DRM harms game developers, sales more than piracy

Super Meat Boy developer Tommy Refenes has posted a blog which argues that DRM and other loss prevention techniques actually hurt developers more than piracy.

Refenes’ stance is that DRM is not a profit-saving procedure for game developers hoping to protect their products.

“As a forward thinking developer who exists in the present, I realize and accept that a pirated copy of a digital game does not equate to money being taken out of my pocket,” Refenes writes. “Team Meat shows no loss in our year-end totals due to piracy and neither should any other developer.”

“Companies try to combat piracy of their software with DRM but if loss due to pirated software is not calculable to an accurate amount does the implementation of DRM provide a return on investment? It is impossible to say yes to this statement,” Refenes continued. “Everyone needs to accept that piracy cannot be stopped and loss prevention is not a concept that can be applied to the digital world.”

Team Meat – Tommy Refenes and Edmund McMillen

Refenes explained that limiting the redistribution of digital goods is not the solution for developers.

“In the retail world, you could potentially put a return back on the shelf, you could find another customer that wants it, sell it to them and there would be virtually no loss,” Refenes said. “In the digital world, because there is no set amount of goods, you gain nothing back (one plus infinity is still infinity). It’s only a negative experience. A negative frustrating experience for a customer should be considered more damaging than a torrent of your game.”

Refenes concludes that piracy is a reality of the industry, and that mutual respect between customers and developers can help drive game sales.

“The reality is the fight against piracy equates to spending time and money combating a loss that cannot be quantified,” Refenes concluded. “Everyone needs to accept that piracy cannot be stopped and loss prevention is not a concept that can be applied to the digital world. Developers should focus on their paying customers and stop wasting time and money on non-paying customers. Respect your customers and they may in turn respect your efforts enough to purchase your game instead of pirating it.”