they're taking on piracy. Other industries would attempt to coax pirates into seeing their product as more appealing than the alternative of pirating it. The gaming industry actively makes their product less appealing in an attempt to stop piracy.

While I wont go into the Piracy being a non issue side of your post (I am fortunate enough to have a foot in both worlds, gamer and developer so I am bias on that point) I will however address the above section of you post.

Gamers have been making the argument for years and who can blame them; give us something great and we will gladly buy it but there is a flaw in this argument that flaw is people. No matter how great a product is if you can get it free a large majority will gladly "take it", I call them the Moocher, the leeches of society and here is why:

I dont think anyone here would call The Witcher 2 anything but a brilliant game from a great developer who provides us gamers great content for an already great game and this is how the gaming community repays them...

CD Projekt Red tackles piracy with trust
“We actually trust people”

Which is why this is so sad.

CDProjekt still against DRM despite high levels of piracy

Conservative estimates put The Witcher 2 piracy ratio at 5:1; DRM still not the solution

A developer who actually gives people the benefit of the doubt, not treating them like not like crooks (the way people always say DRM makes legit customers feel), giving them everything they are always demanding (great amounts of content, dlc, trying to deliver a great game) and still getting shafted. Nice going humanity and people wonder why developers are willing to go the draconian DRM route in a vain attempt to protect their product.


Even though I didn't enjoy the original Witcher I have a huge amount of respect for CD Projekt Red for their view on piracy prevention, even if it, like drm, doesn't work.

And yes CDProjekt Red still trust gamer even after meeting all the requirements that we gamers have been demanding but how many other developers are willing to do the same, what kind of message are gamers sending to developers? "Make us a great game, with great content that is affordable and doesn't have DMR but just know we will still fuck you over and pirate it."

And what about Star Craft 2? Blizzard the shining beacon for PC gamers everywhere who have stuck it out developing only for PC thus far. Taking years, sometimes decades to perfect their games so the it will be more enjoyable for us and what happens? Star Craft 2 gets pirated 2.3 million times. (Source) Great going gamers...

I would stand and applaud if I wasn't so ashamed to call myself one of you.

And those where just 2 great PC games what about others on all platforms, even iphone or android?

So yes in an ideal world game developers would make great games and everyone would buy them but this isn't an ideal world and those who do pirate games, great ones or shit ones, are sending the message load and clear for all of us.

 

[Graal]

No matter how great a product is if you can get it free a large majority will gladly "take it", I call them the Moocher, the leeches of society and here is why:

And that's the core of my argument. Thus far there hasn't been any successful methods to curb piracy, and it's bound to stay that way. The measures currently in place have done nothing but harm the industry. Now people can add 'do not want to deal with DRM' to their motivations for piracy. People are going to pirate no matter what you do. You can make it a bit more difficult for them, but they're going to pirate anyway.

And let's face it. The only developers who really feel any impact from piracy is the small software development houses. The bigwigs still make a ton of money. The Witcher 2 alone sold over 600k copies, and that's not even counting those sold on Steam, seeing as Valve doesn't release sales figures to sites like VGChartz. Even though the pirates outnumber the legit buyers, that's still a ton of money.

Developers and publishers spend way too much time worrying about hindering people who don't intend on buying their games anyway. Quite honestly, I'd be surprised if 5% of pirates turn to buying legitimately if someone manages to eradicate piracy entirely.

 

[OmegaFenix]

And that's the core of my argument. Thus far there hasn't been any successful methods to curb piracy, and it's bound to stay that way. The measures currently in place have done nothing but harm the industry. Now people can add 'do not want to deal with DRM' to their motivations for piracy. People are going to pirate no matter what you do. You can make it a bit more difficult for them, but they're going to pirate anyway.

And let's face it. The only developers who really feel any impact from piracy is the small software development houses. The bigwigs still make a ton of money. The Witcher 2 alone sold over 600k copies, and that's not even counting those sold on Steam, seeing as Valve doesn't release sales figures to sites like VGChartz. Even though the pirates outnumber the legit buyers, that's still a ton of money.

Developers and publishers spend way too much time worrying about hindering people who don't intend on buying their games anyway. Quite honestly, I'd be surprised if 5% of pirates turn to buying legitimately if someone manages to eradicate piracy entirely.

There is a solution its called Cloud gaming and it is coming for those very reasons.

 

[Graal]

And there's the thing that will kill gaming for me. The only people who benefit from it are the developers/publishers.

 

[OmegaFenix]

And there's the thing that will kill gaming for me. The only people who benefit from it are the developers/publishers.

Why? You still get to play the games & services like Onlive give you a 15min demo to try the actual game. No install, no patching, full MP, all your save. Its a win win for everyone. It runs on almost everything. The only downside I can see is for retailers & hardware manufacturers.