Ubisoft Director: Piracy is Killing PC Gaming

[Fungo Batte]

While piracy rates are certainly high, so are sales, and so are profits. Industry stats show that there's a huge amount of money being made in PC games - last numbers I saw, it was more than all the console platforms combined. (And that did not include monthly revenue streams from MMOs, such as the mildly lucrative World of Warcraft.)

Clearly, publishers focus on the hole and not the donut for reasons of their own. Sheer bitterness, perhaps - I know it must be frustrating to see your work being enjoyed for free. Or maybe a desire to simplify their lives - which already include two major console platforms - by ditching the PC development cycle. But on pure profitability, the arguments ring very hollow.

Another note: in the article, Tom Ohle is quoted as saying: "I don't know of any pirates that buy games." He must not get out much. Every gamer I know has pirated something at one point or another. But most have also spent a big chunk of their disposable income on game software. In the absence of actual stats one way or the other, you have to question why developers keep coming out with such negative views.

The good news is that if majors like Ubi Soft and EA do insist on bailing out of the PC market, it will only open the door to eager, innovative new competitors. There's a huge demand here, and it will be met, one way or another.

 

[Fungo Batte]

S'cuse me - I said that wrong. PC game revenues are as high as for any one of the consoles. So the PC platform should get equal credibility to, say, the Xbox 360.

 

[Fungo Batte]

[citation][nom]D_Kuhn[/nom]The problem with the catchall "PC Game Revenue" is that it includes the highly lucrative and pirate-proof MMO genre.[/citation]

If you're quoting my comments, I specifically stated that MMO subscription revenues were not included. In other words, revenue from the sale of shrinkwrapped games for PC is roughly equal to corresponding revenue for the largest-selling console platforms (Xbox 360 and PS2, last time I looked). MMO subscriptions would be on top of that, making Windows far and away the most lucrative platform overall.

 

[Pixels303]

I used to enjoy playing on Valve before it was bought out by Steam because there were more people to play with. Valve had one hundred or more times as many online users playing Sierra Half life and Team fortress than there are now with the more serial protected Steam engine which cannot be bypassed with cracks, so all the people who didn't own the game suddenly didn't have access to it. Before Steam came in, Half life won the game of the year, and was Hugely popular. Now many people don't know better because they don't have as much as an easy time to try these games out as you have to buy before you try.

Simply put, these companies don't care about what the sales numbers are. They Simply want to play GOD with who is allowed to use the code. Anyone who wants to compete with these Giants only need to release a game without anti-piracy measures, open source for developing it and a de-centralized server system for gameplay. Then you would see shit hit the fan.