Independent Dev Reports Over 80% Piracy Rate On DRM-Free Game 422
An anonymous reader writes "Developer 2D Boy has written that they are seeing an 82% piracy rate for everyone's favorite DRM-free physics puzzler, World of Goo . Surprisingly, this rate is in-line with what they were expecting. The article also features a fascinating comparison with the piracy rate of another game that was shipped complete with DRM, at 92%. There seemed to be no major difference in the outcomes of the rate regardless of whether DRM was used or not ... well, no difference other than the cost to implement such nonsense."
My experience (Score:1, Interesting)
I bought a copy of this game and I gave a copy to my housemate who enjoyed the demo, but not enough to pay for the full game.
I didn't pass on copies to any other friends mainly due to the "this is a drm free game, please be nice" type message that came with the download link.
Tough demand curve. (Score:2, Interesting)
I wonder: are those vast masses of pirates merely aquisitive types who enjoy the download and crack process(the way some people stockpile more music than the could ever listen to) but have no real interest in the product? Are they people without access to credit cards or other suitable online payment mechanisms(I suspect that at least some gaming minors would be willing to spend the money; but unable to get approval from somebody with a credit card)? Or are they merely cheap?
The second of those two categories seems like it would be the most interesting, and potentially profitable, to explore. If it turns out that transaction costs are turning people away, that would suggest that glomming onto actually functional electronic currency schemes(if one would get off the ground sometime before the heat death of the universe) or one of the existing consolidated payment setups(iTunes, Steam, etc.) could be of considerable use. If that isn't a factor, of course, then they'd probably be better off cutting out the middleman. I'd like to see some numbers.
Counting IP's? Fail. (Score:5, Interesting)
They're counting IP connections of users who opt to check a box within the game as the foundation for their argument. It's difficult to take any Piracy/DRM conversation seriously when developers are using sensationally hyped math as a starting point. Pirates vs. buyers, static vs. dynamic IP's, and those who choose to check the box to upload their scores or not; three wildly oscillating figures they're saying = 90%.
Awesome game (Score:5, Interesting)
I only heard about this game because of the piracy story here on slashdot, went and played the demo, and loved it. I'm gonna buy the full version now.
Hows that for irony?
Re:huh ??? (Score:3, Interesting)
Thank you. Even if we accept the absurd math and conclusions given, it could be that pirates are aware of the game but the public at large isn't. Hell, I probably spend more on games each month than on groceries and I've never heard of the thing.
Maybe the real issue here isn't DRM, but marketing. In fact a high level of piracy may be the only reason it got the sales its gotten!
Re:Tough demand curve. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Only sane conclusion (Score:5, Interesting)
That doesn't even make the slightest bit of sense. Either you don't understand the argument, or you think that Pirate Bay somehow tracks the number of copies pirated. Either way, there's no way that searching Pirate Bay disproves the argument I just made.
Just for fun, let's make up some numbers to demonstrate. Let's say I create a game for only the PC. Let's say that 500 people buy it. Later on I'm able to prove that 500 people pirated it. What is my piracy rate on the PC version? 50%.
Now let's say I create a game that can be distributed via the Wii, Steam, or a PC Download. Let's say that the Wii version sells 1500 copies, the Steam version sells 1000 copies, and the PC version sells 100 copies. Later on I'm able to prove that 500 people pirated the PC Download. What is my piracy rate on the PC download? 83%.
Except that in the second scenario, we can see that many of the previous customers shifted to the alternative content streams. If we assume that those other streams are well protected, this means that the ratio between pirated copies and PC Downloads is now out of whack with actual sales. Overall sales are great and piracy rates have not changed. Yet through some interesting misapplication of statistics, we have managed to create a 33% increase in piracy.
What that suggests is not that piracy kills all video games and that they should be destroyed. What it suggests is that the PC Download stream is far less profitable when alternative streams are available.
"There are three types of lies: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics" --Mark Twain
so what? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Only sane conclusion (Score:4, Interesting)
Steam is not an "alternative content stream", it's a PC download. Valve will gladly tell the dev how many people bought it and quite often it's exactly the same game (as in it connects to the same score server). 2DBoy even accounted for it in their stats we divided the total number of sales we had from all sources . There is no significant systematic inflation for the PC version in their method that I can identify, outside of unsubmitted scores. 82% of PC players have stolen their game.
It's also worth noting that WiiWare games can be easily pirated too, and should be able to be counted in a similar fashion.
Re:These numbers are misleading (Score:2, Interesting)
Each game could come with a masked guy holding a whip.
Plus it makes the pirated version much less exciting.
Re:Only sane conclusion (Score:5, Interesting)
I "pirated" World of Goo. I downloaded it when a friend raved over it, tried it for five minutes, thought "Is this it?" and deleted it. I wonder what percentage of this "piracy" is actually people just trying the game after hearing about it, since I wouldn't have bothered had someone not raved about it. (I don't even know if there is an official demo available.)
I wouldn't have kept the game even if it had been free.
Far too many companies assume one pirated copy is one lost sale. (Unless you work for Starforce who once claimed one pirated copy was MULTIPLE lost sales.)
My attitude to stuff I've created is so long as you don't pass it off as your own work or make money off it, go nuts and copy it all you want.
I guess a lot of the attitude depends on why you create. Do you do it because you enjoy it? Or for the money? Sure, you can do both, but which is your primary motivator? I think attitudes toward piracy will be influenced by which side of the fence you fall.
I never thought I'd ever hear this... (Score:2, Interesting)
"Pirate" (Score:5, Interesting)
Yeah, and I sneaked into a showing of Quantum of Solace at the movie theater. The opening scene wasn't very impressive so I left. But if I decided to stay I would have bought a ticket afterwards. Really I would!
By the way, did you opt in to the global scoreboard and set a high score during your five minutes?
Re:Only sane conclusion (Score:3, Interesting)
Respectfully, I believe you are missing the point.
You can try to be as objective as possible in your experimentation, by eliminating potential sources of error where you see them. But that does not mean you can ever find an absolute truth. By definition, the scientific method is based on the premise of falsifiability: your theories are only ever as sound as your latest experiment, and no matter how many times you may repeat that experiment and get consistent results, you never know in absolute terms that your theory is complete and correct such that future experiments will always yield the same result. Deities, stealthy aliens or undetected cosmic rays may be manipulating your experiment every time and one day not be there any more, for all you know, or can ever know. The only absolute truths are those axioms that we can define to be true, such that no experimental validation is required; this is what separates mathematics from science.
I'm not really sure what all this has to do with game piracy, though. I would have said the use (or otherwise) of DRM was more a question of ethics, as is how to deal with people who copy games illegally. Any legal system based on the use of courts is ultimately just trying to make the best informed decision it can under the circumstances, which is why we have standards of evidence to guide how much uncertainty is considered acceptable given the implications of the possible outcomes of a case.
Re:Piracy != Lost Sales (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes, but your example is bad also.
If you watch a movie at your friend's house and decide you want it, you can't just take it from him and keep it until the end of time. Unless you're an asshole. Ditto with the library.
In the pirating case, however, there's no practical difference between pirating the product and owning your own copy. So the incentive to buy your own isn't there in the same way it is with the "book" and "movie" examples above.
What it really comes down to is that software pirates delude themselves to make their illegal activities "ok", and one of the most popular delusions is, "I was just trying it out, I wasn't going ot keep it." Sure, and four years later you're *still* "trying it out". Complete crap.