Let me start this off by stating that I DON’T support piracy in any way, all my games, software and music are bought legitimately and it is going to stay that way. I don’t think there is any justification for piracy nor do I think that it is good for any of the industries affected by it. This is just something that I have been thinking about for the past week and I want to know what other people’s views are.
Piracy is most likely going to be with us for as long there is something to pirate. While, in a perfect world, companies would choose to not have any piracy, I can’t help but think that accepting that it is happening could be to there advantage.
As an owner, you would want to harness every possible option available to you in order to take your company forward successfully. If piracy just happens to be one of those areas then why not take advantage.
Take Konami for instance, by looking at which genres are downloaded the most in each country they would be able to pinpoint exactly where their target market for a certain game lies and would then be able to ship their games more efficiently.
What about a software company who is trying to break into a new region, flood the area with pirated copies and build a fan base, then when you release your product in that region you already have people who know about the product and will buy it legitimately. Admittedly, it is a very under-handed tactic but it is an option nonetheless.
Game developers would be able see who the popular artists are at that moment in time and use their songs in their games to create a more polished game. A good song in the menu of the game can change how you look at the entire game.
What if Sony looked at which movies are pirated the most in an area and then made them available on PSN? They would stand to gain from it even though, if asked, they would state definitively that they are against piracy.
I’m sure that if companies had a choice that they would choose to not have any piracy but I can also see how they can use it to their advantage while it is around. This is the real world and in the real world piracy is here to stay, using it could just you a benefit over your competitor.
Last Updated: September 20, 2008
Scotty777
September 20, 2008 at 11:22
sadly, thats true, HOWEVER, piracy has a very negative impact on software companies…
Take Crytek for eg, They only sold 1 million copies, yet a rumored 20 million people are using the darn game! thats gotta hurt… I mean, 5 out of 100 people went out and bought the game! crazy! but whats worse is the fact that Crytek were looking at going down the tubes…
There is no upside to Piracy, not at all… Even Captain Jack sparrow would agree… But thanks to the C4Pt41N J4Ck 5P4RR0w’s of the modern world, many companies might go down the tubes…
Lupus
September 20, 2008 at 12:31
To be perfectly honest the people that pirate the games wouldn’t actually by them anyway, so the negative impact on the company is null. Because they wouldn’t have made a sale in the first place.
Nick - lazygamer.co.za
September 20, 2008 at 21:50
but if crysis only cost R50…
LazySAGamer
September 21, 2008 at 00:15
Seriously… H O L I D A Y….
go sit on the beach 😉
koldFU5iON
September 21, 2008 at 00:22
then why download it in the first place?
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koldFU5iON
September 21, 2008 at 00:25
you’re theory is all well and good and I think that companies do do this interms of releasing software, it comes in various forms, mainly download it for “free” and take advantage of the full package up to 30days then we lock you out, beta packages also have that ability, we have access to free demo’s of games, and access to software for free, but if you want the elite package you pay but you get more! So in a way this pirate thing is still not going to fly well 😛
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Lupus
September 21, 2008 at 12:37
A few years ago, I would’ve told you it’s because I couldn’t afford it, look I’m not justifying the excuse I was young and naive and believed it would not affect the industry.
This is why I know the pirates who download the games will not actually go out and buy a game. Myself now though I feel incredibly guilty even cracking the game so I don’t need to constantly put the DVD in to play.