Volition on piracy: Make a game worth stealing, then make sure they don’t

18 March 2011

Somewhat unusually in 2011, Saints Row and Red Faction dev Volition doesn’t think PC gaming is on its way out. Quite on the contrary, actually. The clever trick, apparently, is making PC games that are worth playing, which means developing those games properly instead of fobbing them off to third parties.

“Some people say PC is dying. Some people say PC is the future,” studio manager Eric Barker tells Eurogamer. “PC is the most variable, because it depends on what you’ve got under the hood. For us, the key thing was making sure the PC version was done in-house.

“You should see [the PC version of Red Faction: Armageddon], it looks absolutely beautiful. If you’ve got a great graphics card it looks fantastic. We definitely believe PC games are great and if they’re done right and done well by a studio, they’re phenomenal.”

Finally, he drops this instantly quotable quote about PC gaming and piracy.

“I don’t think [piracy] is something at the forefront for us,” he says. “First and foremost, we want to make sure we’re making a game people would want to pirate. Let’s make a game that’s worth stealing, and then we’ll worry about making sure they don’t.”

Let’s check back with them when Red Faction: Armageddon is released and pirated.

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