The State of Piracy and DRM In PC Gaming 387
VideoGamer sat down with Randy Stude, president of the PC Gaming Alliance, to talk about the state of piracy and DRM in today's gaming industry. He suggests that many game studios have themselves to blame for leaks and pre-launch piracy by not integrating their protection measures earlier in the development process. He mentions that some companies, such as Blizzard and Valve, have worked out anti-piracy schemes that generate much less of a backlash than occurred for Spore . Stude also has harsh words for companies who decline to create PC versions of their games, LucasArts in particular, saying, "LucasArts hasn't made a good PC game in a long time. That's my opinion. ... It's ridiculous to say that there's not enough audience for that game ... and that it falls into this enthusiast extreme category when ported over to the PC. That's an uneducated response." Finally, Stude discusses what the PCGA would like to see out of Vista and the next version of Windows.
Easy - make the Games free and charge for online (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Why developers don't like making games for PC (Score:5, Interesting)
Do you have any basis for making this claim, or is this just a good sounding excuse that you heard once and are now repeating?
It could be that what you claim is what developers are thinking, but we'd have to find some game company executive in charge of that sort of decision and ask them if we wanted to find out. It's not obvious enough that we can come to a conclusion by guessing - if you declare a PC platform like "Windows XP, Direct X 9 Dedicated Graphics" that's a relatively large install base. People with older PCs are no more relevant than PS2s are if you're considering developing a PS3 game.
Re:Easy - make the Games free and charge for onlin (Score:5, Interesting)
Indeed. I'm a habitual software pirate. I know it's wrong, but I simply don't want to pay more for less.
Games with significant online content (MP mostly) I buy or skip entirely. I have bought, and not even at a discount, the entire Guild Wars series, as well as a great number of the optional addon content (extra character slots, skill unlock packs). I have spent more on GW than any one other game series in PC history. Why? It's good, it's fairly priced, has effectively no copy protection, and I can freely download the client. I have several times set it down for months and then picked up again. A subscription MMO would have lapsed, and I would likely have lost my characters or their gear.
This is why I don't play WoW. GW is better in all the ways I care about. Steam is also a leader in the Right Way to do things. I have probably bought more titles on Steam than via physical purchase over the last 4 or 5 years. Physical media is dying.
Backlash is right (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't know about anyone else, but I will NEVER be buying a call-home-during-install game again. I can't play Half-Life 2 because I can't make the updates over a modem, and I can't just play the damned game (even from my Steam backups!) Valve, pay attention - I will NOT be paying for Half-Life 3 if you keep this shit up, and I know you will. I have all but given up on PC gaming (At this point I play only Free/OpenSource games and classic games on the PC, and occasionally buy a console game title) because, frankly, it is hell. I am just tired of fucking with graphics drivers, sound drivers, directx releases... I want games to just work. If that means I play less games, then so be it. I have other things to do anyway. I believe the majority of the recent growth in the games industry has mostly been in console and handheld gaming anyway, why put more effort into a sinking ship?
The sad truth is that Microsoft probably killed the PC games industry with Direct3D. DirectX was a great idea but Direct3D was a brain-damaged one. Microsoft already had support for OpenGL, and OpenGL can already evolve as quickly as DirectX via Vendor-specific extensions (as it did with 3DFX's treatment of the SGIS_MULTITEXTURE extension.) Direct3D hampered cross-platform games development and now the situation looks especially bleak what with games requiring Vista, which nobody wants. I am simply not going to "upgrade" (haha) to Vista to play games.
Re:Why developers don't like making games for PC (Score:2, Interesting)
I hate playing on a console. It's a pain in the ass. I'd much rather play on a PC, be able to switch to a browser when I want, use a keyboard and mouse (it's so much easier to play a game with a kb and mouse imo).
Certainly consoles have provided a less expensive way to get quality graphics and gameplay. It has nothing to do with "finding the right level of PC but rather the fact that ANY PC that can play games of console caliber will cost more than the console itself. That's a fact.
Consoles are a necessary evil but if they'd produce quality PC games they'll sell well.
I wonder, anyone have the sales figures for Oblivion? That's a good example of a PC/Console game that utilizes the hardware to it's full potential.
Re:Easy - make the Games free and charge for onlin (Score:5, Interesting)
Even games that don't charge still can make money this way. For example, Neverwinter Nights 1 patched out its CD copy protection, but piracy remained low on the game because a big part of the game was automatic updates (which requires unique serial numbers), online persistent worlds, and the sheer numbers of player made modules available which equaled or surpassed the single player campaign of the game.
First they get us all excited... (Score:4, Interesting)
Aaaaaaaaarrrrrggghh!!!
Next, we'll read that we want to see all cars get hybrid-like mileage...
and that the system we want to see it on is the Edsel.
Re:Gee. (Score:3, Interesting)
I think that is the exact problem with the gaming industry. Games seem to be for the most part stagnant, and companies are relying on either sequels or expansions to generate new sales.
The one game company I miss is Origin. Their games were buggy at times, but they almost always had an interesting story to tell and were unique and engaging, from the Ultima fantasy world to unique games like Privateer.
Those new games seem to be gone. I'd rather see a new game with a unique plot as opposed to the same old FPS except with perhaps more arm hair on the aliens visible.
Origin also handled "DRM" pretty well in the early to mid 90s. It was part of the game where to progress past a certain point, one needed to consult the manual (and it was random where.) Yes, people could copy the manual, but it stopped casual piracy cold because people were forced to make a deliberate effort.
Maybe its time for someone to return back to the roots of gaming and crank out something new, perhaps a remake of a classic game, if copyright permissions could be granted. I can think of a lot of old games that would be excellent remakes. The early Wizardry series for one (although combat and graphics would be obviously redone of course.) The Ultima series also comes to mind if one could license the IP from EA. Ultima 1 would be perfect for a remake especially.
As for copy protection, the best is none, of course, but a CD key system which what NWN 1 uses seems to be the least intrusive. Especially if there is content online to obtain. With no Draconian DRM, there will be a lot of peer pressure against people pirating a game as well.
Re:Xbox Fiasco Main Culprit (Score:4, Interesting)
I hate to add to what I think is flamebait, but....
Microsoft saw the PS2, and was concerned that Sony was going to get the "Gateway to the lounge room" or whatever it was that they were thinking at the time. They were concerned that they were going to lose out to Sony in regards to a market they didn't know about. They started looking and realised that they could make money from it. Gaming in the lounge room has always been a large industry, and with the addition of the Wii it has become larger as they now have casual gamers added in there too.
So, it was just another business venture, and MS knowing that they were behind decided to buy their way in. It wasn't that they wanted to kill off the PC gaming area, if that's really what they wanted to do they wouldn't have come up with DX10 or maintained DirectX full stop, they would just drop it and let it wither and die. The only problem with that would have been the competition from OpenGL that would have eventually caught up to the position DirectX was in (In regards to graphics) and that would be a threat they don't want. Simply it would just be easier to keep supporting the DirectX platform and have fingers in both pies.
Besides, they want to keep their monopoly on the OS business (Remember what everyone calls the MS tax?) if they let games die off, they would lose market share to Linux as there are a number of people who would keep Windows around to play games.
Absolutely nothing for the PC gaming sections of stores. Absolutely correct, they aren't doing anything, it's a simple business decision, they aren't making any money from it. Why burn money on a platform that you aren't getting anything from?
PC gaming was one of the major reasons DOS/Windows became so popular because all the IT guys in companies wanted to work on the same systems at work that they had at home Actually the PC platform was for business first, and the IT guys had to learn it for work. After that then the games came about. That turned a little bit cyclic as one of the reasons I got into IT was because of gaming, and learning the platform because of games.
Re:Easy - make the Games free and charge for onlin (Score:4, Interesting)
I'd hardly call free but a fee to play online a creative business model. We usually call that a scam.
The difference is that Guild Wars gives people something, and there is never a fee you'll ever have to pay again to play the same thing, even if you lose the CD's. That is not the case with Wow, or Warhammer or any other mmo. The difference is those games (wow,warhammer, any pay or subscription mmo) are subsidizing their users to pay for the privilege to play an inevitable grind at the cost of the company's bandwidth. It's comparable to taxing people for air usage.
A real creative business model would be something you can embrace that doesn't have infinite fuckups (drm, subscription fees), and uses common sense. Such as, I don't know, paying for a game and not having subscription fees, drm, or cd keys or any forced "linkage" of any sort? Go back to requiring a cd in virtual CD or physical form, and we'll all be happy. Will it sell more copies in reality? You bet you it will. Is it cheaper to not have to pay a company to DRM your software (or engineers to do it)? Absolutely.
Re:Easy - make the Games free and charge for onlin (Score:4, Interesting)
I play almost exclusively single player games. I have no interest for on-line gaming. The only exception was with a game called Trackmania and some PBeM I played in the 80s and early 90s. I never played an RTS on-line (although I did play Warcraft 2 on a local network), I never played an FPS on-line (again, only on a local network) and I never played any on-line RPG. I just don't see what's fun with on-line gaming.
I'm not saying your idea is not good for a few games, but the truth is a lot of people never play on-line. Most people I know play video games, but very few play on-line. For the game Trackmania, the only one I played on-line, it was only a small percentage of people owning the game who ended up trying the on-line mode. I really don't think it would be a good idea for most game to use this business model.
3rd Party DRM on top of Steam (Score:5, Interesting)
The latest trend in annoying DRM: publishers using SecuROM and install limits on games sold through Steam. Crysis Warhead, Far Cry 2, and X3 have a 5 install limit, crippling one of Steam's greatest features: unlimited installs on any PC. The former two games also use SecuROM. Why on earth would you add third-party DRM on top of Steam? Maybe because these publishers are run by dicks? Who knows. What I do know is that my PC game purchases have gone down solely because of DRM. I'd love to play Red Alert 3 or Far Cry 2, but I won't until EA gives up on installation limits and SecuROM. Shame, too, since I don't own any consoles.
(I know that Steam is a form of DRM with its own share of problems, but I rather enjoy the service. Unlike SecuROM or similar schemes, Steam at least provides some side benefits to gamers.)
Re:Astute observations of a (mostly) sober reader (Score:3, Interesting)
I read TFA, And I gotta say, it looks like nothing more than a self aggrandizing attempt to justify the use of DRM and the adding of more of it.
It'd doesn't look like news, it looks like a press release.
In an interview about DRM with the PCGA they didn't ask ask the cost of DRM (in both development, real money, and alienated customers) vs its actual effectiveness at its goal (next to nothing.)
They didn't bring up the effectiveness of studios like stardock to still sell million plus copies of games, with NO DRM, they didn't mention alternate models of operation like subscription services (ala WoW and Eve online), or free content upgrade for people who can prove they own the game (simple reg codes).
Finally they have to realise that there are people who are not cracking their games for money or anything like that, its a challenge, something fun a test, it doesn't matter how strong the DRM these guys try to crack it because its there.
DRM will never be the answer because there's two massively divergent viewpoints on it. Publishers think DRM is the solution to piracy, the rest of us (their customers) think that piracy is the solution to DRM. We see it as something to be avoided when possible, and bypassed when we can't. We don't respect it, we don't respect the people who employ it, and we don't respect laws passed to try and protect it.
Our computers are too much a part our private lives to be policed they way corporations want them too.
Re:3rd Party DRM on top of Steam (Score:1, Interesting)
...and now the optical drives come with SecuROM built right into them! Saw this at my local BB one day and decided right then to not buy any drive so labeled. Ever.
I may have to stockpile though: I'm sure some senator somewhere is making that firmware mandatory on all new drives in an effort to 'stop piracy' and to 'let the market control itself'. Oh yeah.
Re:Insert New Business Model Here (Score:3, Interesting)
some formulas aren't "tired" and can be done again and again with a few changes between iterations. The GTA and Civilization games come to mind.
Some additions to that list:
The Zelda series [I've played OoT a little some years ago, and completed TP, now and in april/may]. I don't know the franchise that well, but I hear most of the time you know you're going to be riding around in Hyrule solving puzzles in dungeons to collect items that'll help you save the princess from Ganondorf's clutches. Tried and true; my knowledge of what was going to happen based on OoT didn't do a damn thing to detract from the value of TP, it was great fun.
The Guitar Hero series. It's still the same idea: hit the colorful gems with the correct timing. What changes is the details of the gem placement and the background music. [again, confession/background: I've played like three tracks of GH2 and a handful or two of GH: Aerosmith; I own GH3, have gold-starred the setlist on easy and most bonus tracks, gold-starred tier 1-7 plus dover on medium with one third of the bonus tracks, 5* half of hard, 3* all except Reign in Blood and One, 3+* tier 1-6 on expert; IOW, I'm short of completing it by the other 90%]. Based on my experience with the earlier titles, GH3 is exactly what was expected, and still damn fun.
Starcraft seems to be a good example, too: most people want SC2 to be something pretty much like SC1 with better graphics and a few changes for flavor and balance (I, for one, welcome our mind-controlling overlords; Mind Control definitely has a zergish flavor).
Goo (Score:1, Interesting)
I was charmed by the way 2D Boy handled copy protection with their "World of Goo" [2dboy.com].
The purchase email came with the following claim:
"We are trying an experiment: World of Goo has absolutely no copy protection or DRM at all, since we want to give you (and everyone) the best experience we can. Thanks for not distributing this, and helping us make this possible!"
Besides: buying the the Windows version also entitles you to download the Linux and Mac version (once they're finished...).
Apparently there's a Steam version of the game as well, but it's not clear from the website if a Steam purchase entitles you to the Linux version as well.
Re:Backlash is right (Score:3, Interesting)
Admittedly, I've never tried it myself, because I've never had to, but I remember reading about it when they made the change, and even the wiki on it mentions it, so I'm making the assumption that it works.
That being said, I prefer Steam to the majority of other content systems. Their DRM isn't very obtrusive, and I've never had a problem running a game I got from Steam (in contrast to, say, Doom 3, which I had to get a crack for because it didn't like my CD burning software. I still regret buying that piece of recycled garbage). Granted that not having any DRM is still nicer, but if it has to be done, I'd prefer something like Steam. And frankly, by making it a relatively quick and reliable online download and purchase, it's easier than piracy, which is a much bigger deal than most game companies are willing to admit... Why go to the store and buy something when the alternative is clicking a link and replacing some files?
Re:Easy - make the Games free and charge for onlin (Score:3, Interesting)
I could imagine some badass coop with portal with one person having a blue gun and the other person having the orange one.
The PC as a gaming platform is doomed (Score:2, Interesting)
The writing is on the wall for PC's. As soon as gaming went mainstream, they had one foot in the grave. Most sane people don't want to spend half their sparse leisure time monkeying with video drivers, downloading patches, watching scroll bars, ad nauseum...they just want to play. The console offers a good and reliable gaming experience, the PC does not. With the continued proliferation of HD sets and a wider variety of controller options (thanks to USB), there is very little a PC game can offer that a console cannot. (I'm a flight simmer, so I have always lamented the lack of realistic flight sims for the console, but HD and increasing computing power is changing that, too...the IL-2 codebase has been leveraged to make the first honest flight sim on the xbox due next year, and the in-game video I've seen of it blows the PC version away)
Given the growing number of compelling reasons to buy a console, the increasing number of reasons to NOT want to own a PC (Vista, cell phones with tricorder-like capabilities, etc ), and the ever shrinking shelf of non-returnable PC games in your local game store, I'd say that arguing about the future of DRM in PC gaming is like fighting over the paddle in a canoe headed down the Niagara...
Re:Easy - make the Games free and charge for onlin (Score:4, Interesting)
I completely agree with your point, but I believe the much more troubling lesson learned from the Radiohead example was that even when people could get it for free 100% legally, they still chose to download it illegally [paidcontent.org], which leads to the natural conclusion that people aren't even bothering to consider the price offered in the first place, going directly to P2P as their first port of call.
Going to your TV example, it would be like Store A offering free TVs to anybody who wants one, but people still going to Store B and stealing the same model TV. As I said, much more troubling that this is the society we live in.
Re:Easy - make the Games free and charge for onlin (Score:2, Interesting)
I agree with this, in fact I have previously downloaded Half-Life 2. I played through the first few hours and really enjoyed the game. My son also seemed to enjoy it, so now Valve will have an additional two sales of Orange Box for Christmas due to our enjoyment of the pirated HL2 game.
Not to say that I don't feel guilty for having pirated the game in the first place, but with only one or two game purchases available per year (we don't have much money for gaming) the try before you buy concept works well for me and typically enriches one or two game companies. The downside of this is that other companies that make not-fun games don't get any purchase - we did the same with Spore, just trying it out and really hated it so EA will not get any purchase this year and the game is no longer on our systems... we thought it sucked that badly (DRM issues aside).
So unfortunately I appear to have unintentionally invalidated both our points about the fairness of pirating. It is very fair to me, and it is fair some of the time to a limited number of developers, but it screws everyone else.
I think to combat this, and build upon the likelihood that someone trying a game and liking it will buy it, Steam has a really great try before you buy free download on some of the games. We just saw a game called Peggle, did the free download of X number of levels, and have had a really good time with it. I suspect that we will purchase this game also.
Designed to Fail (Score:4, Interesting)
Unfortunately, the PC gaming industry seems to be designing itself for failure. In a time when companies are taking losses on hardware to increase their userbase (consoles) the PC gaming industry seems to be going to extra efforts to actually limit the growth of their market.
What has been the single most revolutionary improvement to console gaming? Multiplayer. The console industry has realized this and games that only offer single player are so rare that when something lacks multiplayer it can be seen as a black mark by critics. We are a social species, and gaming originated as a social activity. It is only for a brief period when transitioning into the electronic world that gaming became a single player activity. Improvements in hardware and data connections are bringing gaming back into the 'coffee table' world of board and card games.
Back to my topic. When you brought over your copy of monopoly, it was a game that was designed, and infact required, multiple players. Yet it is rare that you come across any PC game that isn't designed in such a way that you are expected to pay an additional fee to enjoy it with your friends. It may be a throwback to the per-chair licensing that is still utilized by many software producers, but it is detrimental to the growth of the PC gaming industry. It is an intentional speedbump that is thrown in the path of growth. If the PC gaming industry wants to continue with the concept of DRM, then they have to do so in a manner that allows people to socialize with the friends the know in the real world. Online 'lobbies' and forums don't completely fill that gap.
Re:Easy - make the Games free and charge for onlin (Score:2, Interesting)
The original meaning referred to horses who were said to have been boggled when they started or were spooked by something their drivers or riders couldn't see."
Boggle was also a great game that wasted many an hour of my time as a kid.
Re:Easy - make the Games free and charge for onlin (Score:4, Interesting)
Steam has its good and bad points.
The good comes from the fact that once you buy the game, it automatically installs and updates the game for you. There has never been any work required for any steam game I have ever played. It warns me if it believes my computer isn't good enough (good and bad, a quad core 2.6 Ghz apparently throws a warning for a game requiring 2.7 Ghz). Steam makes PC gaming easy
The other side of the good debate comes from how the company is viewed. Look at Microsoft vs Google. One is viewed as trustworthy for the most part, as their slogan is "do no evil" while the other is seen as the evil empire. We both give up personal information to their vast data mining, but we don't mind it as much when it goes to google.
DRM is the same way. I don't mind Valve/Steam doing what it does, because I've transferred games between computers, I almost always have an internet connection, and I enjoy the features it offers. SecureROM and EAs Download manager make me cringe, especially at the fact that it acts like spyware on your computer (doesn't uninstall when its supposed to). For most people, it is a matter of trust. I trust Valve's steam to work correctly and do what it is supposed to, I trust EA to be the Evil Empire of gaming.
The bad parts of steam have only come from the fact that it is hard for me to share a game with friends. I'm not talking about illegally sharing, but where I would hand them my CDs and CD key's before, I'd have to now allow them to login as me
Re:Easy - make the Games free and charge for onlin (Score:5, Interesting)
Unfortunately, just because it's on Steam doesn't also mean there isn't atrocious DRM. I downloaded Assassin's Creed from them. It worked fine for a bit but then suddenly it would freeze solid for about 5 seconds every time you killed somebody, or were spotted by guards, or got a flag. I checked out their forums. Lots of people had this issue. UBISoft told us all that nobody was reporting such a thing (EXCEPT US???) but they'd look into it. Somebody who isn't UBISOFT found the solution though: Disconnect your network cable. Because the issue is, Assassin's Creed connects to a UBISOFT server every 3 SECONDS while you are playing, and the lockups happen if it can't for some reason, or if there is a delay. If it detects not network though, it doesn't try.
In fact, Assassin's Creed is a shining example of piracy doing exactly what the pirates say: establishing word of mouth. On PS3 and 360 it sold like 1.5 million copies. They released the PC port. BUT, about a month before it came out, there was a pirate version "leaked", that intentionally locked up randomly, and was also designed to crash to desktop about half way through, to frustrate pirates and make them buy the real deal I guess. But what happened is by the time it was out, most people on the Internet had heard it was slow and unstable and crashed about half way through so you could never beat it. It sold very very few copies, and they blamed this on piracy!
Re:Easy - make the Games free and charge for onlin (Score:2, Interesting)
most people didn't bother paying anything at all
The article fails to note how many of those who downloaded the album for free later returned to pay after listening to it to determine its worth. Given the option, I wouldn't pay until I heard it; I expect many others feel the same way.
The article suggests that 38% of 1.2 million visitors paid an average of $6. Some quick, sketchy math says they made $2.7 million.
When I see that "38% paid" figure--again with the sketchy math--I see "61% returned to pay." Considering how many people will give any music a listen if it's free, I'm guessing they're pretty pleased with that result.
Re:Easy - make the Games free and charge for onlin (Score:3, Interesting)
Not that I object to consoles, I like the Wii a lot, and I'm thinking of grabbing a used PS3 so I can put Ubuntu on it, and use it as a media center. I just don't get how console gaming is any more superior to PC gaming than boardgames are. Console gaming is similar to PC gaming, because they both involve videogames, but the closer a console is to a PC, the *less* superior it is in my mind. Consoles should take advantage of their differences (standard hardware, lower system requirements, potential for faster boot times, simpler controls, and so on. The PS3 is so much like a PC that it's attractive to me *as a PC*, but not as a gaming platform.
Re:Easy - make the Games free and charge for onlin (Score:3, Interesting)